Digital Green Lean in depth: questions and answers

In the 2023 concept paper, Gatell and Avella describe Digital Green Lean as a combination of Industry 4.0 and Lean Manufacturing with a focus on sustainability. It uses digital technologies to check and optimise production processes, reduce waste and minimise environmental impact, and it extends Lean as a business culture rather than replacing it.

Also asked as: What is the original definition of DGL in the scientific literature? · ¿Cuál es la definición original de Digital Green Lean en el paper?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 10

According to the authors, to the best of their knowledge the term had not been used in the bibliography before their review. The paper presents it as a concept emerging from the literature on Lean, Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy rather than as a rebranding of an existing model.

Also asked as: Is DGL a new concept in the literature? · ¿Se había usado antes el término Digital Green Lean?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 10

The concept paper proposes the specific term Digital Green Lean Culture as part of DGL. It describes a culture and leadership style that connects the core of Lean, people and continuous improvement, with state-of-the-art digital technologies and a focus on circularity and protecting resources.

Also asked as: What does 'DGL Culture' mean? · ¿Qué es la cultura Digital Green Lean?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 10

The paper asked two questions. RQ1: what is the impact of Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy on Lean Leadership and Lean Culture? RQ2: how can organisations integrate these concepts to drive operational excellence and sustainable growth? It answered them through a systematic literature review.

Also asked as: What did the 2023 paper study? · ¿Qué preguntas de investigación planteó el paper de 2023?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 2

It is a systematic literature review with an inductive, theory-building approach. The search ran in Web of Science and Scopus in four stages during 2021, producing 139 initial relevant papers, of which 82 were analysed in depth to answer the research questions.

Also asked as: What method did the first DGL paper use? · ¿Qué metodología usó el primer paper?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 2 · Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 3

The concept paper, 'Impact of Industry 4.0 and circular economy on lean culture and leadership: Assessing digital green lean as a new concept', by Ignacio S. Gatell and Lucía Avella, appeared in European Research on Management and Business Economics, volume 30 (2024), article 100232, available online in November 2023.

Also asked as: In which journal did the DGL concept appear? · ¿En qué revista se publicó el concepto DGL?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 1

The maturity model paper, 'A maturity model for assessing Digital Green Lean leadership and culture implementation in manufacturing companies', by Gatell and Avella, was published online on 7 May 2024 in Total Quality Management & Business Excellence.

Also asked as: Which journal published the DGL maturity model? · ¿Dónde se publicó el modelo de madurez?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 1

The thesis develops and gives exploratory empirical support to a Digital Green Lean framework centred on culture and leadership. It explains how Lean culture and Lean leadership must transform to accommodate Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy in process manufacturing, through three studies: a systematic literature review, a maturity model and a comparative case study of two aluminium producers.

Also asked as: Summarise the DGL thesis · Give me the abstract of the thesis · ¿De qué trata la tesis doctoral? · Resume la tesis

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 13

Study 1 is the systematic literature review that builds the conceptual foundation. Study 2 develops the DGL culture and leadership maturity model. Study 3 is a comparative qualitative case study of two multinational aluminium producers in contrasting institutional contexts, one in Europe and one in the Middle East.

Also asked as: How is the thesis structured empirically? · ¿Cuáles son los tres estudios de la tesis?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 13

The thesis positions Digital Green Lean as a fourth-generation evolution of Lean Manufacturing, moving the field towards a digital-sustainable paradigm. It keeps the Lean foundations but extends them to include digitalisation and circularity.

Also asked as: What does 'fourth-generation Lean' mean in the thesis? · ¿Es DGL una nueva generación de Lean?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 14

The thesis starts from the observation that operational excellence, technological change and sustainability are arriving simultaneously, each with distinct demands. Companies today do not get to choose which transformation to address first, so the challenge is to build the capabilities for all three without sacrificing operational performance.

Also asked as: Can companies choose which transformation to do first? · ¿Por qué llegan a la vez Lean, digital y circular?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 13

The management literature had not adequately addressed the culture and leadership dimension of the convergence: how organisations build the human and organisational capabilities to implement Lean, Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy together without losing performance. The concept paper also found no article covering the impact of Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy on Lean leadership and culture.

Also asked as: What was missing in management research before DGL? · ¿Qué laguna de la literatura cubre DGL?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 13 · Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 9

The thesis finds that organisations which sequence the transformations, first Lean, then digital, and finally circular, consistently fall short. Capability development for DGL is inherently parallel rather than sequential. This does not mean doing everything at once: priorities can be phased, but the three agendas are considered together from the outset.

Also asked as: Is sequencing Lean, digital and circular a good strategy? · Do I need to finish Lean before starting digitalisation? · ¿Hay que hacer primero Lean, luego digital y luego circular?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 14 · Does integration mean doing everything at once?

Yes, in the comparative case study. In both companies, established Lean capabilities worked as an enabling platform for Circular Economy adoption, regardless of institutional context. Lean provides measurement discipline, process stability, cross-functional problem solving and a continuous improvement orientation, which circular initiatives also need.

Also asked as: Does a Lean system help circular economy adoption? · ¿Es Lean una plataforma para la economía circular?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 178 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 169

A strong Lean base helps, because it brings discipline, stability and problem-solving habits. The thesis does not present it as a stage to complete before the other agendas: capability development for DGL runs in parallel, and the strength of the Lean foundation in each area influences how quickly the digital and circular capabilities can be developed.

Also asked as: Is a strong Lean foundation a prerequisite for DGL? · ¿Es imprescindible una base Lean sólida?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 14 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 178

In the concept paper, Industry 4.0 is the fourth industrial revolution that arose in Germany in 2011 from a government initiative. It combines IoT devices and sensors, cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning, robotics, digital twins, additive manufacturing, augmented reality and cybersecurity, with a focus on data-driven decision-making, automation and optimisation.

Also asked as: Define Industry 4.0 · ¿Qué es la Industria 4.0?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 1

The concept paper describes Circular Economy as an approach that optimises resource usage, reduces waste generation and decouples economic growth from resource depletion. It aims to keep products, components and materials at their highest utility and to design out waste and pollution from the start, using closed-loop material flows that are restorative and regenerative by design.

Also asked as: Define circular economy · ¿Qué es la economía circular?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 2

The concept paper refers to Lean Manufacturing as a term coined by Krafcik in 1988 and popularised by Womack and colleagues in 1990, based on the Toyota Production System. It is a production paradigm proven to improve efficiency, quality, delivery, flexibility and customer satisfaction, and has evolved from a toolkit for waste reduction into a culture of values, principles and behaviours.

Also asked as: Define Lean in the DGL context · ¿Qué es Lean Manufacturing?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 2 · Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 9

The concept paper cites a World Economic Forum report (2019) according to which adopting Industry 4.0 could lead to a 4.5% increase in global GDP and a 15% increase in productivity by 2030. It is quoted as context for the paper, not as a result of the DGL research.

Also asked as: What does the World Economic Forum say about Industry 4.0? · ¿Qué impacto económico se espera de la Industria 4.0?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 1

The concept paper mentions the need for workers with the skills to use and maintain new technologies, the risk of job displacement as automation spreads, and aspects such as developing Industry 4.0 know-how, securing financial resources, integrating employees into implementation and establishing an open, flexible culture.

Also asked as: What are the barriers to Industry 4.0 adoption? · ¿Qué retos plantea la Industria 4.0?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 1 · Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 2

The concept paper notes the lack of market incentives and supportive regulatory frameworks, issues related to intellectual property, taxation and public procurement, and a need for better metrics and indicators to measure the impact of circular initiatives.

Also asked as: Why is circular economy hard to implement? · ¿Qué dificultades tiene la economía circular?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 2

The concept paper explains that Circular Economy requires a systems-thinking approach, with collaboration and coordination between stakeholders from design to disposal along the value chain, and innovative business models such as product-service systems, leasing, sharing and closed-loop supply chains.

Also asked as: Does CE require collaboration across the value chain? · ¿Por qué requiere la economía circular pensamiento sistémico?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 2

The concept paper derives a value proposition from the literature: operational efficiency and cost savings, flexibility and adaptability, environmental sustainability, employee engagement, performance transparency through clear metrics, strategic direction and competitive advantage. These are benefits identified in the literature review, not guaranteed results for any single company.

Also asked as: What value does DGL bring to a company? · ¿Qué beneficios aporta DGL?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 10 · Does DGL guarantee savings or a particular maturity level?

The concept paper gives the example of sensors that track energy consumption, water usage and waste generation in real time, so organisations can identify areas for improvement and reduce environmental impact, and make data-driven decisions to optimise operations.

Also asked as: How can sensors support DGL? · ¿Cómo ayudan los sensores en DGL?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 10

The concept paper recommends assessing the current digital maturity to see where digital technologies can optimise operations, ensuring the skills to implement and manage them, and communicating the importance of Digital Green Lean to employees so that they are engaged and motivated.

Also asked as: What are the first steps to implement DGL according to the paper? · ¿Qué debe hacer una organización antes de adoptar DGL?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 10

According to the concept paper, leaders who embrace DGL must be committed to sustainability and understand that it is a necessity for long-term success, not a nice-to-have. Lean Leadership plays a pivotal role, with coaching, empowerment and respect for people, and with employee engagement and development at its core.

Also asked as: Do leaders need to be committed to sustainability? · ¿Qué papel tienen los líderes en DGL?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 10 · Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 9

The concept paper observes that, due to the high cost of some techniques, companies are moving resources initially dedicated to Industry 4.0 back to the operations line, trying to increase the circularity of their processes and reduce environmental impact. It is an observation from the review, not a universal rule.

Also asked as: What did the paper say about the cost of Industry 4.0 technologies? · ¿Se están desplazando inversiones de Industria 4.0 hacia circularidad?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 10

As of the paper's knowledge cutoff in 2021, no established framework measured the impact of Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy on traditional Lean companies. The follow-up study found that existing maturity models covered either Industry 4.0 or sustainability in Lean, but none treated leadership and culture as the primary drivers, which led to the DGL culture and leadership maturity model.

Also asked as: Why did the authors develop a maturity model? · ¿Por qué se desarrolló un modelo de madurez?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 10 · Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 7

The concept paper reports that the reviewed articles argue that companies using Lean Manufacturing have a competitive advantage in implementing Industry 4.0, and that Industry 4.0 tools directly support the implementation of sustainability as a triple-bottom-line approach.

Also asked as: Is Lean an advantage for digital transformation? · ¿Tienen ventaja las empresas Lean para la Industria 4.0?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 9

In the concept paper's review, only two papers combined the three concepts: one on how Industry 4.0 can integrate with Circular Economy and existing Lean environments, and one on how Lean and Industry 4.0 build competitive power through circular economy principles. Neither addressed leadership or culture.

Also asked as: How many studies cover all three concepts? · ¿Cuánta investigación combina Lean, I4.0 y economía circular?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 9

The concept paper uses the operational principles of Circular Economy of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation: power of the inner circle (minimise resource use by reuse and recycling at every step), power of circling longer, power of cascade use (diversifying reuse across the value chain) and power of pure circles (uncontaminated material flows). It then maps how each affects Lean culture and leadership.

Also asked as: What are the inner circles and cascade use? · ¿Qué principios de economía circular afectan a Lean?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 9

Cascade use means diversifying reuse across the value chain. In the concept paper, lines should be ready to take recycled material from other products or manufacturing lines that could fit into them, which requires more flexibility while keeping robust processes to obtain quality at low cost.

Also asked as: What is cascade use in circular economy? · ¿Qué es el uso en cascada?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 9

In the review, the maximum impact of circular economy lies in topics related to manufacturing and customers. The most affected Lean culture characteristics are continuous improvement, innovation, performance orientation and collectivism; for leaders, flow management, customer focus and zero defects or striving for perfection.

Also asked as: Where does circular economy impact Lean leaders the most? · ¿Qué características de la cultura Lean se ven más afectadas?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 9

The thesis and the DGL material do not include a case from food manufacturing or packaging, so there is no documented DGL result for that sector. What they do offer applies to process manufacturers in general. DGL starts from where the organisation stands in culture and leadership maturity. It treats the pull between cutting waste and closing material loops as an Efficiency vs. Circularity tension to be managed on purpose. In the aluminium scrap case, this meant dedicated circular streams with their own performance expectations. It also develops Lean, digital and circular capabilities in parallel, not in sequence, and uses digital tools to make waste and variability visible in real time. How this would look for packaging waste in a food plant is an adaptation that a scoped assessment would define. It is not a result reported in the sources.

Also asked as: How can DGL help a food factory? · Can DGL be applied to food manufacturing? · How would DGL apply to a packaging plant? · How could DGL help my sector or industry? · Does DGL work in the food and beverage industry? · How could DGL help a pharmaceutical plant with waste? · How could DGL help a plastics or chemicals factory? · Can DGL be used outside aluminium or process manufacturing? · Is there a DGL case for my industry? · How would DGL reduce packaging waste in my plant? · ¿Cómo podría ayudar DGL a una fábrica de alimentos con los residuos de envases? · ¿Se puede aplicar DGL a la industria alimentaria? · ¿Cómo ayudaría DGL a mi sector o industria? · ¿Hay algún caso de DGL para mi industria? · ¿Puede DGL reducir los residuos de embalaje en mi planta?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 201 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 229 · Efficiency vs. Circularity · Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 10 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 14

The lotus has three layers: Lean is the base (lower petals, giving stability through method, flow and improvement), Digital is the impulse (middle petals, bringing data, connectivity and automation), and Green is the purpose (central petal, pointing to resource stewardship and circular flows). The petals reinforce one another and are a reading of the symbol, not an implementation sequence.

Also asked as: Why a lotus? · What do the three petal layers represent? · ¿Qué significa el logotipo de Digital Green Lean?

Sources: Lean is the base. Digital, the impulse. Green, the purpose. · A distinct contribution. One integrated form.

All petals emerge from a common point, using axes at 0°, 30° and 60° and circular arcs. Bronze, old gold and champagne distinguish the three layers; ivory gives space and greens connect the identity to the website. The identity continues the lotus associated with Excellence UAE, with clearer geometry.

Also asked as: How was the DGL symbol constructed? · ¿Qué colores tiene el logo de DGL?

Sources: Shared origin. Consistent rhythm. · One origin. Three connected ambitions.

At the centre are Digital Green Lean systems and subsystems. Around them, the doctoral framework connects cultural characteristics with leadership competences: operational excellence, customer focus, values and principles, personal development and Lean performance. The relationships between these areas matter as the organisation builds new capabilities.

Also asked as: What is at the centre of the framework? · ¿Cuál es el marco de trabajo DGL?

Sources: The Digital Green Lean framework

Materials and information move through suppliers, the production system and customers. Digital technology informs decisions along that route, and circularity brings products and materials back into use. Culture, people and leadership support the choices made throughout the flow.

Also asked as: How do materials and information move in DGL? · ¿Qué es el flujo operativo DGL?

Sources: Operational flow

Lean + Digital: more responsive decisions meet stable standards. Lean + Green: waste reduction meets variability from circular flows. Digital + Green: data makes resource use visible, while circular choices still demand operational judgement. All three together: DGL examines the operating system, culture and leadership needed to navigate their combined demands.

Also asked as: How do the pairs of the three agendas interact? · ¿Qué revelan las combinaciones de Lean, Digital y Green?

Sources: All three together

The doctoral defence presents a triple-layer architecture: external pressures, organisational capabilities and managerial choices meet in the same transformation. Each theory answers a different question, the levels interact, and tension management remains necessary across all three.

Also asked as: What is the triple-layer theoretical architecture? · ¿Cuáles son los tres niveles de explicación?

Sources: Three levels of explanation

Lean grew from Toyota's response to resource scarcity in post-war Japan and reached a global audience through Womack and colleagues in 1990. It connects customer value, flow and waste reduction through Just in Time, jidoka and scientific problem solving. Standard work provides a baseline for improvement, and respect for people treats operators as problem solvers.

Also asked as: What is the Lean foundation in DGL? · ¿De dónde viene Lean?

Sources: Lean Manufacturing

Industry 4.0 emerged from Germany's industrial competitiveness agenda in the early twenty-first century. It connects physical production with software through cyber-physical systems, sensors and industrial networks, with analytics and AI supporting monitoring and adaptive decisions, and digital twins testing changes. Integration depends on interoperability, data quality, cybersecurity and the people interpreting automated outputs.

Also asked as: What is the digital foundation in DGL? · ¿De dónde viene la Industria 4.0?

Sources: Industry 4.0

Circular Economy draws on ecological economics, industrial ecology and systems thinking developed since the 1960s and 1970s. It challenges linear extraction, production and disposal by maintaining product and material value through durability, repair, reuse, remanufacturing and recovery, and extends analysis beyond the factory to suppliers, users and reverse logistics. A circular option must be tested against its operational and environmental consequences, not assumed better everywhere.

Also asked as: What is the green foundation in DGL? · ¿De dónde viene la economía circular?

Sources: Circular Economy

No. DGL is not a bundle of three separate services: culture, leadership and the management of persistent tensions are central to making Lean, Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy work together.

Also asked as: Is DGL a bundle of Lean, digital and sustainability? · ¿Es DGL un paquete de tres servicios?

Sources: Helping businesses put Digital Green Lean into practice

The DGL website describes Industry 5.0 as a future direction: the aspiration is to use DGL in ways that strengthen the role of people, sustainability and resilience alongside technology. It is not a fourth component of the original Digital Green Lean framework.

Also asked as: Is Industry 5.0 a fourth component of DGL? · ¿Es la Industria 5.0 un cuarto componente de DGL?

Sources: Helping businesses put Digital Green Lean into practice · How does DGL relate to Industry 5.0?

The consultancy practice began in 2013 with Excellence UAE, focused on strategy, Operational Excellence and business transformation. In 2023–2024 Gatell and Avella introduced Digital Green Lean in their first scientific publication, followed by the maturity model. The doctoral thesis was defended in 2026 and the current DGL practice builds on it.

Also asked as: When did DGL begin? · ¿Cuál es el origen de la práctica DGL?

Sources: After the thesis · Digital Green Lean

Technology, Circular Economy and Lean Manufacturing change the same processes, people and resources, and managing them separately can create conflicting priorities. DGL connects the decisions and helps leaders manage the competing demands, which remain valid at the same time.

Also asked as: What problem does DGL solve? · ¿Por qué hace falta DGL?

Sources: The Need

The website describes the four tensions as not problems to solve once but conditions leaders need to manage as priorities shift. They do not promise a permanent resolution and must be navigated in each particular context.

Also asked as: Why are the tensions not solved once? · ¿Son las tensiones problemas que se resuelven una vez?

Sources: Integration makes the tensions visible · Operational tensions

It assesses the culture and leadership conditions that support integrating Lean Manufacturing, Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy, drawing on the DGL maturity model and interpreting the result in your organisational context. The engagement combines the agreed instrument with discussion of findings: strengths, gaps and tensions, then practical priorities for leadership and organisation.

Also asked as: What is assessed in the readiness assessment? · ¿Qué es la evaluación de preparación en cultura y liderazgo?

Sources: Culture and Leadership Readiness Assessment

It reviews the operational, technological and Circular Economy dimensions of a defined business challenge, bringing together the relevant evidence and expertise to identify opportunities, dependencies and implementation priorities. The scope may include performance and flow, technology and data readiness, material and resource use, and the culture and leadership conditions for change; areas are agreed before work begins.

Also asked as: What does the integrated assessment cover? · ¿Qué es la evaluación integrada y hoja de ruta?

Sources: Integrated Business Assessment and Roadmap

A possible engagement has four steps: agree the scope, sites and decisions; gather evidence and perspectives across leadership and plant teams; discuss the profile and identify capability gaps in context; develop an improvement roadmap and agree how progress will be reviewed. The exact protocol and comparison basis are agreed for each engagement.

Also asked as: How does an assessment engagement work? · ¿Cuáles son los pasos de una evaluación?

Sources: A possible assessment engagement

Yes. The published assessment workbook consists of Excel annexes dated January 2024, with separate worksheets for DGL culture and leadership, to be used alongside the published maturity model and an expert-guided assessment. It is a free resource and does not constitute a validated automated assessment, and it is distinct from the expert-guided service.

Also asked as: Can I download the DGL assessment annexes? · ¿Hay un cuaderno de evaluación gratuito?

Sources: Published assessment workbook

Understand: build shared language and skills for leaders and teams. Assess: get an expert-guided view through a culture and leadership assessment or a broader business assessment. Act: turn findings into priorities, responsibilities and a practical roadmap, reviewing progress as the organisation tests and scales changes.

Also asked as: How does DGL move from insight to action? · ¿Cómo pasa DGL de la comprensión a la acción?

Sources: Shape an implementation roadmap

You may need to improve throughput, evaluate an automation or AI investment, introduce recovered materials or align several transformation programmes. You may already have a proposal and want an experienced perspective before committing resources. Bring the decision, its business context and the constraints.

Also asked as: Can I bring a decision I have already made? · ¿Con qué problemas puedo acudir?

Sources: Starting with a real problem · Start with the decision in front of you

DGL treats innovation as a capability of the operating system, its culture, routines and leadership, not a separate department. Five channels carry it into daily operations: process innovation through Kaizen Teian, process innovation through Kaizen Blitz, product innovation, open innovation and crowdsourcing, and digital transformation. Each has a different rhythm and involves different people.

Also asked as: How does DGL treat innovation? · ¿Cuáles son los canales de innovación?

Sources: Process innovation · Kaizen Teian

Kaizen Teian is improvement proposed from the shop floor through the suggestion system: continuous and involving everyone. Operators surface problems and ideas in their own work and management evaluates them with visible follow-up. The value comes from the volume and constancy of small steps, supported by standard work and respect for people.

Also asked as: How does a suggestion system work in DGL? · ¿Qué es Kaizen Teian?

Sources: Process innovation · Kaizen Teian

Yes. The five channels meet the same four operational tensions: more ideas, faster events and richer data can strain stable standards, flow and the capabilities of the people who must act on them. Innovation, too, is navigated rather than installed.

Also asked as: Can too many ideas strain standard work? · ¿Las tensiones afectan a la innovación?

Sources: Process innovation · Kaizen Teian

Use the shared contact form on the DGL website, where you can choose the recipient: Digital Green Lean general enquiries, Engage with us for business and implementation support, or Dr. Gatell for leadership, speaking and research. The form sends your message to contact@DigitalGreenLean.com, and you can also connect with Dr. Gatell on LinkedIn.

Also asked as: Where can I send an enquiry? · ¿Cómo contacto con DGL? · What are the recipients in the contact form?

Sources: Let’s discuss your challenge

DGL helps businesses integrate Industry 4.0 and digital transformation, sustainability and circularity, and Lean Manufacturing and operational excellence, to reach higher levels of efficiency and productivity. Together with the client it defines the business challenge, examines the evidence and agrees priorities, responsibilities and next steps.

Also asked as: What is the DGL offering in one sentence? · ¿Qué ofrece DGL?

Sources: Helping businesses put Digital Green Lean into practice · Helping businesses put Digital Green Lean into practice

Yes. Learning and capability development is one of the six ways of working. It starts with a learning needs analysis, connects training with improvement projects and follow-up, and builds shared language and practical skills for leaders and teams working across Lean, digital technology and circularity.

Also asked as: Can you train my leaders in DGL? · ¿Ofrece DGL formación?

Sources: Technology Assessment and Integration · Can training alone deliver DGL transformation?

DGL evaluates Industry 4.0, AI and advanced technologies against a defined business need, examining operational fit, data, skills and expected value before deciding what to adopt and how to integrate it. Operations and IT take part, with constraints, data and joint review of alternatives.

Also asked as: Can DGL evaluate an AI investment? · ¿Cómo evalúa DGL la tecnología y la IA?

Sources: Technology Assessment and Integration (cont.) · Does technology advisory start with selecting a tool?

The publications are: the concept paper (European Research on Management and Business Economics, 30(1), 100232, 2024); the maturity model (Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 35(7–8), 860–897, 2024); the doctoral thesis (University of Oviedo, 2026); the doctoral defence presentation (25 June 2026); and a paper under review on institutional context and circular economy capability development.

Also asked as: List the DGL publications · ¿Qué publicaciones respaldan DGL?

Sources: Impact of Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy on Lean culture and leadership: Assessing Digital Green Lean as a new concept

The thesis is titled 'Integrating Lean Manufacturing, Industry 4.0, and Circular Economy: A Digital Green Lean Framework for Culture and Leadership Transformation in Process Manufacturing', by Ignacio Sánchez Gatell, University of Oviedo, 2026, supervised by Dr. Lucía Avella.

Also asked as: What is the thesis called? · ¿Cuál es el título de la tesis?

Sources: Integrating Lean Manufacturing, Industry 4.0, and Circular Economy: A Digital Green Lean Framework for Culture and Leadership Transformation in Process Manufacturing

The doctoral defence presentation, 'Digital Green Lean: the doctoral defence', is dated 25 June 2026 at the University of Oviedo and is available as a PDF on the research page of the DGL website. It is a visual introduction to the research, framework and tensions, and a useful starting point before reading the complete thesis.

Also asked as: Where can I see the defence presentation? · ¿Cuándo fue la defensa de la tesis?

Sources: Digital Green Lean: the doctoral defence

'Different Paths, Shared Destination: How Institutional Context Shapes Circular Economy Capability Development in Lean Manufacturing', by Gatell and Avella, is research in progress under review. Its full text will be available after publication. The case study chapter of the thesis presents the same study.

Also asked as: What is 'Different Paths, Shared Destination'? · ¿Hay un artículo en revisión sobre contexto institucional?

Sources: Different Paths, Shared Destination: How Institutional Context Shapes Circular Economy Capability Development in Lean Manufacturing · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 164

Yes. The reference library lists twenty selected readings from the bibliography of the thesis, independent research supporting the foundations of DGL. Each connects to a practical question about integration, people, circularity or assessment, with links to publisher pages or repositories; full-text access depends on the publication.

Also asked as: What independent research supports DGL? · ¿Hay lecturas recomendadas de otros investigadores?

Sources: Explicating dynamic capabilities: The nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance

The review identifies ten Lean culture characteristics in three groups. Values and principles: culture of respect (human orientation), collectivism, power distance and authority distribution. Customer-centric: sustainable customer orientation and performance orientation. Operational excellence: receptiveness, working conditions and EHS, problem-solving culture, and continuous improvement and innovation.

Also asked as: List the Lean culture characteristics in DGL · ¿Cuáles son las diez características de la cultura Lean?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 1 · Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 5

The concept paper found thirteen definitions of Lean culture, covering organisational behaviour, philosophy, thinking, ideologies, decisions and leadership style, which shows that Lean culture is multi-dimensional. Lean culture also does not fit neatly into the clan, adhocracy, market and hierarchy typology of organisational culture.

Also asked as: How is Lean culture defined in the literature? · ¿Cómo se define la cultura Lean?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 3

The research builds on Liker's 2004 work, which presented Toyota's 14 management principles linked to organisational culture, and on a previous systematic review of Lean culture by Dorval and colleagues (2019). Liker's 4P model also described a lean philosophy with long-term thinking as a vital part of Lean leadership.

Also asked as: What did Liker contribute to Lean culture? · ¿Qué aportó Liker a la cultura Lean?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 3

In the maturity descriptors for C1, the company develops policies for equal opportunities, fairness and employee care and engages employees as asset protectors. In a digital setting, it is human-centric: robots support operations, people are prioritised over technology for low-physical-intensity jobs, and the organisation is focused on sustainability and conserving natural resources.

Also asked as: How does human orientation show in a digital factory? · ¿Qué significa cultura de respeto en DGL?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 10

In the maturity descriptors, employees express pride, loyalty and cohesiveness, and organisational policies reward teamwork and collective action through teams, committees and similar structures. At higher levels, employees take part in operational decisions, reach consensus on key innovations such as process redesign for circularity, and circularity does not erode team cohesiveness.

Also asked as: How is teamwork measured in the DGL maturity model? · ¿Qué es el colectivismo en la cultura Lean?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 10

The descriptors expect authority to be distributed at all levels with control mechanisms that balance human and machine decisions, failure tolerated and its consequences known, and decisions based on facts rather than tradition or intuition. Job insecurity caused by new technologies or circular changes is dealt with explicitly.

Also asked as: What is authority distribution in DGL? · ¿Cómo gestiona la cultura DGL la incertidumbre y el fallo?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 10

At the top descriptors for C10, the mindset that everything can be improved is set in policies and deployed to all employees, innovation systems involve people at all levels, collaboration is recognised and rewarded, and improvement includes digital activities, cyber-physical and security systems, sustainability policies and process redesign for circularity. Circularity becomes a building block of operational redesign.

Also asked as: What does the maturity model say about innovation and kaizen? · ¿Cómo cambia la mejora continua con DGL?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 12

The model expects the organisation to eliminate non-value-added activity, with participants trained and coached in problem solving by leaders, information technologies used for data-based analysis and faster decisions, and production lines and cycles improved before digitalisation to avoid automating the error. Simulations support decisions.

Also asked as: What is the problem-solving culture in DGL? · ¿Cómo se describe la resolución de problemas en el modelo?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 12

The descriptors include a strategy to place autonomous robots in high-risk areas and cobots in tasks requiring high physical effort, so that technology eliminates, minimises or controls safety, health and environmental risks, with results measured through data analytics. They also expect systems that minimise the impact of circularity on working conditions, with employees trained.

Also asked as: How do robots and cobots fit in EHS? · ¿Qué papel tienen la seguridad y las condiciones de trabajo?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 12

The maturity model assesses both because Lean culture and Lean leadership reinforce each other: leaders create the conditions for continuous improvement, and the culture determines how people respond to new digital and circular demands. The concept paper concludes that integrating Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy requires changes in both leadership and culture styles.

Also asked as: Why assess culture and leadership together? · ¿Cómo se relacionan cultura y liderazgo en DGL?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 1 · Why are culture and leadership central to DGL?

The concept paper cites Solaimani and colleagues (2019) to argue that an innovation culture should be an integral part of Lean culture. It also notes that situations characterised by unemotionality, depersonalisation, subordination, conservatism, isolation and antipathy can hinder transformation efforts.

Also asked as: Do Lean companies innovate enough? · ¿Debe la innovación formar parte de la cultura Lean?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 3

The concept paper cites studies showing that national and organisational collectivism positively influence Lean practice implementation, except in individualistic cultures, and that companies with high Lean performance show higher collectivism, future orientation, human orientation and receptiveness. The maturity model also mentions that national culture impacts global or local policies and is measured.

Also asked as: Does collectivism help Lean implementation? · ¿Importa la cultura nacional en Lean?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 3 · Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 10

The review groups nineteen Lean leadership competences in four families. Customer oriented: customer focus, customer and supplier development, teamworking. Personal development: personal stability and behaviour, human-centric, self-developing and learning, empowerment, self-transcendence, servant leadership. Lean principles: experimentation, continuous improvement and innovation, zero defects, process and lean expertise, problem solving, genchi genbutsu. The fourth family is performance-driven leadership.

Also asked as: List the Lean leadership competences · ¿Cuáles son las 19 competencias de liderazgo Lean?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 1

Servant leadership refers to the humble leader who serves the team, finding ways to make employees work better and achieve better performance. The literature adds it, together with transformational leadership (detecting the need, creating a vision and guiding the change), to the Lean leadership profile. DGL maturity descriptors expect leaders to be humble, trustful, respectful and fair, and to use new technologies to teach and develop their teams.

Also asked as: What is a servant leader in the DGL context? · ¿Qué es liderazgo servidor en Lean?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 6 · Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 14

Genchi genbutsu means going to the place where work happens to see the facts. In the maturity model, leaders are constantly on the shop floor as a philosophy for gathering data, understanding the situation and the circularity status, and coaching; visual management and digital data visualisation are facilitators. The thesis tension work refers to augmented genchi genbutsu, which combines direct observation with digital information.

Also asked as: What is gemba in digital Lean? · ¿Qué es genchi genbutsu?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 14 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 202

Leaders use data analysis, experimentation, hypothesis testing and trials in the Kata sense: they standardise the results, communicate improvements and recognise employees. New technologies enhance performance by supporting experiments, simulations and analytics, and leaders balance technology implementation with sustainability.

Also asked as: What is the role of Kata and experiments in DGL leadership? · ¿Cómo usan los líderes la experimentación?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 14

The descriptor for L15 says the leader masters scientific problem solving, data analysis, root cause analysis and simulation as a way of thinking, and teaches and guides others. Information technologies are used for analysis and decisions, and production lines, robots and cycles are connected and constantly improved.

Also asked as: Do leaders need data skills? · ¿Qué se espera de un líder en resolución de problemas?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 14

At the highest descriptors, external customer processes are designed and integrated with the company's data availability and analytics, leader competences include customer focus, digitisation and sustainability to develop new digital circular processes, and the customer evolves into a data provider and part of the production digital loop.

Also asked as: How does the customer become part of the digital loop? · ¿Qué significa orientación al cliente para un líder DGL?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 12

The descriptor for L2 says DGL is developed for customers and suppliers, with systems integration achieving higher efficiency through process communication and waste elimination. Leaders are capable, knowledgeable and equipped with tools to develop DGL in their internal and external customers and suppliers, and have clear role descriptions and authority.

Also asked as: What is customer and supplier development? · ¿Cómo se desarrollan proveedores en DGL?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 12

The model expects the organisation to communicate its vision, mission and values as long-term and short-term targets, using digital information tools. The thesis refers to paradox-aware hoshin kanri as a way to deploy targets while managing the tension between short-term performance and long-term capability.

Also asked as: What is the role of targets and strategy deployment? · ¿Cómo comunican la visión los líderes DGL?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 14 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 203

In the maturity descriptors for authority distribution, there are controls to prevent biases, and decisions are fact-based, removing tradition or intuition. There are also mechanisms to balance human and machine decisions, so that data and algorithms support rather than replace human judgement.

Also asked as: What role does fact-based decision making have? · ¿Cómo se evitan los sesgos en la toma de decisiones?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 10

The published model has two parts. DGL Business Culture has three dimensions, ten subdimensions and 38 systems. DGL Leadership has four dimensions, 19 subdimensions and 43 skills. In the thesis these are presented as seven dimensions, 29 subdimensions and 81 culture and leadership capabilities, evaluated across five maturity levels.

Also asked as: How many dimensions does the maturity model have? · ¿Cómo está estructurado el modelo de madurez DGL?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 2 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 13

The five levels are Reactive (Level 1), Formal (Level 2), Deployed (Level 3), Autonomous (Level 4) and Way of Life / Culture (Level 5). They trace the organisational learning trajectory from reactive to fully integrated DGL capability.

Also asked as: What are the DGL maturity levels? · ¿Cuáles son los cinco niveles de madurez?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 86

Five levels were judged sufficient to capture the behavioural and organisational trajectory from reactive to fully integrated DGL capability without introducing artificial differences between adjacent levels that would undermine practical usability.

Also asked as: Why did the authors choose five maturity levels? · ¿Por qué cinco niveles?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 85

The paper follows Becker and colleagues' classification of maturity models as descriptive, prescriptive or comparative. The DGL model is presented as the first prescriptive and comparative assessment for DGL leadership and culture, so that companies can assess, compare and develop action plans.

Also asked as: What kind of maturity model is it? · ¿Qué tipo de modelo de madurez es?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 3 · Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 2

The thesis recommends using the model at plant level not as a score to be maximised but as a diagnostic tool for structured conversation and baseline definition: where are we, where do we need to be, what is the specific gap holding us back, and what would it take to close it.

Also asked as: How should a plant use the maturity model? · Is the maturity model a score to maximise? · ¿Para qué sirve el modelo de madurez?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 229

Assessments that engage multiple organisational levels expose the gap between management's perception of maturity and operational reality, and the thesis reports that they consistently produce more accurate baselines and more useful development plans than top-down assessments alone.

Also asked as: Should only management answer the assessment? · ¿Quién debería participar en la evaluación de madurez?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 229

The authors ran a systematic literature review in Web of Science and Scopus to check whether a maturity model already existed for Lean culture and leadership with Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy. Starting from 46 documents they ended with five relevant ones, none covering the combination, and designed the model in phases: scope, design, populate, test, deploy and maintain.

Also asked as: What was the research process for the maturity model? · ¿Cómo se construyó el modelo de madurez?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 5 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 85

Existing models covered either Industry 4.0 in Lean companies, which is the most common, or sustainability in Lean companies. None focused on leadership and culture as primary drivers for Lean implementation, and none combined culture, leadership, Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy, which the authors certified as a research gap as of December 2023.

Also asked as: What was missing in existing maturity models? · ¿Qué faltaba en los modelos de madurez existentes?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 7

The culture part has three dimensions that follow the Lean culture characteristics: Lean Culture values and principles, Lean Culture customer-centric, and Lean Culture operational excellence. They contain the ten subdimensions that correspond to the ten Lean culture characteristics.

Also asked as: What are the three DGL culture dimensions? · ¿Cuáles son las dimensiones de cultura del modelo?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 7

The leadership part has four dimensions: customer, personal development, Lean principles and performance-driven leadership. They contain 19 subdimensions and 43 skills.

Also asked as: What are the four DGL leadership dimensions? · ¿Cuáles son las dimensiones de liderazgo del modelo?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 7 · Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 2

Each subdimension has descriptors that describe observable practices at each level. For example, C1 describes equal opportunities and employee care, C2 pride, loyalty and teamwork, C4 distributed authority and fact-based decisions, and L16 leaders constantly on the shop floor. Organisations compare what they actually do with the descriptors to place themselves.

Also asked as: What is a descriptor in the maturity model? · ¿Qué es un descriptor del modelo?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 10

Per the authors, the paper includes the first development of a prescriptive and comparative maturity assessment for companies to assess, compare and develop action plans in their Lean journey in the context of Industry 4.0, Circular Economy and sustainability. That claim is as of their literature review at the time of writing.

Also asked as: Is there any other maturity model for DGL? · ¿Es el primer modelo de madurez de DGL?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 2

Reactive is the first of the five levels. Maturity models in the literature typically start from a firefighting or reactive stage. In the thesis, stability of basic conditions such as equipment reliability, material availability and quality consistency enables systematic problem solving rather than constant firefighting.

Also asked as: What is the Reactive level? · ¿Qué significa nivel Reactivo?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 5 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 60

Way of Life / Culture is the highest level, where DGL capabilities are fully integrated into how the organisation works. In the case study, the direction of travel to that kind of embedding appears when circular vocabulary and logic show up in procurement, equipment replacement, customer conversations and talent development.

Also asked as: What does the highest maturity level look like? · ¿Qué es el nivel 5 Forma de vida?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 86 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 180

The thesis is explicit about this: the model was developed through conceptual logic and expert validation rather than large-scale empirical testing of its structure and performance relationships. The thesis describes it as an empirically examined self-assessment tool, and the five levels as analytical constructs whose value is judged by whether they enable accurate organisational diagnosis.

Also asked as: Has the model been tested in practice? · What are the limits of the maturity model? · ¿Se ha validado el modelo de madurez?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 231 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 87

The thesis provides a self-assessment tool based on the maturity model for practitioners. For a structured baseline, DGL also offers a culture and leadership readiness assessment, and the initial conversation establishes which approach fits your problem.

Also asked as: Is there a self-assessment tool? · ¿Puedo autoevaluar mi empresa?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 14 · What assessment options does DGL offer?

The thesis suggests making the DGL challenges visible through standard management systems, such as displaying operational, digital and circular metrics together in team performance boards, including DGL challenges in regular problem-solving routines, and documenting what works and what does not so that organisational learning accumulates.

Also asked as: How do I turn the assessment into an action plan? · ¿Qué hago después de la evaluación?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 229

At high maturity leaders are constantly on the shop floor, gather data where it is needed rather than through central control, and run a daily management system supported by augmented reality, simulations and AI. Visual management and digital data visualisation are key facilitators.

Also asked as: How should daily management look in DGL? · ¿Cómo es la gestión diaria en un nivel alto?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 14

The descriptor for L10 says leaders use new technology developments and sustainability principles to teach and develop their teams, for example augmented reality, digital twins or robots, while following the servant model.

Also asked as: Do leaders need AR or digital twins? · ¿Cómo usan los líderes la tecnología para formar equipos?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 14

The model draws on maturity assessments from the literature such as Skalli and colleagues (2023), Treviño-Elizondo and colleagues (2023) and Duarte (2023), whose dimensions include technology, smart processes, leadership and strategy, people, product, customer, supplier and governance. The DGL model adds Lean culture and Lean leadership dimensions.

Also asked as: Which authors influenced the dimensions? · ¿En qué marcos se basa el modelo de madurez?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 7

Lean flow seeks stability and less waste, while Circular loops can bring variable materials and reverse flows. The question is how a plant can keep efficient, stable throughput while increasing recovered input whose characteristics vary from batch to batch. Lean logic dictates minimal work-in-process and tightly controlled specifications; circular logic requires accepting variable returned material and holding buffer inventory.

Also asked as: Explain efficiency versus circularity · ¿Qué es la tensión eficiencia frente a circularidad?

Sources: Efficiency vs. Circularity · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 201

The site's suggested response is to manage material variability with dedicated circular streams and appropriate performance criteria, use A3 problem solving and review operational and circular metrics together. Keep in view that this can add local inventory or coordination effort, so review whether the wider resource benefit justifies it.

Also asked as: What can a plant do about variable recovered material? · ¿Cómo gestiono la tensión eficiencia-circularidad?

Sources: Efficiency vs. Circularity

In the European case, the company created semi-autonomous circular material streams with different performance expectations to handle returned aluminium scrap of variable composition. The thesis calls it a workable response that challenges Lean's ideal of seamless end-to-end flow, and an adaptation rather than a resolution.

Also asked as: Why create dedicated circular material streams? · ¿Qué son los flujos circulares semiautónomos?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 201

Product life extension needs service capabilities, reverse logistics and variable refurbishment, which is the complexity Lean tries to remove. The company separated circular activities into specialised units. That solved the immediate problem but created coordination challenges and sacrificed potential synergies between production and circular operations.

Also asked as: What happened with product life extension programmes? · ¿Cómo gestionó la extensión de vida del producto la empresa de Oriente Medio?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 201

The thesis suggests that Lean-CE integration likely requires accepting suboptimisation in certain areas to achieve system-level circularity objectives, which is a fundamental challenge to Lean's efficiency logic. The decision should assess both local process performance and wider resource value.

Also asked as: Do we have to accept local inefficiency for circular goals? · ¿Exige la circularidad aceptar subóptimos locales?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 201 · Can Circular Economy conflict with operational efficiency?

The thesis suggests that at industry level, sector-wide coordination mechanisms may be necessary to manage circular resource flows that organisations cannot optimise internally. Aluminium is better positioned than most sectors, yet both case companies still met challenges in material-quality management, reverse logistics and customer-supplier alignment.

Also asked as: Can one plant optimise circular flows alone? · ¿Hace falta coordinación sectorial para los flujos circulares?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 202

Lean emphasises standardised work, stable processes and human judgement informed by gemba observation, while Industry 4.0 promises automated optimisation, data-driven decisions and adaptive manufacturing. Visible standards can collide with algorithmic opacity, and some researchers warn that excessive automation undermines the human development that sustains Lean culture.

Also asked as: Explain standardization versus digitalization · ¿Qué es la tensión estandarización frente a digitalización?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 202 · How can standard work coexist with Digital experimentation?

The case evidence confirms the general sequence of stable standards before beneficial digitisation, with a qualification: both companies maintained a continuous interplay. Digitising unstable processes generated data without insight, and over-investing in manual standardisation missed digitisation opportunities. The effective pattern was continuous bidirectional adjustment between the two.

Also asked as: Do you digitalise unstable processes? · ¿Se debe estandarizar antes de digitalizar?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 202

Review standards and digital systems in both directions. Combine gemba observation, validated process changes, operational knowledge and digital literacy. The thesis names the navigation tools as augmented genchi genbutsu, algorithmic stewardship, layered jidoka and nested PDCA, so dashboards support judgement rather than replace it.

Also asked as: What is augmented genchi genbutsu? · ¿Cómo gestiono la tensión estandarización-digitalización?

Sources: How can standard work coexist with Digital experimentation? · Digital Green Lean — Doctoral defence (2026) · PDF page 24

Lean develops problem-solving and collaborative improvement skills; Industry 4.0 requires data literacy, technology integration and analytical reasoning. DGL demands simultaneous dual-capability development rather than substitution: deep operational expertise with broad digital literacy. At the time of the study, neither company had achieved this systematically across the workforce.

Also asked as: What is dual-capability development? · ¿Necesitan los trabajadores competencias Lean y digitales?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 203

It arises from how an organisation frames circularity. The European company approached it through compliance and risk management, positioning circularity as a constraint to be managed efficiently. The Middle Eastern company approached it as competitive advantage and delivery of national vision. The thesis calls it a question of organisational identity as much as strategy.

Also asked as: Explain compliance versus competitive advantage · ¿Qué es la tensión cumplimiento frente a ventaja competitiva?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 203

Neither is inherently superior. Compliance-driven approaches ensure baseline performance and systematic risk management; opportunity-driven approaches enable innovation but risk greenwashing without accountability. Over time the European company began to recognise competitive advantage in its compliance capabilities, and the Middle Eastern company saw the need for accountability structures to validate its claims.

Also asked as: Which framing is superior? · ¿Qué enfoque es mejor, cumplimiento u oportunidad?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 203 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 204

Mature DGL implementation requires a dual framing: treating circularity as a constraint requiring systematic management and as an opportunity enabling competitive advantage. The site suggests treating obligations and opportunities together, with accountable reporting, cross-functional decisions and evidence.

Also asked as: How can I treat circularity as constraint and opportunity? · ¿Qué es el doble encuadre?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 203 · How can compliance become a source of competitive advantage?

In the case study, compliance framing helped mobilise resources through regulatory legitimacy but limited employee enthusiasm by presenting circularity as an obligation. Opportunity framing generated internal energy and innovation but created external scepticism about the depth of commitment behind voluntary practices.

Also asked as: Does compliance framing hurt engagement? · ¿Cómo afecta el encuadre a los empleados?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 204

All three studies found tension between immediate operational performance and long-term capability development. Organisations experience it not mainly as a question of pace but of accountability: pressure to show short-term results consistently undermined the sustained investment that long-term capability needs.

Also asked as: Explain short-term performance versus long-term capability · ¿Qué es la tensión corto plazo frente a largo plazo?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 204

Lean improvements generate relatively quick returns and reinforcing feedback loops; Industry 4.0 investments need longer payback; Circular Economy transformations have the longest horizons, with benefits often accruing to future periods or others. The thesis says the problem is not management will but management infrastructure, since conventional performance systems are poorly equipped for this.

Also asked as: What is the temporal misalignment? · ¿Por qué tienen horizontes temporales distintos?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 204

Both companies created structures with different performance expectations: innovation groups, R&D collaborations and pilot facilities insulated from quarterly pressure. That protected experimentation, but transferring insights back into routine operations proved difficult in both cases. The unresolved challenge is embedding long-term capability building into daily operations instead of isolating it in special programmes.

Also asked as: Are protected spaces for innovation effective? · ¿Funcionan los espacios protegidos de innovación?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 204 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 205

The European company embedded circular targets into annual business planning cycles. The Middle Eastern company experimented with parallel metrics: operational efficiency measured monthly and circularity capability quarterly or annually. Both were genuine improvements, but neither fully resolved the tension.

Also asked as: How can I embed circular targets in planning? · ¿Qué métricas paralelas probaron las empresas?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 205

Review performance over different time horizons, protect capability investment, plan in an integrated way and agree how pilots transfer into normal operations. The thesis links this to paradox-aware hoshin kanri, ambidextrous capability development and decoupled performance metrics.

Also asked as: What is paradox-aware hoshin kanri? · ¿Cómo gestiono la tensión corto-largo plazo?

Sources: Digital Green Lean — Doctoral defence (2026) · PDF page 24 · How can short-term performance and long-term capability be balanced?

Building the cultural characteristics and leadership competences identified in Study 1 takes years, yet headquarters and external stakeholders push for quick results. The maturity model provides a realistic timeframe for managing expectations, but aligning stakeholder time horizons to it is a practical leadership challenge.

Also asked as: Why does human capital development take years? · ¿Cuánto tiempo lleva construir cultura y liderazgo DGL?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 205

Integration is less a convergence on one unified practice than ongoing navigation of inherent dilemmas. It means making dilemmas explicit instead of suppressing them, creating structures that let different logics coexist and inform each other, developing leadership capability for ambiguity, paradox and temporal trade-offs, and keeping dialogue between paradigms so that no single logic dominates.

Also asked as: What does integration involve according to the thesis? · ¿Qué significa integración en DGL?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 205

Efficiency vs circularity and standardisation vs digitalisation were framed theoretically in Chapter 2 and made operationally visible by the case studies. The compliance vs competitive advantage tension only became visible through the cross-case comparison, illustrating the abductive approach. The short vs long-term tension appeared in all three studies.

Also asked as: Where do the four tensions come from? · ¿De dónde salen las cuatro tensiones?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 201 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 203

The areas that made the most progress in the case studies were those whose leadership named the tensions explicitly and created space for dialogue, rather than treating the conflict between efficiency priorities and circular investment timelines as a management failure. Executives should avoid promising that integration eliminates the tensions.

Also asked as: Is conflict between efficiency and circular investment a management failure? · ¿Por qué hay que nombrar las tensiones?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 228

Efficiency vs. Circularity: manage material variability with dedicated circular streams and appropriate performance criteria, use A3 problem solving and review operational and circular metrics together, keeping in view the extra inventory or coordination effort this can add. Standardization vs. Digitalization: review standards and digital systems in both directions, combining gemba observation, validated process changes, operational knowledge and digital literacy, so that data supports judgement and standards are updated when evidence justifies it. Compliance vs. Competitive Advantage: treat obligations and opportunities together through accountable reporting, cross-functional decisions and evidence, using a dual framing of circularity as constraint and as opportunity. Short-term performance vs. Long-term capability: review performance over different time horizons, protect capability investment, plan in an integrated way and agree in advance how pilots transfer into normal operations.

Also asked as: Explain how to manage the four operational tensions separately · Explain how to manage each of the four DGL operational tensions separately. For each one, give one practical action and its supporting source. · What practical action can I take on each of the four tensions? · ¿Cómo se gestiona cada una de las cuatro tensiones? Dame una acción práctica de cada una.

Sources: Efficiency vs. Circularity · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 202 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 203 · How can short-term performance and long-term capability be balanced? · Digital Green Lean — Doctoral defence (2026) · PDF page 24

Drawing on the European aluminium case in the thesis: the company wanted to reintegrate aluminium scrap. Lean logic called for minimal work-in-process and tight specifications, while circular logic required accepting returned material of variable composition, holding buffer inventory and redesigning processes. It created semi-autonomous circular streams with different performance expectations, accepting suboptimisation for system-level circularity (Efficiency vs. Circularity). In both companies the effective pattern between standards and digitalisation was continuous adjustment in both directions, because digitising unstable processes only automated reporting of dysfunction (Standardization vs. Digitalization). Circularity was framed mainly as compliance in Europe and as opportunity in the Middle East, and mature implementation needed both framings (Compliance vs. Competitive Advantage). Protected pilot spaces helped experimentation, but results had to be linked back to routine operations, for example by embedding circular targets in annual planning (Short-term vs. Long-term). Making this visible in daily management means showing operational, digital and circular metrics together on team boards and including DGL challenges in problem-solving routines. These are elements from different parts of the case, presented together as an illustration.

Also asked as: Show an example where the four tensions appear in one plant · Can you illustrate DGL with an aluminium case? · Can you give me a practical manufacturing example showing how DGL manages those tensions together? · Dame un ejemplo práctico de cómo DGL gestiona las tensiones juntas

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 201 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 202 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 203 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 205 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 229

Start with a defined process, technology or circularity question, not with the whole company. Agree the decision, the evidence and the people who need to take part, and consider the operational, digital and circular implications from the outset. A baseline from a multi-level maturity assessment helps you see where you are and what gap holds you back.

Also asked as: What is the first step to implement Digital Green Lean? · ¿Por dónde empiezo con DGL?

Sources: Does integration mean doing everything at once? · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 229 · Starting with a real problem

Yes. Integration means considering the three agendas together when setting direction and priorities; implementation can still proceed in phases. A factory may start with one process or problem while thinking through the operational, digital and circular consequences from the beginning.

Also asked as: Can a pilot line be the starting point? · ¿Puedo empezar con un solo proceso?

Sources: Does integration mean doing everything at once?

The thesis points to cross-functional steering committees with real decision authority (not advisory roles), integrated dashboards that make trade-offs visible, escalation processes to resolve conflicts between Lean, digital and circular logics, and resource allocation that funds integrated initiatives rather than forcing the three programmes to compete for the same budget.

Also asked as: Should I create a DGL steering committee? · ¿Qué gobernanza necesita DGL?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 228

According to the thesis, DGL transformation fails when treated as three parallel programmes with separate champions, budgets and performance metrics. The tensions between the paradigms need active governance, not organisational separation, so executives should position DGL as one integrated transformation.

Also asked as: Is it a mistake to have three separate champions? · ¿Deben ser programas separados Lean, digital y sostenibilidad?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 228

Display operational, digital and circular metrics together on team performance boards and integrated dashboards so that trade-offs are visible and siloed optimisation is prevented. In the European case, environmental KPIs sat on the same daily management boards as throughput and quality.

Also asked as: What should be on the team board? · ¿Cómo deben ser los cuadros de mando?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 229 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 228 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 180

A3 problem solving applies directly to circular material flow challenges, according to the thesis. In the case study, site observation checked whether A3 was being applied to material recovery questions, and the DGL tension guidance suggests using A3 together with a joint review of operational and circular metrics.

Also asked as: Can A3 problem solving help with material recovery? · ¿Cómo uso A3 en problemas circulares?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 229 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 172 · Efficiency vs. Circularity

Gemba walks should examine digital systems and circularity performance alongside physical process conditions. The thesis also asks executives to take part in gemba walks that look at both digital and physical processes, to raise circular material flow questions in business reviews and to include DGL integration challenges in their own development goals.

Also asked as: Should executives join gemba walks on digital processes? · ¿Cómo deben cambiar los gemba walks?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 229 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 228

Through visible and consistent behaviour: joining gemba walks on digital and physical processes, raising circular material flow questions in business reviews and including DGL integration challenges in their own development goals.

Also asked as: What should leaders model? · ¿Cómo pueden los directivos mostrar prioridades?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 228

In both case companies, digitising unstable processes generated data without insight, automated reporting of dysfunctional practices. The maturity descriptors also say production lines and cycles are improved before digitalisation to avoid automating the error. Selling or buying digital solutions in areas with weak Lean foundations produces data without insight and investment without return.

Also asked as: Why does digitalisation fail on unstable processes? · ¿Debo digitalizar un proceso inestable?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 202 · Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 12 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 231

Start from the business problem and operating context, then assess options against process needs, data, people, integration and implementation requirements. The aim is to connect a use case with practical adoption and value; installing a tool is not proof of transformation.

Also asked as: Should I start with a tool? · ¿Cómo elijo una tecnología?

Sources: Does technology advisory start with selecting a tool? · Technology Assessment and Integration (cont.)

The thesis suggests the more durable opportunity lies in assessing DGL readiness before technology deployment and designing implementations that build on process stability. Organisations should assess their current digital maturity and make sure they have the skills to implement and manage the technologies.

Also asked as: Should I assess readiness before buying technology? · ¿Cómo sé si estoy listo para la tecnología?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 231 · Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 10

Involve people in defining problems, testing use cases and improving standard work, and make sure ideas connect with decisions and feedback. The maturity model expects job insecurity from new technology or circular change to be addressed explicitly, and the case study reports that the Lean culture of respect and participation carried over to circular transformation.

Also asked as: What if employees resist digital and circular change? · ¿Cómo implico a la primera línea?

Sources: How can employees participate in the transformation? · Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 10 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 178

The thesis describes three rhythms: Lean results appear within weeks, Industry 4.0 investments mature over months to years, and circular transformations take years. Building the culture and leadership capabilities takes years, and the maturity model provides a realistic frame for managing expectations. No fixed duration or result is guaranteed.

Also asked as: How fast can I see results? · ¿Cuánto tarda una transformación DGL?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 228 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 205 · Does DGL guarantee savings or a particular maturity level?

Protected pilot spaces worked for experimentation in both case companies, but transferring the insights back into routine operations was difficult. The guidance is to give pilots owners and a defined path into normal operations, and to agree up front how results will transfer.

Also asked as: Why do pilots stay isolated? · ¿Cómo escalo un piloto?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 204 · How can short-term performance and long-term capability be balanced?

One company experimented with operational efficiency measured monthly and circularity capability quarterly or annually; another embedded circular targets in annual planning. Both helped without fully resolving the tension. Define baselines, owners and review periods, and distinguish revenue, savings and cost avoidance.

Also asked as: Should circular KPIs be reviewed monthly? · ¿Cómo mido la circularidad junto a la eficiencia?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 205 · How should transformation results be measured?

Define baselines, ownership and review periods and distinguish revenue, savings, cost avoidance and other effects. Claims should rest on evidence, with attribution and double counting considered; the career page itself warns that different programme scopes must not be added together.

Also asked as: How to report savings credibly? · ¿Cómo evitar el doble conteo?

Sources: How should transformation results be measured? · My career (cont.)

The thesis notes that opportunity-driven approaches risk greenwashing without accountability, and that the Middle Eastern company recognised the need for accountability structures to validate its claims. The DGL site adds that meeting a requirement does not automatically create differentiation or prove a sustainability claim; invest with evidence and clear responsibilities.

Also asked as: How can voluntary circular initiatives gain credibility? · ¿Cómo evito el greenwashing?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 203 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 204 · How can compliance become a source of competitive advantage?

Circular Economy extends the unit of analysis beyond the factory to suppliers, users and reverse logistics. In the case study both companies still faced challenges in customer-supplier alignment on circular practices, and the maturity model expects DGL to be developed with customers and suppliers, with systems integration and clear roles.

Also asked as: Why are suppliers important in circularity? · ¿Cómo implico a proveedores y clientes?

Sources: Circular Economy · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 202 · Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 12

The thesis cautions that SMEs face resource and capability constraints that make the higher maturity levels unrealistic without external support, and may need substantially different frameworks. The tension and capability concepts transfer better than the implementation details.

Also asked as: Can a small company reach the highest maturity levels? · ¿Es realista DGL en pymes?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 232

The study covers European and Middle Eastern contexts. Asian, North American, Latin American and African institutional contexts would likely reveal additional pathway variations not captured in the thesis.

Also asked as: Do findings apply to Asia or America? · ¿Funciona DGL en otras regiones?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 232

Both case companies faced pressure from headquarters and external stakeholders to show results quickly while capability building takes years. The maturity model offers a realistic timeframe for expectation management, but aligning stakeholder time horizons is a continuing leadership challenge; the thesis recommends structural protection of long-term investments from quarterly pressure.

Also asked as: What if stakeholders want results fast? · ¿Cómo gestiono la presión de la central por resultados rápidos?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 205 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 229

No. DGL builds on the Lean foundation and extends it. The thesis describes DGL as a fourth-generation evolution of Lean Manufacturing; existing Lean, digital or sustainability programmes are a starting point, and DGL examines overlaps, gaps and conflicting priorities rather than discarding useful systems.

Also asked as: How does DGL compare with Lean and TPS? · ¿DGL sustituye a Lean Six Sigma?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 14 · Can DGL work alongside existing Lean, Digital or sustainability programmes?

DGL is an operational and organisational framework, not a reporting standard. It examines how Lean, digital and circular decisions interact in production and what culture and leadership they need. In the case study, ESG rating platforms were one of the external pressures shaping European operations.

Also asked as: Is DGL a sustainability reporting framework? · ¿Qué relación tiene DGL con ESG?

Sources: What is Digital Green Lean? · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 178

AI belongs to the Industry 4.0 side, supporting monitoring and adaptive decisions. The tension guidance insists that algorithms support rather than replace judgement: controls to balance human and machine decisions, fact-based decisions and layered jidoka. DGL also assesses AI investments against a defined business need.

Also asked as: How should AI be used in operations? · ¿Dónde encaja la IA en DGL?

Sources: Industry 4.0 · Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 10 · Technology Assessment and Integration (cont.)

In the maturity descriptors, robots are considered part of the team and an input for problem solving, autonomous robots are placed in high-risk areas and cobots in high-physical-effort tasks, while people are prioritised over technology in low-physical-intensity jobs. A human-centric culture remains the stated objective.

Also asked as: Should robots replace people? · ¿Dónde encajan los robots?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 12 · Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 10

Digital twins and simulation test possible changes before they are made. The maturity descriptors expect deep learning and simulations in every process or product redesign to optimise the improvement cycle and cost, and simulations before digitalisation help avoid automating errors.

Also asked as: Do simulations help in DGL? · ¿Dónde son útiles los gemelos digitales?

Sources: Industry 4.0 · Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 12

The DGL sources do not prescribe a fixed list. Measures should fit the agreed problem and can include quality, delivery, cost, productivity, resource use and capability development. The concept paper also notes that better metrics are needed to show the impact of circular initiatives.

Also asked as: What do I measure in circularity? · ¿Qué indicadores circulares usar?

Sources: How should transformation results be measured? · Gatell & Avella — Digital Green Lean concept (2023 online / 2024 volume) · PDF page 2

In the European case, the answer was semi-autonomous circular material streams with different performance expectations, which allowed variable-composition returned aluminium and buffer inventory to be handled without breaking the main flow. The thesis notes this is an adaptation, not a resolution, and challenges Lean's seamless flow ideal.

Also asked as: How did the plant manage scrap composition? · ¿Cómo gestionar material reciclado variable?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 201

Reliable compliance establishes a necessary baseline, and in Europe decades of regulation created embedded monitoring capabilities that also feed Lean improvement. Beyond that, organisations can examine whether the same capabilities create customer value, better resource use or new offerings; meeting a requirement does not automatically create differentiation.

Also asked as: Why invest beyond compliance? · ¿Es suficiente cumplir la normativa?

Sources: How can compliance become a source of competitive advantage? · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 176

The thesis reports that organisations which participated in regulatory development, contributing expertise and helping design what compliance looks like, built more sophisticated capabilities faster than those that waited for finalised requirements. It proposes co-production between regulators and industry experts.

Also asked as: Does engaging with regulators help? · ¿Deben las empresas participar en la regulación?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 230

Yes. The culture and leadership focus, the culture-of-respect characteristic, servant leadership and the principle that technology supports people all place people at the centre. A European plant manager summarised it as 'we always say 70% people and 30% machines'.

Also asked as: What is the human side of DGL? · ¿Es DGL centrado en las personas?

Sources: Why are culture and leadership central to DGL? · Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 10 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 178

Research Question 3 asked how regional institutional contexts influence organisational capability development for Digital Green Lean, and what mechanisms facilitate this while maintaining operational excellence.

Also asked as: What was research question 3 of the thesis? · ¿Qué pregunta de investigación abordó el caso comparado?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 164

The comparative case study examined two multinational aluminium producers: one operating under European regulatory-driven institutional conditions and one within the Gulf Cooperation Council's leadership-driven environment. Their identities are anonymised.

Also asked as: Who were the two case companies? · ¿Qué empresas se estudiaron?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 164 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 173

Aluminium offers a productive paradox: it is 100% recyclable without quality loss, yet primary production accounts for approximately 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions according to the International Aluminium Institute. The gap between circular potential and linear operational reality is described as an organisational problem more than a technical one.

Also asked as: Why did you choose the aluminium industry? · ¿Por qué se eligió el aluminio?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 166

Eleven semi-structured interviews were conducted, six in Europe and five in the Middle East, with a senior executive, sustainability managers, operations and plant managers, Lean specialists and supervisors. They took place between May 2021 and August 2022, lasting 65 to 120 minutes (mean 83 minutes), and were triangulated with sustainability reports (2019–2024), site observations and internal presentations.

Also asked as: What was the data collection of the case study? · ¿Cuántas entrevistas se hicieron?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 172

The study used the Gioia methodology with abductive analysis. Analysis went from 68 first-order codes preserving informants' language, to second-order themes through constant comparison with theory, to four aggregate dimensions, supported by MaxQDA 2024. A second researcher reviewed 20% of first-order codes and five informants checked the constructs.

Also asked as: What is the Gioia methodology? · ¿Cómo se analizaron los datos?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 173

The four aggregate dimensions are: regional institutional contexts; organisational capability development; stakeholder-driven transformation; and cultural adaptation processes. Together they trace the pathway from external institutional conditions to internal organisational transformation.

Also asked as: What did the case study find? · ¿Cuáles son las cuatro dimensiones del estudio de casos?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 174 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 175

Through compliance-oriented processes structured by regulatory requirements and stakeholder accountability. Decades of regulatory pressure, such as landfill taxes from the 1980s, produced embedded monitoring and accountability capabilities, plant-level energy programmes with annual targets and digital monitoring infrastructure, which then feed recognisably Lean improvement processes.

Also asked as: What is regulatory-driven implementation? · ¿Cómo desarrolló capacidades circulares la empresa europea?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 176

Through close alignment with national transformation goals: government and top management act as strategic partners, teams are formed immediately, resources mobilised and implementation follows. The capability profile is breakthrough innovation and rapid mobilisation, illustrated by becoming the first company to make metal out of solar energy.

Also asked as: What is leadership-driven implementation? · ¿Cómo desarrolló capacidades circulares la empresa de Oriente Medio?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 177 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 176

No. The thesis concludes that institutional context significantly shapes implementation pathways but does not determine outcomes. Organisations that engage proactively with their institutional environments develop more comprehensive capability sets, and different contexts produce different yet equally viable organisational responses.

Also asked as: How does institutional context shape DGL? · ¿Determina el contexto institucional los resultados?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 14

In both case companies, operational participants largely rejected the efficiency-versus-circular-economy conflict at the level of culture and capability: 'I do not see a conflict, why should there be conflict?' as one participant put it. The thesis adds that the tension is real at the level of specific operational decisions, such as scrap reintegration.

Also asked as: Is there resistance to circular economy in Lean plants? · ¿Ven los operarios un conflicto entre Lean y circularidad?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 175 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 169

The thesis shows that Value Stream Mapping extends naturally to environmental impact at each process step, kaizen events extend to material recovery when leadership frames them that way, and 5-Why root-cause analysis applies to tracing material losses as well as quality defects. In the European case, value stream mapping now includes environmental impact assessments.

Also asked as: Can value stream mapping include environmental impact? · ¿Cómo se extienden las herramientas Lean a la circularidad?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 169 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 175

Site observations checked whether daily management boards had begun incorporating environmental KPIs alongside throughput metrics, whether gemba walks included environmental observation and whether A3 problem solving was being applied to material recovery. In the European case, environmental KPIs appeared on the same daily management boards as throughput and quality metrics, and the placement proved as important as the data.

Also asked as: How do daily management boards change in DGL? · ¿Se incluye lo ambiental en los gemba walks?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 172 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 180

In the European case, new machinery triggers a management of change that is 'not only for safety, but also for sustainability'. The same company deployed circular technologies such as briquetting machines for swarf recovery. The thesis reads this as Lean measurement discipline repurposed for environmental performance.

Also asked as: Is sustainability part of equipment purchasing decisions? · ¿Se incluye la sostenibilidad en la gestión del cambio?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 177

A European plant manager said 'we always say 70% people and 30% machines… involve people and engage people, and the rest will fly'. In the Middle Eastern case the whole language of the organisation began to change, including a campaign against plastics. The thesis reads both as Lean's cultural infrastructure being reused for circular transformation.

Also asked as: Why are people central in the case study? · ¿Qué papel tienen las personas en el caso?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 178

European operations face external stakeholder dominance: regulators, customers asking for certified sustainable products, ESG rating platforms and unions. Middle Eastern operations face internal stakeholder primacy, where top management and government act as collaborative transformation agents. Each configuration builds different organisational competences.

Also asked as: What stakeholders drive circular change in Europe versus the Middle East? · ¿Cómo influyen los grupos de interés?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 178

Both companies used tiered governance to keep site-level circular capability coherent with global direction. The European company used a world roadmap, a European roadmap and a tailor-made plan for every plant. The Middle Eastern executive framed sustainability as adding 'one more string to our bow', an extension of performance priorities rather than a substitution.

Also asked as: What are tiered governance roadmaps? · ¿Cómo se alinean las estrategias corporativas y de planta?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 179

The European case developed recycled aluminium products with 75% post-consumer content and carbon footprints 88% below industry average, with closed-loop customer systems (for example a light pole returned to the cast house for a new one). The circular loop is commercially viable and embedded as a business model. These are the case company's reported results, not guaranteed outcomes for others.

Also asked as: What are examples of circular outcomes in the case study? · ¿Qué resultados circulares obtuvo el caso europeo?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 179

The Middle Eastern case achieved 100% diversion of production by-products to local cement manufacturers, eliminating landfilling. As one participant said, 'Our waste becomes somebody else's feed material', which is a redefinition of what the organisation produces, not only a logistics arrangement.

Also asked as: What does 100% diversion mean in the case? · ¿Qué resultados obtuvo el caso de Oriente Medio?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 179 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 180

The case study shows that circular principles gain legitimacy when connected to performance metrics the organisation already values, and through language. Early initiatives felt like additions to normal work; over time circular vocabulary and logic appeared in procurement decisions, equipment replacement cycles, customer conversations and talent development. The Lean foundation appears to make that direction sustainable.

Also asked as: How do circular practices become embedded in organisations? · ¿Cómo se integra la circularidad en la cultura?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 180

The thesis uses three lenses: dynamic capabilities theory (Teece, 2007) for how organisations build integrated DGL capabilities, institutional theory (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983) for how contexts shape pathways, and paradox theory (Smith and Lewis, 2011) for how organisations navigate the tensions. Resource-based view, sociotechnical systems theory and complexity theory were considered and set aside, with reasons.

Also asked as: Which theoretical lenses does the thesis use? · ¿Qué teorías usa la tesis?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 232 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 233

Complexity theory would explain why the tensions persist but, as the thesis argues, it gives leaders little guidance. Paradox theory directly addresses leadership practices and routines for working with competing demands rather than resolving them, so analytical insight translates into managerial guidance.

Also asked as: Why not complexity theory for the tensions? · ¿Por qué la teoría de paradojas?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 233

The studies carry inherent limits: the literature review depends on published knowledge, the maturity model was built on conceptual logic and expert validation rather than large-scale testing, and the case study covers two organisations, which limits statistical generalisation. Participation concentrated at managerial levels, with limited frontline perspectives. The findings are theoretically informed, empirically grounded propositions, not large-sample conclusions.

Also asked as: What are the weaknesses of the research? · ¿Cuáles son las limitaciones de la tesis?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 231 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 232

The research focused on process manufacturing, specifically aluminium, in large multinationals in European and Middle Eastern contexts. Discrete manufacturing, services and other process industries may behave differently; SMEs may find the higher maturity levels unrealistic without external support. The conceptual frameworks (tensions, capability categories, institutional mechanisms) transfer better than implementation details and level descriptions.

Also asked as: Can I generalise the findings to discrete manufacturing or services? · ¿Se pueden generalizar los resultados a pymes u otros sectores?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 231 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 232

The propositions were not tested deductively. They were developed from theory before fieldwork to structure what to look for, and the abductive analysis let the data confirm, qualify, extend and in some cases revise theoretical predictions. The study aims at analytical generalisation to theory, not statistical representativeness.

Also asked as: Were the propositions tested statistically? · ¿Qué es el análisis abductivo?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 173 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 172

The doctoral research was conducted without any funding from grants, scholarships or commercial entities. The University of Oviedo provided the institutional framework for the doctoral programme and Zayed University in Abu Dhabi hosted the international research period required for the International Doctorate mention.

Also asked as: Who sponsored the research? · ¿Quién financió la tesis?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 12

Professor Lucía Avella Camarero of the University of Oviedo supervised the research. Dr. Waseem Abaza hosted the international research stay at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi.

Also asked as: Who is the thesis supervisor? · ¿Quién dirigió la tesis?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 11 · What is Lucía Avella’s contribution to DGL?

Chapter 8 draws implications for manufacturing executives and senior leaders, operations and plant managers, policymakers and regulators, and consultants and technology providers. For practitioners it provides an empirically examined self-assessment tool and evidence-based guidelines.

Also asked as: What are the practical implications of the thesis? · ¿A quién le sirve la tesis?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 228 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 14

Position DGL explicitly as an integrated transformation, not three parallel programmes with separate champions, budgets and metrics. Name the tensions openly. The most useful mechanisms are cross-functional steering committees with real decision authority, integrated dashboards that make trade-offs visible, escalation processes between paradigm logics, and resource allocation that funds integrated initiatives. Executives should join gemba walks that examine digital and physical processes.

Also asked as: What are the recommendations for senior leaders? · ¿Qué deben hacer los directivos?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 228

Extend the Lean capabilities already present: use A3 problem solving on circular material flow challenges, apply daily management to digital and circular metrics alongside operational ones, and let gemba walks examine digital systems and circularity performance. Display operational, digital and circular metrics together on team boards and document what works and what does not.

Also asked as: How can plant leaders start with DGL? · ¿Qué deben hacer los directores de planta?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 229

Lean improvements deliver visible results in weeks, Industry 4.0 investments mature over months to years, and circular transformations over years, sometimes benefiting the value chain more than the implementing company. The thesis calls for structural protection of long-term DGL investments from quarterly pressure, and treats temporal governance as a necessary condition for sustained transformation.

Also asked as: What is temporal governance? · ¿Qué es la gobernanza temporal?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 228 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 229

Regulatory clarity and stability matter more than stringency in driving deep capability development: the European company benefited from predictability across planning horizons. Organisations that took part in shaping regulation developed more sophisticated capabilities faster, and investments in knowledge infrastructure such as research programmes, industry associations and workforce development generate more benefit than regulatory pressure alone.

Also asked as: Does regulation drive capability development? · ¿Qué recomienda la tesis a los reguladores?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 229 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 230

The most valuable partners engaged with the specific organisational context rather than generic frameworks, built client capability rather than dependency, and were honest about what their solutions could and could not deliver. Implementations that embedded capability in the client outlasted those requiring ongoing external management. Selling digital solutions into unstable, weak-Lean areas generates data without insight.

Also asked as: What makes a good implementation partner? · ¿Qué dice la tesis de consultores y proveedores de tecnología?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 230 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 231

Both case companies found DGL progress was fastest in operational areas where Lean disciplines were already well established. The Lean foundation is not a prerequisite to complete before DGL begins, but its strength in any given area directly determines how quickly Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy capabilities can develop on top of it.

Also asked as: Does Lean maturity speed up digital and circular capability? · ¿Dónde avanzó más rápido DGL?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 229

According to the thesis abstract, organisational learning and stakeholder engagement systems mediate the relationship between the integration of Lean, Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy and sustainable performance.

Also asked as: What role does organisational learning play? · ¿Qué papel juega el aprendizaje organizativo?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 14

The tensions are managed, not resolved. They persist even as organisations mature, and their effective management is a leadership competency in its own right. Organisations that make real DGL progress are not those that eliminate the tensions but those that learn to hold and work them productively.

Also asked as: Are tensions resolved or managed? · ¿Se pueden resolver las tensiones?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 14 · Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 205