Industry 4.0: what is the relationship between manufacturing strategies, critical success factors and technology adoption?

Abstract

PurposeThis paper examines the relationship between different manufacturing strategies and Industry 4.0's (I4.0) critical success factors (CSFs) and technology adoption.Design/methodology/approachFor that, the authors surveyed 165 practitioners from different manufacturers. Participants provided information about the levels of product customization and production volume in their companies. They also indicated the adoption level of I4.0 technologies and CSFs. Using multivariate data techniques, the authors identified four clusters of different manufacturing strategies and two readiness levels based on the establishment of I4.0 CSFs. The adoption level of I4.0 technologies was then cross compared among clusters to identify which technologies are more likely to be supported.FindingsThe findings indicate that, in low-readiness companies, the adoption level of I4.0 technologies does not significantly differ between manufacturing strategies. However, when companies present a higher I4.0 readiness, the adoption of I4.0 technologies seem to vary according to the existing manufacturing strategy.Originality/valueThis study sheds light on the influence that manufacturing strategies may have on the digital transformation of companies, highlighting which strategies are more likely to offer a context to successfully adopt I4.0 technologies. The identification of these relationships helps to define the expectation regarding the company's digital transformation, determining coherent benchmarks and allowing managers to anticipate potential issues.

Effect of Industry 4.0 on the relationship between socio-technical practices and workers' performance

“…The most frequently mentioned I4.0 technologies in the literature are shown in Table 2. Although common in the majority of studies, their applications vary in terms of focus and context (Tortorella et al. , 2022a).…”

“…The most frequently mentioned I4.0 technologies in the literature are shown in Table 2. Although common in the majority of studies, their applications vary in terms of focus and context (Tortorella et al, 2022a). For instance, with respect to the application focus, research can be found integrating I4.0 technologies into activities such as maintenance (Zonta et al, 2020), scheduling (Rossit et al, 2019), product development (Nunes et al, 2017), circular economy (Nascimento et al, 2018) and logistics and supply chain (Hofmann and R€ usch, 2017).…”

A framework for the prioritization of industry 4.0 and lean manufacturing technologies based on network theory

“…Even though the integration of enabling technologies can generate impressive results, Industry 4.0 projects often fail to achieve the desired benefits or to meet the true interests of JMTM 35,1 organizations (Issa et al, 2018). Studies claim that the effectiveness of these projects relies on the existence of some critical success factors, such as top management support, information technology infrastructure, and skilled employees Pozzi et al (2023), Tortella et al (2022). Along these lines, Bosman et al (2020) argue that the main barriers for the implementation of Industry 4.0 are the overwhelming effect of the high number of technologies available in the market, the lack of interoperability among the technologies, as well as the difficulty to hire employees with the right Industry 4.0 competences.…”

The impact of industrial Internet of things on sustainable performance: the indirect effect of supply chain visibility

“…With the emergence of the fourth industrial revolution concept, which constituted the turning point in adopting emerging technologies related to Industry 4.0, firms became more able to define their requirements and elements of their organizational success (Al-Khatib and Ramayah, 2023). These firms became smarter than before due to using big data analytics (BDA) and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques (Tortorella et al. , 2022a, b), which turned the traditional business form toward smart business (Al-Khatib and Ramayah, 2023; Chatterjee et al.…”

“…Artificial intelligence, big data analytics and the Internet of Things (IoT) are emerging technologies related to industry 4.0 (Chauhan and Singh, 2020; Tortorella et al. , 2022a, b).…”