The Role of Digital Servitization in Transition Economy: An SNA Approach

Digital servitization changes the way in which manufacturing firms offer their traditional products. Digital services support manufacturing firms to transform their product-oriented business models to service-oriented business models. Additionally, digital servitization affects manufacturing firms to offer digital solutions for their customers. According to this influence, the manufacturing firms change their ecosystems with the transition from product-oriented services to digital solutions. This paper investigates the ecosystem transformation of manufacturing firms. The current dataset includes 690 observations of manufacturing firms from the Republic of Serbia in the period of five years. The trend of the use of digital services in manufacturing firms was evaluated using a Social Network Analysis. The empirical results indicate that manufacturing firms from transition economies increased the use of digital services by 20% from 2015 to 2020

Wykorzystanie czwartej rewolucji przemysłowej (Industry 4.0) i koncepcji innowacji organizacyjnych w serbskim przemyśle tekstylnym i odzieżowym

Technological and non-technological innovations represent one of the most important and sustainable sources of competitive advantages for businesses. Industry 4.0, a new fundamental paradigm shift in industrial production and organisational innovation, as new management practices, are important issues for companies as they seek to upgrade their productivity, improve the quality of supply and retain competitiveness. Analysis of technological and non-technological innovations of the textile and apparel industry in Serbia became particularly important in the situation where the Serbian transitional economy opted to alter its growth model. This paper analyses the results of the European Manufacturing Survey conducted in manufacturing industries in a transitional economy – the Republic of Serbia. The current Serbian dataset of 2015 includes 280 observations of Serbian firms of all manufacturing industries. The empirical results indicate that textile and apparel manufacturing companies in Serbia utilise industry 4.0 and organisational innovation concepts on a very low level.Innowacje technologiczne i nietechnologiczne stanowią jedno z najważniejszych i najbardziej zrównoważonych źródeł przewagi konkurencyjnej dla przedsiębiorstw. Industry 4.0, nowa fundamentalna zmiana paradygmatu w produkcji przemysłowej i innowacjach organizacyjnych, jako nowe praktyki zarządzania, są ważnymi kwestiami dla firm, które dążą do podniesienia wydajności, poprawy jakości dostaw i utrzymania konkurencyjności. Analiza innowacji technologicznych i nietechnologicznych w przemyśle tekstylnym i odzieżowym w Serbii stała się szczególnie ważna w sytuacji, w której serbska gospodarka przejściowa zdecydowała się zmienić swój model wzrostu. W pracy przedstawiono analizę wyników badań EMS (European Manufacturing Survey) przeprowadzonych w przemyśle wytwórczym w gospodarce przejściowej Serbii. Przedstawiono serbski zestaw danych z 2015 r., który obejmował 280 przykładów serbskich firm ze wszystkich branż produkcyjnych. Wyniki empiryczne wskazały, że firmy produkujące tekstylia i odzież w Serbii wykorzystują koncepcję Industry 4.0 i innowacje organizacyjne na bardzo niskim poziomie

Use of Industry 4.0 and Organisational Innovation Concepts in the Serbian Textile and Apparel Industry

Technological and non-technological innovations represent one of the most important and sustainable sources of competitive advantages for businesses. Industry 4.0, a new fundamental paradigm shift in industrial production and organisational innovation, as new management practices, are important issues for companies as they seek to upgrade their productivity, improve the quality of supply and retain competitiveness. Analysis of technological and non-technological innovations of the textile and apparel industry in Serbia became particularly important in the situation where the Serbian transitional economy opted to alter its growth model. This paper analyses the results of the European Manufacturing Survey conducted in manufacturing industries in a transitional economy – the Republic of Serbia. The current Serbian dataset of 2015 includes 280 observations of Serbian firms of all manufacturing industries. The empirical results indicate that textile and apparel manufacturing companies in Serbia utilise industry 4.0 and organisational innovation concepts on a very low level.Innowacje technologiczne i nietechnologiczne stanowią jedno z najważniejszych i najbardziej zrównoważonych źródeł przewagi konkurencyjnej dla przedsiębiorstw. Industry 4.0, nowa fundamentalna zmiana paradygmatu w produkcji przemysłowej i innowacjach organizacyjnych, jako nowe praktyki zarządzania, są ważnymi kwestiami dla firm, które dążą do podniesienia wydajności, poprawy jakości dostaw i utrzymania konkurencyjności. Analiza innowacji technologicznych i nietechnologicznych w przemyśle tekstylnym i odzieżowym w Serbii stała się szczególnie ważna w sytuacji, w której serbska gospodarka przejściowa zdecydowała się zmienić swój model wzrostu. W pracy przedstawiono analizę wyników badań EMS (European Manufacturing Survey) przeprowadzonych w przemyśle wytwórczym w gospodarce przejściowej Serbii. Przedstawiono serbski zestaw danych z 2015 r., który obejmował 280 przykładów serbskich firm ze wszystkich branż produkcyjnych. Wyniki empiryczne wskazały, że firmy produkujące tekstylia i odzież w Serbii wykorzystują koncepcję Industry 4.0 i innowacje organizacyjne na bardzo niskim poziomie

A Precondition of Sustainability: Industry 4.0 Readiness

To achieve sustainability and further develop their businesses, manufacturing companies need to find an appropriate response to the frequent changes in customer demands, development of new technologies, and dynamic competition. One of the possible requirements for sustainability is the adoption of the Industry 4.0 paradigm. This paper aims to apply Industry 4.0 general readiness assessment methodology and social network analysis to find out the readiness level of Serbian manufacturing and how digital technologies interplay during the time. The results of this study show that wireless human-machine communication technologies initiated the digital transformation of Serbian manufacturing from non-users to basic readiness level. Secondly, manufacturing companies significantly invested in the Cyber-Physical Production System to increase the level towards high readiness. Finally, manufacturing companies in Serbia should consider investing in capabilities to adapt the Near real-time production control system if aiming to compete with competitors from developed countries. The main contribution of this paper is to show the general readiness level of manufacturing companies for digital transformation in transition economies

Student Performance on an E-Learning Platform: Mixed Method Approach

E-learning is considered a leading application of digital technologies in educational systems. The aim of the paper is to explore the utilization and impact of digital technologies on an e-learning platform. For this purpose, research was conducted at the Moodle learning management system. Data from the e-learning platform were empirically evaluated in order to find key indicators of student performance in different courses. Student success with the e-learning system was evaluated using a mixed-method: Social Network Analysis, K-Means Clustering, and Multiple Linear Regression. The research was conducted at the University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Serbia. The results indicate a significant relationship between the performance of students and the use of digital educational resources from the e-learning platform

Smart and Resilient Transformation of Manufacturing Firms

The smart and resilient transformation of manufacturing firms has flourished in the last decade. This paper investigates the smart and resilient transformation of manufacturing firms with the application of digital services. It uses a Serbian data set of 136 manufacturing firms from the Digital Servitization Survey from 2022 coordinated by IFIP WG5.7. The authors applied a different method approach through social network analysis, correlation analysis, and interviews with representatives from the manufacturing firms. The main results show that manufacturing firms that apply an adequate combination of services and digital technologies have the highest impact on the network of manufacturing firms. Moreover, the results show that applying digital technologies, such as additive manufacturing/3D printing, big data analytics, and digital twin, increases the gross annual turnover of manufacturing firms in the COVID-19 era. Finally, the results show that for a successful smart and resilient transformation, manufacturing firms need to develop a strategy and motivation oriented to profit to be resilient enough to withstand market change

Digital servitization in the manufacturing sector : survey preliminary results

In the contention of the current industrial landscape, an increasing number of manufacturing firms are experimenting with the transition from product-centric offerings to service-based value concepts and product-service bundles as high-value integrated customer solutions to increase their revenues and build sustainable competitive advantages; a phenomenon known as the “servitization” of manufacturing. Nowadays, consistently with the Industry 4.0 paradigm, these companies have therefore started a process of integrating their traditional value offerings with digital services. This recent strategy is known as “Digital Servitization” and consists of developing new services and/or improving existing ones through digital technologies. However, this transformation is challenging, and companies often struggle to achieve their expectations. Thus, this study aims to shed light on the current state of Digital Servitization strategies in the manufacturing sector based on a survey addressed to the top and middle management. The results obtained by the analysis of the data collected from the survey show an increasing trend towards the adoption of digital technologies for enabling innovation and differentiation in service delivery processes