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Lean is applied in automobile companies to reduce lead time and waste through value stream mapping. Industry 4.0 is a process of industrial systems revolution in companies driven by digitalization and data-oriented techniques. The combination of both is called Lean 4.0. In this sense, the purpose of this paper is to attend Ultra-Light Steel Auto-body (ULSAB) automotive requirements through Lean 4.0 framework applied in the fabrication of B-pillar by hot stamping. Optimization algorithms are important to simulate different scenarios and interact with these processes. The proposal was developed in the case study by assessments based on semi-structured questionnaires, analysis of records and documents. The findings showed overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) was increased by 41.5%. The contribution of this work was to meet ULSAB automotive requirements for hot stamping process by reducing vehicle weight while increasing structural strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper lays emphasis on a proposal of a tailor-made roadmap that manages the knowledge related to automation skills to be applied during the concurrent engineering phase. The approach of this Research and Development (R&D) roadmap is a particular guideline in a structured form that uses the concepts of Plan-Do–Check–Act (PDCA) method integrated to other quality tools and know-how in robotization, for management of this specific knowledge. This research work aims to guide the staff (project managers, engineers and technicians) who work multidisciplinary in concurrent engineering environment about the robot's implementation steps and significant tips related to the deployment phases that can be beneficial when this proposed roadmap is applied. Also, it was developed to assist the robot's installation and their validation on shop floor, aiming the best class of industrial processes regarding the automation. The main contribution and novelty of this paper is to propose a R&D roadmap that drives and assists the multidisciplinary work teams since the identification of robotization opportunities till the assurance of quality requirements established for the concerned process, in addition to a continuous improvement program to carry it on. Besides that, this work provides a high relevance in terms of knowledge management related to robotization expertise, spread of practical skills in concurrent engineering context and an unprecedented innovative contribution at science frontier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]