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The fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0, is expected to cause disruptive changes in industrial production. It is driven by rapid technological developments and the need for manufacturing companies to make oneself independent of high labor costs. Industry 4.0 concerns several aspects of industrial production, including manufacturing logistics, business models and products and services. The applications of Industry 4.0 have been vastly outlined. However, the fit of Industry 4.0 applications in different production environments is not clear. The purpose of this paper is to identify and investigate the Industry 4.0 technologies that are applicable to manufacturing logistics, and how the production environment influence the applicability of these technologies. This is done through a multiple case study of four Norwegian manufacturing companies. The findings from the study indicate that the applicability of Industry 4.0 in manufacturing logistics is dependent on the production environment. Companies with a low degree of production repetitiveness see less potential in applying Industry 4.0 technologies in manufacturing logistics, while companies with a highly repetitive production see a higher potential.

PurposeWhile manufacturing digitalization is currently considered an important enabler of competitive advantage, its applicability across the industrial spectrum is unclear. This paper aims to investigate the relationship between the use of digital technologies and different production environments and company sizes. The focus is on three aspects of digitalization: shop floor digitalization, technologies for vertical and horizontal integration and organizational IT competence.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on data gathered from a survey questionnaire sent to 212 Norwegian manufacturing companies. To test the formulated hypotheses, the two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) method was used.FindingsThis study confirmed that large enterprises (LEs) have a significantly higher level of shop floor digitalization and organizational IT competence than small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Regarding the difference between production environments, no statistically significant difference in the implementation level of the investigated digitalization aspects could be found.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this is one of the first studies to investigate differences in the adoption of digital technologies between different groups of production environments. This study also provides updated findings related to the relationship between digitalization and company size. The findings presented in this paper provide important insights into directing future research efforts to assist environments that are currently lagging behind in their digital transformation.

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