El impacto de la Industria 4.0 como mediador entre la manufactura esbelta y la sostenibilidad en el sector manufacturero de Ecuador

Abstract

CONDITION FOR PUBLICATION OF PROJECT. Manufacturing industries' competitiveness depends mainly on their ability to optimize production processes under the criteria of efficiency and sustainability. In this framework, the thesis aims to analyze the mediating effect of Industry 4.0 in the relationship between Lean Manufacturing and Sustainability, under the hypothesis that digital tools enhance the benefits of Lean practices in the economic, social, and environmental pillars. The study is justified by the need to generate evidence in Ecuador, where gaps in digitalization and organizational maturity limit the transition to sustainable industrial models. For the development, a structured survey was applied to 131 manufacturing companies, and the data were processed using the partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM). The results showed that Lean Manufacturing positively impacted sustainability, albeit moderately, while Industry 4.0 played a partial and statistically significant mediating role. Likewise, it was identified that companies concentrated on basic Lean practices related to workers, order, and quality. It is concluded that the planned integration of Lean and Industry 4.0 constitutes a key strategy to strengthen industrial competitiveness and move towards hybrid management models that connect organizational culture and digitalization. Keywords: Continuous improvement, Digital transformation, Structural analysis, PLS-SEM modelling, and Sustainable development.