Adamczuk, Gilson

Das, Debabrata

Drogovoz, Pavel

Ghobakhlo, Morteza

Hamzeh, Reza

Kazantsev, Nikolai

Michna, Anna

Muller, Julian

Romanello, Rubina

Tabane, Elias

The concept of Industry 4.0 has been increasingly analysed in the literature, but the experience of SMEs worldwide with regards to the implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies has not been thoroughly examined. Since the national priorities and socio-political circumstances that impact the implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies differ across SMEs worldwide, a systematic analysis is required to capture these differences. This paper develops a model that explains Industry 4.0 transition among SMEs through organizational, technological, legal, and environmental factors in different countries. We consolidate several frameworks of Industry 4.0 adaptation from extant literature into a single model. We follow a multiple case study methodology and incorporate experiences of Industry 4.0 implementation of SMEs of Austria, Brazil, Germany, India, Iran, Italy, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, and UK into the model. By comparing firms of similar size and digitalization level across the available data of various SMEs worldwide, we derive that Industry 4.0 implementation has to be considered not in a single firm, but rather in inter-firm settings where the success of conceptually envisioned horizontal, vertical and end-to-end integration depends on four main drivers: (1) demand of customers and their role in the supply chain, (2) employee skills and culture of manufacturers, (3) local digital policy and (4) technology aspects. The findings would support managers worldwide regarding the implementation of Industry 4.0 in SMEs. Thereupon, the paper derives recommendations for future research

The University of Manchester - Institutional Repository

Integration Model for Industry 4.0 from Multiple SMEs worldwide

Integration Model for Industry 4.0 from Multiple SMEs worldwide

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The University of Manchester - Institutional Repository