A Multitheoretical Framework for Lean-Enabled Digital Transformation in Industry 4.0

This paper addresses the challenge that many firms face in translating the digital potential of Industry 4.0 technologies (I4T) into meaningful Digital Transformation (DT). It develops a multitheoretical framework in which Lean Practices (LP), conceptualized as an integrated socio-technical system, mediate the relationship between I4T adoption and DT outcomes, defined as changes in customer experience, operational processes, and business models. Drawing on IT-enabled capabilities, dynamic capabilities, absorptive capacity, process management (the productivity dilemma), and sociotechnical systems theory, the paper explains how LP activate and shape the value of digital options created by I4T. The framework proposes that while I4T provide technological foundations for change, LP supply the organizational processes that leverage these technologies, balancing exploitation and exploration, resolving productivity tensions, absorbing new knowledge, and aligning social and technical elements. As a conceptual contribution, the paper offers testable propositions and highlights contextual factors that may condition Lean-enabled DT across industries. Practically, the model guides managers to co-invest in LP and I4T, use LP to design and scale digital pilots, and sequence these efforts into an integrated “Lean 4.0” roadmap that avoids common DT pitfalls and fully harnesses I4T transformative potential.