Knowledge management and Industry 4.0: a critical analysis and future agenda

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss how Knowledge Management (KM) can support the Industry 4.0 (I4.0) implementation. The paper analyzes the relevant literature and explores related research opportunities, which can provide insights and assist researchers in future studies. I4.0 technologies can influence work flexibility, autonomy, job performance and innovation, but the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge, especially on the shop floor, remain dependent on employees, indicating human concerns which can be supported by KM. We conducted a literature review on KM and I4.0 on 41 papers selected from the Clarivate Web of Science Core Collection, published between 2010 and 2021. Structured summaries were developed, that lead to broad themes. Findings indicate three themes relating KM and I4.0: Technology, which explores infrastructure demands for implementation and its influence on the knowledge creation process; KM and learning, which reinforces the importance of both hard and soft skills, and indicates the need to investigate enablers factors for knowledge creation and sharing; and Worker engagement, which consider communicational, cultural and trust-related aspects for worker's development. This paper explores the I4.0 implementation and indicate concerns involving workers and the technologies adoption, which can provide insights and assist researchers in future Operations Management practices and related researches.

The perspective of trade union leaders from the Brazilian metallurgical sector on Industry 4.0

“…I4.0 is in the spotlight in the academic, governmental and industrial discussion (Ribeiro et al, 2022), and has an economic and technological background. However, this discussion is "[...] ignoring or treating its social impacts very tenuously [...]" (IndustriALL Global Union, 2017, p. 4), as observed in studies in the private and public sector (Arbix et al, 2017;EU Commission, 2022), which is illustrated in the misunderstanding of the effects of I4.0 on developing economies (Dalenogare et al, 2018;IndustriALL Global Union, 2017).…”

Trade union and Industry 4.0 implementation: two polar cases in Brazilian trucks manufacturing

“…The KM appears implicit in the interviews and indicates a demand for further research related to the capture, share and reuse of tacit worker knowledge during the implementation of I4.0. The discussion on KM in I4.0 implementation is recent (Manesh et al, 2020;Ribeiro et al, 2022), and its influence on the digital transformation of production systems, HRM and the creation of favourable contexts for knowledge sharing is still underexplored (Muniz et al, 2021(Muniz et al, , 2022a(Muniz et al, , 2022b.…”

“…What skills should be developed in workers for I4.0? What should be considered for training your workers?(Mark et al, 2021;Ribeiro et al, 2022) What actions in the human resources sector are considered for (re)qualification of workers?(Kipper et al, 2020;Enad Al-Qaralleh and Atan, 2022;Ribeiro et al, 2022)…”

Industry 4.0 at Brazilian modular consortium: work, process and knowledge in engine supply chain

“…The Knowledge Management (KM) appears implicit in the interviews and indicates a demand to further research related to capture, share and reuse tacit worker knowledge during implementation of I4.0. The discussion on KM in I4.0 implementation is recent (Cassia et al, 2020;Manesh et al, 2020;Ribeiro et al, 2022), and its influence on the digital transformation of production systems, HRM and creation of favorable contexts for knowledge sharing is still few explored (Muniz Junior et al, 2021, 2022a.…”

“…Muniz Junior et al (2022a) discuss that management challenges to support the implementation of I4.0, which includes training review, performance assessment, staff profile, and organizational flexibility are needed. HR programs need to implement new training strategies in order to prepare workers to apply new technologies (Melo et al, 2022;Ribeiro et al, 2022).…”