Ahmed Baha Eddine Aichouni

Industrial digital transformation in manufacturing requires more than technology deployment; it also depends on organizational routines that coordinate process discipline, workforce learning, and asset reliability. Drawing on Dynamic Capabilities Theory, this study examines how Total Quality Management (TQM) and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) jointly contribute to economic, environmental, and social sustainability in Saudi food manufacturing, with TPM modeled as an operational mediator. Survey data were collected from 470 distinct food manufacturing organizations across Saudi Arabia between December 2025 and February 2026. A reflective–formative higher-order model was estimated in SmartPLS 4 with the disjoint two-stage approach, 5000 bootstrap resamples, heterotrait–monotrait (HTMT) assessment with bootstrap confidence intervals, and importance–performance map analysis (IPMA). TQM positively affected sustainability performance (β = 0.327, p < 0.001) and predicted TPM (β = 0.592, p < 0.001); TPM, in turn, positively affected sustainability performance (β = 0.534, p < 0.001). The indirect TQM → TPM → sustainability pathway was significant (β = 0.316, 95% CI [0.274, 0.369]), indicating complementary partial mediation; the total effect of TQM on sustainability performance was 0.643. The model explained 59.8% of the variance in overall sustainability performance and 35.0% of the variance in TPM. IPMA identified safety, health and environment, self-maintenance, learning and creativity, and process management as recurring managerial priorities, with human-resource practices emerging as the leading priority for environmental performance. These findings position TQM–TPM integration as an organizational and human-capability foundation for sustainable industrial transformation: quality routines create the conditions for coordinated improvement, while maintenance capability translates them into reliable asset-centered practice. Because the study did not measure digital technology adoption or digital maturity, its contribution to industrial digital transformation is capability- and readiness-oriented rather than an estimate of the effects of specific digital technologies.

The food industry at the global and local levels is increasingly exposed to severe challenges and disruptions because of rising consumer demands, and rigorous and strict local and international regulations related to food safety and environmental concerns, all of which necessitate the adoption of proven and recognized management philosophies and sustainable practices to run the manufacturing process. Although the food manufacturing industry has adopted total quality management, lean manufacturing practices, and other management philosophies, more efforts are still needed to enhance sustainable performance. The purpose of this study is to explore the integrated impact of TQM and lean manufacturing on the sustainability performance of the food manufacturing industry in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, it investigates the causal relationship between TQM and sustainability performance as well as the direct relationship between TQM and lean manufacturing. The survey questionnaire is used as the primary instrument for collecting data from food manufacturing organizations. Based on the literature review, a theoretical framework is built to hypothesize relationships between the constructs. A structural equation modeling and artificial neural network (SEM-ANN) combined approach is used to analyze the results. The findings of the present study show that TQM and lean manufacturing have a positive impact on sustainability performance. The study also identifies the list of valid constructs for total quality management and lean manufacturing, with a high impact of sustainability performance dimensions.

It is imperative to integrate advanced technologies and management practices to achieve operational excellence and sustainability in the contemporary manufacturing landscape, which is characterized by intense competitive pressures and stringent sustainability regulations. This systematic review of several databases from 1997 to 2024 was conducted in line with PRISMA guidelines to investigate how Industry 4.0 and Total Quality Management (TQM) integration can enhance sustainability performance in manufacturing organizations. Grounded within the dynamic capabilities framework, this research identifies the key drivers and barriers to adopting Industry 4.0 and examines their impact on the implementation of TQM. The findings reveal that technologies significantly enhance TQM by improving operational efficiency, reducing waste, and boosting product quality. However, barriers such as resource constraints, resistance to change, and data privacy concerns hinder this integration. This research suggests that dynamic capabilities—sensing, learning, coordinating, and integrating—are critical for successfully merging Industry 4.0 and TQM. This research enhances the academic dialogue on integrating Industry 4.0 and TQM by offering foundational insights into their theoretical and practical implications to achieve sustainability goals.

Working to ensure a safe and secure work environment for workers and employees has become an essential component of achieving organizational excellence in modern organizations. Occupational safety and health (OSH) programs help in attracting and retaining the workforce and human competencies, thus improving the operational and organizational performance of these organizations. Total quality management (TQM) is a management philosophy adopted by successful organizations to achieve sustainable business performance. This study aims to assess the level of implementation of total quality management and occupational safety and health in Saudi organizations and investigates the relationship between total quality management practices and occupational safety and health performance. Data were collected from a number of random organizations during the period November to December 2021. Based on a sample of 99 valid responses, empirical results were obtained through descriptive and advanced statistical analysis, indicating that TQM practices and OHS are highly implemented in Saudi organizations. The statistical results also showed that TQM practices have a significant positive impact on OSH performance in the surveyed organizations. The seven TQM fundamental pillars and the five OSH program components can be considered as essential success factors and fundamental pillars for TQM implementation in organizations and for OSH performance improvement.

Problems in manufacturing have always been a hurdle for leadership, engineers, and professionals. They can lead to low productivity, poor quality, high costs, and ultimately loss of customers. Problems should be prevented by fair means and following well-established methodologies of continuous process improvement. The present paper addresses this topic, which in both academic and professional literature has been discussed from one single angle–that is, how to use a specific methodology in a certain situation. From that perspective, researchers from academia and consultancy promote the use of a particular method. One of the greatest challenges to researchers and practitioners in manufacturing is to select the right methodology for problem-solving and process improvement. The present paper attempts to address this issue from a literature review perspective. The approach followed is based on the fact that understanding the attributes of process improvement methodologies reported in the open literature and their linkages to the main phases of the continuous improvement process will provide insights on how the selection of the methodologies can be carried out in real manufacturing situations.

One of the major priorities for manufacturing companies in the globalized economy is the ability to offer high-quality products to customers at the lowest production cost. Globally, process improvement methods and techniques are used to reduce waste and improve product and service quality. This paper aims to propose a systematic model based on process improvement methodologies and tools to help the manufacturing companies decide on cutting tool life and other manufacturing issues. This research seeks to prove that some common industry practices, such as changing cutting tools in machining processes, can significantly affect the economics of production and the overall performance of the plant. The research is mainly based on analyzing real field data using the DMAIC methodology to identify improvements in order to achieve a balance between economy and quality in a Saudi manufacturing plant. Although the study was concerned only with changing cutting tools in the machining process in an air conditioning plant, its findings and conclusions can be generalized to all manufacturing processes.

Saudi universities in general and engineering colleges in particular have been playing a vital role in the human capital development and providing engineers and technology professionals and leaders to the Saudi industrial sectors. The Saudi vision 2030, through its vision realization programs (VRPs) such Quality of Life and The Program for the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP), strongly based to the new concepts of Industry 4.0, poses challenges to higher education institutions. The present paper answers a fundamental question related to Saudi human capital development in the era of Industry 4.0 through the Design and Implementation of an Engineering Students Club. A generic model (KSA 2030) was adopted to allow Saudi Universities in general and engineering colleges in particular to be able to prepare their students and equip graduates with the Knowledge, Skills and Abilities for Industry 4.0.