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The rapid increase in importance of the remanufacturing operation in the present scenario is just because of its ability to retrieve the functional value of the End-of-Use or End-of-Life products which is as good as the original product. However, customers are still concerned about the reliability of the remanufactured product which is considered as one of the major problems in the area of remanufacturing. The purpose of this paper is to study and analyse the behavioural pattern of the mixture failure rate of a remanufactured product.

In order to analyse the behavioural pattern of the mixture failure rate, different proportions of new and remanufactured products are mixed. In this paper, a two-parameter Weibull distribution is used to observe the mixture failure rate characteristics. Also, the mixture failure rate of the remanufactured product is evaluated under two conditions, that is when the shape parameter of new and remanufactured components is the same and when the shape parameter values are different.

From the analysis, it is observed that the mixture failure rate is always decreasing in nature when the shape parameter values are same. In that case, the value of the mixture failure rate depends only on the proportion of the new components. When the shape parameter values are different, the mixture failure rate characteristics depend upon the shape parameter value of the remanufactured product.

The results of the research can be applied to any remanufactured automotive product. This study also shows the behavioural characteristics of the mixture failure rate of a remanufactured product at different mixture proportions.

Quality 4.0 is being presented as the new stage of quality development. However, its overlying concept and rationale are still hard to define. To better understand what different authors and studies advocate being Quality 4.0, a systematic literature review was undertaken on the topic. This paper presents the results of such review, providing some avenues for further research on quality management.

The documents for the systematic literature review have been searched on the Scopus database, using the search equation: [TITLE-ABS-KEY (“Quality 4.0”) OR TITLE-ABS-KEY (Quality Management” AND (“Industry 4.0” OR “Fourth Industr*” OR i4.0))]. Documents were filtered by language and by type. Of the 367 documents identified, 146 were submitted to exploratory content analysis.

The analyzed documents essentially provide theoretical discussions on what Quality 4.0 is or should be. Five categories have emerged from the content analysis undertaken: Industry 4.0 and the Rise of a New Approach to Quality; Motivations, Readiness Factors and Barriers to a Quality 4.0 Approach; Digital Quality Management Systems; Combination of Quality Tools and Lean Methodologies and Quality 4.0 Professionals.

It was hard to find studies reporting how quality is actually being managed in organizations that already operate in the Industry 4.0 paradigm. Answers could not be found to questions regarding actual practices, methodologies and tools being used in Quality 4.0 approaches. However, the research undertaken allowed to identify in the literature different ways of conceptualizing and analyzing Quality 4.0, opening up avenues for further research on quality management in the Industry 4.0 era.

This paper offers a broad look at how quality management is changing in response to the affirmation of the Industry 4.0 paradigm.

Acknowledging the importance of both lean thinking (LT) and Industry 4.0 (I4.0) for successful business performance and organisational success, the present study investigates the critical success factors (CSFs) for the concurrent implementation of both approaches, a field not yet significantly explored.

The study conducts two systematic literature reviews (SLRs), one on LT and the other one on I4.0 to map out the CSFs for the effective implementation of each approach. These CSFs are subsequently prioritised with the use of a Delphi Study. Finally, from the set of the common CSFs recognised through the two approaches, a more condensed list is put forward as the first step towards achieving a successful synergy between LT and I4.0.

The study’s findings suggest the most important CSFs and determine their definition in the context of a concurrent implementation of LT and I4.0. This can provide managers and practitioners with the awareness of crucial factors, enabling them to take the necessary steps for planning and implementing both approaches.

A concise set of CSFs for the concurrent implementation of both LT and I4.0 has been identified, which can be viewed as a starting point for providing top executives and managers with useful insights into enhanced business efficiency and performance. This study furthermore contributes to the overall body of knowledge on LT and I4.0.

The scholarly literature that explores a common set of CSFs for the concurrent implementation of LT and I4.0 is limited. This gap significantly enhances the importance of the present research, contributing to a better understanding amongst both academics and practitioners of the key supporting factors for the integration of the two approaches.

The purpose of this paper was to understand the difficulties related to asset management observed by experts in Brazilian organizations in light of the requirements outlined in the ISO 55001:2014 standard.

A survey was performed with asset management experts. The collected data were analyzed using frequency analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis and fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to deal solution (TOPSIS).

Based on data analysis, the most critical difficulties observed were related to managing and controlling the impact of changes in the company that affect asset management objectives; to the committing to and supporting the asset management system by the top management of the organization; to manage the processes for dealing with risks and opportunities for the asset management system and plans, and correcting failures in asset performance; and to plan and conduct actions in an integrated manner to identify and minimize adverse impacts associated with the asset management system, and afterwards verifying their effectiveness.

The findings of this study have important theoretical and practical contributions, since they indicate the most critical points observed in asset management in Brazil, which can be used as a source for future research and by professionals to prioritize difficulties in future planning and develop action plans to overcome them. The step-by-step methodological approach presented in this study provides professionals and researchers with a replicable method of identifying potential asset management difficulties in a given specific reality.