Quality 4.0: An exploratory literature review and avenues for future research

Abstract

Purpose - This paper presents the results of an exploratory literature review on the topic of Quality 4.0, conducted with the aim of better understanding what different authors and studies advocate becoming, or already being, Quality 4.0. It also tries to identify avenues for future research in quality management. Design/methodology/approach - The Scopus platform was used to search for the documents, using the research equation: [(“Quality 4.0” OR “Quality Management”) AND (“Industry 4.0”)]. Documents were filtered for date range (2019 to 2021) and for type (articles and conference proceedings). From a total of 148 documents identified for abstract reading, 50 were subject to full reading and exploratory content analysis. Findings - The analysed documents essentially provide theoretical discussions and recommendations on what is or should be Quality 4.0. These were identified and grouped into six categories: Industry 4.0 and the Rise of a New Approach to Quality; Motivations, Readiness Factors and Barriers to a Quality 4.0 Approach; Quality Restructuring; Digital Quality Management Systems; Combination of Quality Tools and Lean Methodologies; and Quality 4.0 Professionals. Research limitations/implications - Studies reporting what is actually occurring, showing how quality is managed in organisations already situated in the Industry 4.0 paradigm, are still hard to find. Questions regarding actual practices, methodologies and tools being used in Quality 4.0 approaches still need to be answered, which calls for further empirical research in the area. Originality/value – The value of this work resides in its broad look at how quality management is changing in response to the affirmation of the Industry 4.0 paradigm.