Analyzing critical factors of strategic alignment between operational excellence and Industry 4.0 technologies in smart manufacturing

PurposeThe manufacturing sector is highly competitive and operationally complex. Therefore, the strategic alignment between operational excellence methodologies and Industry 4.0 technologies is one of the issues that need to be addressed. The main aim of the study is to determine the critical factors of strategic alignment between operational excellence methodologies and Industry 4.0 technologies for manufacturing industries and make comparative analyses between automotive, food and textile industries in terms of strategic alignment between operational excellence methodologies and Industry 4.0 technologies.Design/methodology/approachFirst, determining the critical factors based on literature review and expert opinions, these criteria are weighted, and analytical hierarchy process is run to calculate the weights of these criteria. Afterward, the best sector is determined by the grey relational analysis method according to the criteria for the three manufacturing industries selected for the study.FindingsAs a result of AHP, "Infrastructure for Right Methodology, Techniques and Tools, is in the first place," Organizational Strategy, is in the second place, while the third highest critical factor is "Capital Investment". Moreover, based on grey relational analysis (GRA) results, the automotive industry is determined as the best alternative in terms of strategic alignment between operational excellence (OPEX) methodologies and I4.0 technologies.Originality/valueThis study is unique in that it is primarily possible to obtain the order of importance within the criteria and to make comparisons between three important manufacturing industries that are important for the economies of the world.