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The purpose of this paper is to present the results of an assessment into how well the Lean Management method will support continuous improvement in the world of Industry 4.0.

Using thematic analysis of literature, the Lean Management method and Industry 4.0 were deconstructed into their constituent elements. Semi-structured interviews were then carried out with five Quality Specialists in manufacturing to gather opinions on how well each Lean element supported each theme of Industry 4.0.

This initial research highlighted that the Lean method can integrate new technologies, to allow it to better support continuous improvement in the world of Industry 4.0. It was found the supportive elements of Lean in the world of Industry 4.0 would include Continual Improvement, Engaging the Supply Chain, Pull Systems and having a Customer Focus.

This was a scoping study as a precursor to further research and was based on the opinions of five Quality/Lean Specialists. However, the results determine that Lean can be supported by Industry 4.0 technologies.

Those constituent elements of Lean which might be updated to better support quality improvement in the world of Industry 4.0 have been identified. A methodology by which expanded research may be undertaken has been demonstrated.

The findings contribute to knowledge by providing a focus on the key supporting elements of Lean implementation for Industry 4.0 in the manufacturing sector.

Building on previous work (Cano and Moyes, 2013; Douglas and Moyes, 2013; Moyes, 2012) this study further develops the proposition that word-of-mouth and customer retention are enhanced through the ‘3 Rs’ of service quality; viz. reliability, responsiveness and recovery. Work to date in this field has developed and tested the model in two different rural locations. However, there may be underlying factors in rural areas which cause the correlation between customer satisfaction and loyalty behaviour to be overstated. Therefore, to control for the possibly distorting effects of rurality, this study examines the loyalty responses of urban service-users.

Using the Critical Incident Technique a study of young, relatively affluent women was carried out in a city-centre in Scotland. The study was carried out in spring 2014 over a one week period. Results were analysed using qualitative analysis software.

Results confirmed the validity of the 3 Rs model. Findings demonstrate that the model is valid for different population densities.

The qualitative method yields rich, insightful data, but the results cannot be generalized to a wider population. The findings provide service providers with a clear set of quality dimensions used by respondents to evaluate their service experiences. Loyalty behaviors were found to be highly responsive to quality evaluations; both repeat purchase intentions and word-of-mouth behaviors are highly quality-elastic.

The results confirm that a business which provides the quality of service which customers expected to receive, which demonstrates responsiveness to customer needs and which remedies failings in service delivery appropriately, will benefit from increased loyalty and word-of-mouth recommendations. Those which fail to provide these three essential elements will suffer loss of loyalty and incur negative word-of-mouth.

A clear set of dimensions is presented which reflect service priorities of consumers.