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The use of technology in 4th industrial revolution is at its peak. Industries are trying to reduce the consumption of resources by effectively utilizing information and technology to connect different functioning agents of the manufacturing industry. Without digitization “Industry 4.0” will be a virtual reality. The present survey-based study explores the factual status of digital manufacturing in the Northern India.

After an extensive literature review, a questionnaire was designed to gather different viewpoints of Indian industrial practitioners. The first half contains questions related to north Indian demographic factors which may affect digitalization of India. The latter half includes the queries concerned with various operational factors (or drivers) driving the digital revolution without ignoring Indian constraints.

The focus of this survey was to understand the current level of digital revolution under the ongoing push by the Indian government focused upon digital movement. The analysis included non-parametric testing of the various demographic and functional factors impacting the digital echoes, specifically in Northern India. Findings such as technological upgradations were independent of type of industry, the turnover or the location. About 10 key operational factors were thoughtfully grouped into three major categories—internal Research and Development (R&D), the capability of the supply chain and the capacity to adapt to the market. These factors were then examined to understand how they contribute to digital manufacturing, utilizing an appropriate ordinal logistic regression. The resulting predictive analysis provides seldom-seen insights and valuable suggestions for the most effective deployment of digitalization in Indian industries.

The country-specific Industry 4.0 literature is quite limited. The survey mainly focuses on the National Capital Region. The number of demographic and functional factors can further be incorporated. Moreover, an addition of factors related to ecology, environment and society can make the study more insightful.

The present work provides valuable insights about the current status of digitization and expects to facilitate public or private policymakers to implement digital technologies in India with less efforts and the least resistance. It empowers India towards Industry 4.0 based tools and techniques and creates new socio-economic dimensions for the sustainable development.

The quantitative nature of the study and its statistical predictions (data-based) are novel. The clubbing of similar success factors to avoid inter-collinearity and complexity is seldom seen. The predictive analytics provided in this study is quite elusive as it provides directions with logic. It will help the Indian Government and industrial strategists to plan and perform their interventions accordingly.

The purpose of this study is to present the systematic literature review (SLR) on Lean Six Sigma (LSS) by exploring the state of the art on growth of literature on LSS within the manufacturing sector, critical factors to implement LSS, the role of LSS in the manufacturing sector from an implementation and sustainability viewpoint and Industry 4.0 viewpoints while highlighting the research gaps.

An SLR of 2,876 published articles extracted from Scopus, WoS, Emerald Insight, IEEE Xplore, Taylor & Francis, Springer and Inderscience databases was carried out following the protocol of systematic review. In total, 154 articles published in different journals over the past 10 years were selected for quantitative and qualitative analysis which revealed a number of research gaps.

The findings of the SLR revealed the growth of literature on LSS within the manufacturing sector. The review also highlighted the most cited critical success factors, critical failure factors, performance indicators and associated tools and techniques applied during LSS implementation. The review also focused on studies related to LSS and sustainability viewpoint and LSS and Industry 4.0 viewpoints.

The findings of this SLR can help senior managers, practitioners and researchers to understand the current developments and future requirements to adopt LSS in manufacturing sectors from sustainability and Industry 4.0 viewpoints.

Academic publications in the context of the role of LSS in various research streams are sparse, and to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is one of the first SLRs which explore current developments and future requirements to implement LSS from sustainability and Industry 4.0 perspective.

This paper gives the background to the ISO 18404:2015 standard and explains its rationale. It aims to rebut the Oudrhiri et al. (2022) paper. Furthermore, this paper adds further evidence of the misplacement and unfitness for use of the standard, as evidenced in the previous work by Antony et al. (2021, 2022).

A point-counterpoint methods approach with a literature review of studies available on ISO 18404:2015 to respond to the Oudrhiri et al. (2022) study.

The findings indicate that Oudrhiri et al.'s (2022) work is not open minded in relation to ISO18404. Each point raised in the Oudrhiri et al. (2020) study has been answered and counter argued.

Other than Antony et al.'s three studies (2021 and 2022) and Oudrhiri et al.’s (2022) study empirical studies looking into the impact of the ISO 18404 standard in the literature were limited. As the literature has shown, many companies are not utilising the standard given its current format; hence, a lack of information relating to the practical implementation is sparse.

The findings indicate that Oudrhiri et al.'s (2022) work can be answered and counter argued.

This study consolidates and strengthens the findings from the three studies by Antony et al. (2021 and 2022) and acts as a rebuttal to the Oudrhiri et al. (2022) study.

The present research focuses on improving the awareness related to soft total quality management (TQM) practices by looking from the viewpoint of strategic human resources (HR). In addition, it is intended to reflect on the resulting soft TQM-HR outcomes and determine the mediating effect between soft TQM-HR strategies and organizational effectiveness (OE).

An exploratory research methodology with an online survey technique was adopted for the study. Three hundred and three managerial-level personnel from nine large Indian manufacturing organizations participated in the research. A theoretical model is projected and verified using correlation and mediation analysis.

The results show that commitment, reduced turnover intentions and satisfaction levels of employees mediate the relationship between resources, development and retention strategies and OE. However, the retention strategy has the strongest association with the OE of the three strategies. Also, of the three HR outcomes, satisfaction was strongly associated with OE. The analysis proved that the proposed model is an acceptable fit.

Implementing HR-related TQM strategies will likely impact OE since it elicits positive HR outcomes such as commitment, reduced turnover intention and satisfaction. Recognizing human resources as a unique strategic asset will help HR managers devise adequate resourcing, development and retention strategies instrumental in executing TQM.

The present micro study is unique in scrutinizing the influence of soft TQM-HR practices on organizational effectiveness by analysing the mediating effects of commitment, reduced turnover intention and satisfaction in Indian large-scale manufacturing organizations. The study is unique since no literature deciphers the linkages between HR strategies and organizational effectiveness in the Indian manufacturing sector.