Toyota Kata as a Scaffolding for Human-Centric Manufacturing: Applying Lean Thinking for a Digital and Sustainable Factory of the Future

Abstract

Industry has a key role in leading the digital and green transitions for the economic and societal transformations that we are experiencing. The approach towards a sustainable, human-centric, and resilient European industry, so-called Industry 5.0, complements the existing “Industry 4.0” approach by focusing on a circular, human-oriented, and durable industry. Thus, industrial systems need to have a focus shift from technology to human so that technology will serve human and not vice versa. In this way, human play a central role between technology and organizations. This paper seeks the challenge of this focus shift and how lean thinking and practicing soft lean tools such as Toyota Kata may contribute to the development of a human-centric approach in the industry. A literature review was conducted to answer these questions, and a conceptual modified Toyota Kata methodology, the so-called Human-centric Kata, was suggested to assist industry in reaching its goals towards a human-centric green-digital era.