Master Thesis: Benchmarking lighthouse factories - learning from industry front-runners

Background

A number of manufacturing sites, often referred to as Lighthouse Factories, have been recognized as being at the forefront of digitalization and advanced manufacturing. The concept originates from the World Economic Forum’s Global Lighthouse Network, which identifies and showcases leading factories that successfully implement and scale Industry 4.0 technologies in real operations, delivering measurable and sustained performance improvements. These factories are often used as benchmarks and inspiration for others.

While these factories are often associated with advanced technologies, their success is equally linked to how they organize, implement, and scale their ways of working.

For Tetra Pak, there is a clear opportunity to better understand:

• How leading factories connect data, technology, and decision-making
• How they translate insights into daily operations
• How they sustain and scale improvements over time

This project aims to explore and extract relevant learnings from selected Lighthouse factories, with a focus on applicability within Tetra Pak’s converting factories.

Project Aim

To explore how selected Lighthouse factories work with automation and digitalization in practice, and to identify patterns, principles, and approaches that can inspire and support future development at Tetra Pak.

Scope of the Project

The project is expected to include:

• Identifying and selecting relevant Lighthouse factories to benchmark
• Exploring how these sites work with data, automation, and digital solutions
• Analyzing how insights are translated into operational value
• Understanding how solutions are implemented, scaled, and sustained

In addition to literature studies and university interactions, it is beneficial to deepen the understanding through interviews or direct interactions with representatives from Lighthouse factories.

The exact framing, methods, and analytical approach are expected to be shaped by the student(s), in dialogue with supervisors.

Expected Outcome

• A structured benchmark or comparative analysis of selected Lighthouse factories, including both their current capabilities and the journey taken to reach their current level of maturity.
• Identification of key patterns, success factors, and differences.
• A synthesis of insights translated into actionable implications for Tetra Pak.
• Suggested areas or ideas for further exploration or development.

Profile of the Student(s)

• Master students in Engineering, Business Administration or related fields
• Interest in manufacturing, digitalization, and system-level understanding
• Ability to combine analytical thinking with exploratory work

The project can be carried out individually or in pairs.

Timeframe and Schedule

Full time work one semester.