Search results

The purpose of this systematic review is to critically analyze pharmaceutical industry case studies on the implementation of Lean 4.0 methodologies to synthesize key lessons, benefits and best practices. The goal is to inform decisions and guide investments in related technologies for enhancing quality, compliance, efficiency and responsiveness across production and supply chain processes.

The article utilized a systematic literature review (SLR) methodology following five phases: formulating research questions, locating relevant articles, selecting and evaluating articles, analyzing and synthesizing findings and reporting results. The SLR aimed to critically analyze pharmaceutical industry case studies on Lean 4.0 implementation to synthesize key lessons, benefits and best practices.

Key findings reveal recurrent efficiency gains, obstacles around legacy system integration and data governance as well as necessary operator training investments alongside technological upgrades. On average, quality assurance reliability improved by over 50%, while inventory waste declined by 57% based on quantified metrics across documented initiatives synthesizing robotics, sensors and analytics.

As a comprehensive literature review, findings depend on available documented implementations within the search period rather than direct case evaluations. Reporting bias may also skew toward more successful accounts.

Synthesized implementation patterns, performance outcomes and concealed pitfalls provide pharmaceutical leaders with an evidence-based reference guide aiding adoption strategy development, resource planning and workforce transitioning crucial for Lean 4.0 assimilation.

This systematic assessment of pharmaceutical Lean 4.0 adoption offers an unprecedented perspective into the real-world issues, dependencies and modifications necessary for successful integration, absent from conceptual projections or isolated case studies alone until now.

This study presents the results of an assessment of the barriers that can hinder the deployment of robotics and automation systems in developing countries through the lens of the Nigerian construction industry.

A scoping literature review was conducted through which barriers to the adoption of robotics and automation systems were identified, which helped in the formulation of a questionnaire survey. Data were obtained from construction professionals including architects, builders, engineers and quantity surveyors. Retrieved data were analyzed using percentages, frequencies, mean item scores and exploratory factor analysis.

Based on the mean scores, the top five barriers were the fragmented nature of the construction process, resistance by workers and unions, hesitation to adopt innovation, lack of capacity and expertise and lack of support from top-level managers. Through factor analysis, the barriers identified were categorized into four principal clusters namely, industry, human, economic and technical-related barriers.

This study provided a good theoretical and empirical foundation that can be useful to construction industry stakeholders, decision-makers, policymakers and the government in mapping out strategies to promote the incorporation and deployment of automation and robotics into the construction industry to attain the safety benefits they offer.

By identifying and evaluating the challenges that hinder the implementation of robotics and automation systems in the Nigerian construction industry, this study makes a significant contribution to knowledge in an area where limited studies exist.

Industry 4.0 has an inimitable potential to create competitive advantages for the apparel industry by enhancing productivity, production, profitability, efficiency and effectiveness. This study, thus, aims to assess the digitalisation level of the Tanzanian apparel industry through the Industry 4.0 perspectives.

A mixed-methods-based approach was deployed. This study deployed semi-structured interviews, document review and observation methods for the qualitative approach. For the quantitative approach, closed-ended questionnaires were used to ascertain the digitalisation levels and maturity level of the textiles and apparel (T&A) factories and small and medium-sized textile enterprises in Tanzania. The sample size was 110, with participants engaged through the purposive sampling technique.

Industry 4.0 frameworks evolved into practices mainly since 2011 in several service and manufacturing industries globally. For Tanzania, the findings indicate that the overall maturity level of the T&A industries is 2.5 out of 5.0, demonstrating a medium level of adoption. Thus, the apparel industries are not operating under the industry 4.0 framework; they are operating within the third industrial revolution – Industry 3.0 – framework. For such industries to operate within the fourth industrial revolution – Industry 4.0 – that is only possible if there is significantly well-developed industrial infrastructure, availability of engineering talent, stable commercial partnerships, demand from the marketplace and transactional relationship with customers.

This study’s limitations include: firstly, Industry 4.0 is an emerging area; this resulted in limited theoretical underpinnings in the Tanzanian perspectives. Secondly, the studied industries may not suffice the need to generalise the findings for the entire country, thus needing another study.

Although Industry 4.0 conceptual frameworks have been on trial in several industries since 2011, this is amongst the first empirical research on Industry 4.0 in the Tanzanian apparel industry that assesses the digitalisation levels.

This study aims to present a state-of-the-art review of building information modelling (BIM) in the Swedish construction practice with a focus on wood construction. It focuses on examining the extent, maturity and actual practices of BIM in the Swedish wood construction industry, by analysing practitioners’ perspectives on the current state of BIM and its perceived benefits.

A qualitative approach was selected, given the study’s exploratory character. Initially, an extensive review was undertaken to examine the current state of BIM utilisation and its associated advantages within the construction industry. Subsequently, empirical data were acquired through semi-structured interviews featuring open-ended questions, aimed at comprehensively assessing the prevailing extent of BIM integration within the Swedish wood construction sector.

The research concluded that the wood construction industry in Sweden is shifting towards BIM on different levels, where in some cases, the level of implementation is still modest. It should be emphasised that the wood construction industry in Sweden is not realising the full potential of BIM. The industry is still using a combination of BIM and traditional methods, thus, limiting the benefits that full BIM implementation could offer the industry.

This study provided empirical evidence on the current perceptions and state of practice of the Swedish wood construction industry regarding BIM maturity.

Digital twin (DT) and building information modeling (BIM) are interconnected in some ways. However, there has been some misconception about how DT differs from BIM. As a result, industry professionals reject DT even in BIM-based construction projects due to reluctance to innovate. Furthermore, researchers have repeatedly developed tools and techniques with the same goals using DT and BIM to assist practitioners in construction projects. Therefore, this study aims to assist industry professionals and researchers in understanding the relationship between DT and BIM and synthesize existing works on DT and BIM.

A systematic review was conducted on published articles related to DT and BIM. A total record of 54 journal articles were identified and analyzed.

The analysis of the selected journal articles revealed four types of relationships between DT and BIM: BIM is a subset of DT, DT is a subset of BIM, BIM is DT, and no relationship between BIM and DT. The existing research on DT and BIM in construction projects targets improvements in five areas: planning, design, construction, operations and maintenance, and decommissioning. In addition, several areas have emerged, such as developing geo-referencing approaches for infrastructure projects, applying the proposed methodology to other construction geometries and creating 3D visualization using color schemes.

This study contributed to the existing body of knowledge by overviewing existing research related to DT and BIM in construction projects. Also, it reveals research gaps in the body of knowledge to point out directions for future research.

Built environments are highly vulnerable to climatic disasters such as extreme floods, droughts and storms. Inaccurate decisions in adopting emerging construction technologies can result in missed opportunities to improve the resilience of built environments. Therefore, understanding the effectiveness of emerging construction technologies in improving built environment resilience can help in making better strategic decisions at the national and organizational levels. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of Construction 4.0 technologies in improving built environment resilience.

A list of Construction 4.0 technologies was adopted from a national strategic plan. Then, the data were collected using the fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution technique from selected built environment experts to determine the relative effectiveness of Construction 4.0 technologies in improving built environment resilience.

Six Construction 4.0 technologies are critical in improving built environment resilience (in rank order): building information modeling, autonomous construction, advanced building materials, big data and predictive analytics, internet of Things and prefabrication and modular construction. In addition, adopting Construction 4.0 technologies collectively is crucial, as moderate to strong connections exist among the technologies in improving built environment resilience.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first papers that evaluate the effectiveness of Construction 4.0 technologies in improving built environment resilience. Industry professionals, researchers and policymakers can use the study findings to make well-informed decisions on selecting Construction 4.0 technologies that improve built environment resilience to climatic disasters.

Prefabricated products are continually entering the building construction market; yet, the decision to use prefabricated products in a construction project is based mostly on personal preferences and the evaluation of direct costs. Researchers and practitioners have debated appropriate measurement systems for evaluating the impacts of prefabricated products and for comparing them with conventional on-site construction practices. The more advanced, cost–benefit approach to evaluating prefabricated products often inspires controversy because it may generate inaccurate results when converting non-monetary effects into costs. As prefabrication may affect multiple organisations and product subsystems, the method used to decide on production methods should consider multiple direct and indirect impacts, including nonmonetary ones. Thus, this study aims to develop a multi-criteria method to evaluate both the monetary and non-monetary impacts of prefabrication solutions to facilitate decision-making on whether to use prefabricated products.

Drawing upon a literature review, this research suggests a multi-criteria method that combines the choosing-by-advantage approach with a cost–benefit analysis. The method was presented for validation in focus group discussions and tested in a case involving a prefabricated bathroom.

The analysis indicates that the method helps a project’s stakeholders communicate about the relative merits of prefabrication and conventional construction while facilitating the final decision of whether to use prefabrication.

This research contributes a method of evaluating the monetary and non-monetary impacts of prefabricated products. The research underlines the need to evaluate the diverse benefits and sacrifices that stakeholder face when considering production methods in construction.

The study seeks to understand the possible opportunities that Industry 5.0 might offer for various aspects of inclusive sustainability. The study aims to discuss existing perspectives on the classification of Industry 5.0 technologies and their underlying role in materializing the sustainability values of this agenda.

The study systematically reviewed Industry 5.0 literature based on the PRISMA protocol. The study further employed a detailed content-centric review of eligible documents and conducted evidence mapping to fulfill the research objectives.

The advancement of Industry 5.0 is currently underway, with noteworthy initial contributions enriching its knowledge base. Although a unanimous definition remains lacking, diverse viewpoints emerge concerning the recognition of fundamental technologies and the potential for yielding sustainable outcomes. The expected contribution of Industry 5.0 to sustainability varies significantly depending on the context and the nature of underlying technologies.

Industry 5.0 holds the potential for advancing sustainability at both the firm and supply chain levels. It is envisioned to contribute proportionately to the three sustainability dimensions. However, the current discourse primarily dwells in theoretical and conceptual domains, lacking empirical exploration of its practical implications.

This study comprehensively explores diverse perspectives on Industry 5.0 technologies and their potential contributions to economic, environmental and social sustainability. Despite its promise, the practical evidence supporting the effectiveness of Industry 5.0 remains limited. Certain conditions are necessary to realize the benefits of Industry 5.0 fully, yet the mechanisms behind these conditions require further investigation. In this regard, the study suggests several potential areas for future research.

This study aims to improve a construction company's overall project delivery by utilising lean six sigma (LSS) methods combined with building information modelling (BIM) to design, modularise and manufacture various building elements in a controlled factory environment off-site.

A case study in a construction company utilised lean six sigma (LSS) methodology and BIM to identify non-value add waste in the construction process and improve sustainability.

An Irish-based construction company manufacturing modular pipe racks for the pharmaceutical industry utilised LSS to optimise and standardise their off-site manufacturing (OSM) partners process and leverage BIM to design skids which could be manufactured offsite and transported easily with minimal on-site installation and rework required. Productivity was improved, waste was reduced, less energy was consumed, defects were reduced and the project schedule for completion was reduced.

The case study was carried out on one construction company and one construction product type. Further case studies would ensure more generalisability. However, the implementation was tested on a modular construction company, and the methods used indicate that the generic framework could be applied and customized to any offsite company.

This is one of the few studies on implementing offsite manufacturing (OSM) utilising LSS and BIM in an Irish construction company. The detailed quantitative benefits and cost savings calculations presented as well as the use of the LSM methods and BIM in designing an OSM process can be leveraged by other construction organisations to understand the benefits of OSM. This study can help demonstrate how LSS and BIM can aid the construction industry to be more environmentally friendly.