Does Industry 4.0 Pose a Challenge for the SME Machine Builder? A Case Study and Reflection of Readiness for a UK SME

Abstract

TQC is a special purpose machinery builder. We became aware of the Industry 4.0 concepts and decided to investigate whether we were already prepared for what has been termed the fourth industrial revolution, or whether there were new concepts and practices that our company should adopt.This paper shows the process through which we evaluated the aspects related to the Industry 4.0 definitions. We dissected the various core concepts and then expanded the process to cover the nine pillars on which Industry 4.0 is built. We assessed ourselves against each significant element to see if we understood the concepts and requirements. We asked if these aspects were relevant to our business, we assessed whether our experience and actions to date covered the core of each element. We also looked at the challenges Industry 4.0 poses for the future of our business. This paper is a review of the process and it presents our findings.

Industry 4.0, transition or addition in SMEs? A systematic literature review on digitalization for deviation management

“…In response to RQ1, we could infer that in most assessed cases, the digitalization state seems to be at an early stage; in each work, the focus of the application emerged in response to the company's intention to update its systems to comply with I4.0 tendencies. Jones, Zarzycki, and Murray [45] is the only work that intentionally assesses the overall understanding of the concepts and technology applications under I4.0. In Table 6, the performance attribute can provide a rough overview of the degree of digitalization of smart solutions in SMEs; low-cost investment is a shared concern among the different cases.…”

“…For instance, the works focusing on production and manufacturing processes presented solutions that (a) aimed to decrease processes' variability by replacing manual inspection with automatic visual inspection [27]; (b) improved measurement systems by using measurement sensors that can be adaptable to changes and uncertainties automatically [28]; (c) improved the monitoring of production processes by better production data acquisition and maintenance with a manufacturing-integration assistant [8]; and (d)improved machine speed to perform a high-quality leak test [45].…”

Conceptualizing Smart Manufacturing Readiness-Maturity Model for Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) in Malaysia

“…Visibly, SM is a repackage of the combination of capabilities and technologies that serve as the pillar in making SM happen. The IoT, robotics, cloud computing, big data analytics, virtual reality, system integration, additive manufacturing, cyber security, and cyber-physical system are the pillars of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 [20][21][22][23][24][25].…”

Design and Implementation of Universal Cyber-Physical Model for Testing Logistic Control Algorithms of Production Line’s Digital Twin by Using Color Sensor

“…The idea of an intelligent factory can be defined in terms of Industry 4.0 concepts by applying the above areas. Theoretically, it is based on nine technological pillars: the industrial Internet of Things (IoT) in the form of CPS, big data and analytics, product lifecycle management (PLM) systems, digital manufacturing, cloud computing, augmented reality, autonomous or collaborative robots, additive manufacturing and cybersecurity [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ].…”