The Impact of Industry 4.0 Technologies on Manufacturing Strategies: Proposition of Technology-Integrated Selection

Abstract

Industry 4.0 (I4.0) has increasingly been adopted as an advanced manufacturing strategy to counter global competition. The capability of a company to compete on various manufacturing strategy outputs (MSOs) such as cost, quality, delivery, flexibility, performance and innovativeness play a significant role in motivating the whole company to take advantage of its competitors. I4.0 is comprised of various technologies, and how I4.0 technologies can influence the MSOs are still unclear, and it took less interest in the literature. This article aims to analyze the influence of the I4.0 technologies on MSOs to achieve market competitiveness from the perspective of academic and industry experts. To do so, the influence of the adoption of various I4.0 technologies on the MSOs was investigated. Expert opinions were gathered on the relationship between manufacturing competitive capabilities and I4.0 technologies. The identification of the influential relationships provides arguments for the proposed I4.0 technology selections, which will allow companies to gain a highly competitive advantage. The results showed that the performance (regarding the MSOs) had a high potential for integration with different I4.0 technologies.

Manufacturing strategy 4.0: a framework to usher towards industry 4.0 implementation for digital transformation

“…Here, we propose a detailed taxonomy of manufacturing strategy in the era of industry 4.0 to implement cutting-edge technologies based on the experts' opinions. MS 4.0 can be defined as - MS 4.0 can build an organized structure with the highest world-class level of capability and align infrastructure accordingly to adopt the suitable I4.0 technologies to utilize their benefits to the fullest extent, which in turn enhances the MS outputs in terms of competitive priorities (Abdullah et al, 2022). The steps to formulate MS 4.0 are discussed next.…”

“…The incipient I4.0 technologies pose a noteworthy threat to the organizations willing to implement I4.0 while investing because of the probable financial losses associated with them, resulting in no investment recovery (Lee and Lee, 2020). Apart from this, Abdullah et al (2022) identified that each I4.0 technology can be suitable for achieving a particular competitive priority. Porter and Heppelmann (2014) stated that the output of the industry 4.0 enabled smart factories will be the smart connected products, which can help reshape the industries to offer new competitive opportunities and achieve competitive advantage.…”

“…I4.0 technologies effectively enhance competitive capability dimensions of manufacturing functions, includingcost, quality, delivery and flexibility which results in retaining manufacturing competitiveness (Abdullah et al, 2022;Gupta and Gupta, 2021;Olsen and Tomlin, 2020). Thus, it is essential to evaluate how MS 4.0 framework aids in improving manufacturing competitiveness through successful I4.0 implementation in developed and developing countries through real-life case studies.…”

“…MS 4.0 can build an organized structure with the highest world-class level of capability and align infrastructure accordingly to adopt the suitable I4.0 technologies to utilize their benefits to the fullest extent, which in turn enhances the MS outputs in terms of competitive priorities (Abdullah et al. , 2022).…”

“…The incipient I4.0 technologies pose a noteworthy threat to the organizations willing to implement I4.0 while investing because of the probable financial losses associated with them, resulting in no investment recovery (Lee and Lee, 2020). Apart from this, Abdullah et al. (2022) identified that each I4.0 technology can be suitable for achieving a particular competitive priority.…”