The Role and Impact of Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things on the Business Strategy of the Value Chain—The Case of Hungary

Abstract

In the era of industrial digitalization, companies are increasingly investing in tools and solutions that allow their processes, machines, employees, and even the products themselves, to be integrated into a single integrated network for data collection, data analysis, the evaluation of company development, and performance improvement. To study the impact of Industry 4.0 on the company we used Porter’s (1985) value chain model, which is particularly useful when paying particular attention to corporate areas which have a primary role in customer value creation. Since the primary impact of Industry 4.0 is perceived in value-creating processes, and has so far had the greatest transformative effect in this area, the model can be considered to be appropriate. The objective of our research is to discover how companies operating in Hungary interpret the phenomenon of Industry 4.0, what Internet of Things (IoT) tools they use to support their processes, and what critical issues they face during adaptation. We applied a dual methodology in our investigation: We sent an online questionnaire to manufacturing and logistical service companies to investigate the IoT tools they use, and the problems they face, and received 43 answers we could evaluate. We also conducted four expert interviews with manufacturing firms to get deeper insights into the application, critical issues and development phases of IoT tools. During our research, we found that the spread of real-time data across companies—given the availability of appropriate analytical tools and methods—can have a significant impact on the entire company. In the case of CPS (Cyber Physical System), CPPS and Big Data Technologies, companies using them have been evaluated as having a higher level of logistic service, more efficient processes with their partners, improved cooperation between certain logistic functions, and higher market and financial performance and competitiveness. Applying more efficient production processes, and achieving better productivity and economies of scale, might also result in increased economic sustainability. Furthermore, we have found that companies have started on the path to digital evolution, and investments of this type have already begun.

A Maturity Model for Logistics 4.0: An Empirical Analysis and a Roadmap for Future Research

“…The objective is to reduce their impact on the external environment, making them sustainable also from an economic, social point of view. These drivers form a dynamic and challenging environment for companies, and especially in manufacturing industries, they can be addressed with Industry 4.0.If, on the one hand, Logistics 4.0 represents an important innovation, since it is related to a range of problems and issues that affect the sustainability performance of companies, on the other hand, many companies are uncertain, both about the financial effort required for implementing the related technologies, and about the corresponding impact on their business strategies [16]. Accordingly, national plans were designed and prepared by world governments with the aim to guide and facilitate the transition of companies towards Industry 4.0 [17].…”

Use of the Value Chain in the Process of Generating a Sustainable Business Strategy on the Example of Manufacturing and Industrial Enterprises in the Czech Republic

“…These were based on the scientific direction which the authors of the paper fully respected in their scientific work, namely from Porter's scientific approach of creating competitiveness and value in the enterprise. There are many followers of such approach, such as Hill and Jones [37], Robbins and Coulter [38], Magretta [31], Zhang [32], and Nagy et al [35]. In general, it says that a business strategy is a competitive strategy.…”

“…The value chains of the enterprises in different industries are different, and also different value chains are created by the enterprises in the same sector. Such structure depends on the strategy of the enterprise and corporate traditions [35]. The value chain approach is a method of decomposing an enterprise into strategically important activities, while the overall logic of creating a value chain with generic categories of the activities is valid in all industries [28,36].…”

Fourth industrial revolution: a way forward to attain better performance in the textile industry

“…The fourth industrial revolution is most significant in having the latest technology, which leads to improved performance. This industrial revolution has a key role in the attainment of higher performance (Lalic et al, 2017;Nagy et al, 2018;Sandengen et al, 2016;Tonelli et al, 2016) by promoting production and services in an organisation. Industry 4.0 provides the latest technology for the manufacturing process, which promotes organisational performance.…”