Digital Twin-Enabled Just-In-Time and Kanban Implementation Framework for Industry 4.0 Transformation in SMEs

Abstract

Implementing Industry 4.0 technologies is a big problem for small and medium-sized businesses. JIT (Just-In-Time) and Kanban are both lean tools, but they might take too much time and effort. We plan to fil this gap by creating and testing a working framework that combines cloud-hosted Digital Twins with streamlining JIT-Kanban loops. The framework’s effectiveness was assessed in real-world contexts during a 30-month action research project involving twelve small and medium-size automotive parts manufacturers in Saudi Arabia. Using machine learning algorithms, a shop floor connected to the Internet has been turned into a virtual version. Because of the system, changes to how things are done on the shop floor are now possible immediately.This strategy led to a substantial improvement in performance. Lead times were down by 28%, equipment efficiency went up by 39%, and inventories came down by 47%. It was demonstrated that the framework had a payback period of less than 18 months, which demonstrated its financial viability. It is remarkable that 78 percent of implementations were successful, compared to 31% of digital deployments in conventional settings. 

Article history: Received (July 9, 2025); Revised (August 15, 2025); Accepted (September 9, 2025); Published online (October 27, 2025)