What does operational excellence mean in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era?

Although the term Operational Excellence (OE) has been widely applied over the past few decades, its meaning is still ill-defined. This issue may be especially aggravated after the advent of the Industry 4.0 (I4.0), which introduces disruptive digital technologies that may help to overcome traditional barriers in operations management. This paper examines the concept of OE in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. For that, we conducted semi-structured interviews with experts from both academia and manufacturing companies, focusing on the shifts in OE's concepts implied by the I4.0 with regards to four key aspects (people, partnerships, processes, and products and services). Experts’ responses had their content analysed through the lens of General Systems Theory, which allowed the formulation of propositions towards the conceptualization of OE in the digital transformation era. Our findings indicated that, although some attributes may remain the same, the emphasis of OE in the Fourth Industrial Revolution is likely to change. The extensive integration of digital technologies into manufacturing companies tends to entail different expectations in terms of excellence in people, partnerships, processes, and products and services. As interconnectivity and cyber-physical systems gain prominence, a more integrative and systemic perspective of OE is facilitated, expanding its meaning and understanding.