scholarly journals Industry 4.0 through the lenses of technology, strategy, and organization A compilation of case study evidence

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (11) ◽  
pp. 14-25
Author(s):  
Krisztina Demeter ◽  
Dávid Losonci ◽  
Róbert Marciniak ◽  
Judit Nagy ◽  
Péter Móricz ◽  
...  

In the last few years, the management literature has become noisy with Industry 4.0 (I4.0). Although several concepts and typologies intend to make the phenomenon more understandable, these endeavours generally focus on technological aspects or specific issues. Therefore, integrated approaches of the I4.0 transformation on the business side and a comprehensive investigation of this phenomenon on the academic side are still needed. This paper synthetizes the lessons of 15 case studies from five sectors (automotive, FMCG, logistics services, retail, and business services) and places them in a triadic framework of technology, strategy, and organization. The case studies are based on interviews, internal documents and public information. This paper reveals that the analysed companies focus on I4.0 technologies that are substantially related to the development of core activities. Companies in a highly competitive global environment (e.g., automotive industry and business services) are more prepared and progress faster with I4.0 technology implementation.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 3438
Author(s):  
Jorge Fernandes ◽  
João Reis ◽  
Nuno Melão ◽  
Leonor Teixeira ◽  
Marlene Amorim

This article addresses the evolution of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) in the automotive industry, exploring its contribution to a shift in the maintenance paradigm. To this end, we firstly present the concepts of predictive maintenance (PdM), condition-based maintenance (CBM), and their applications to increase awareness of why and how these concepts are revolutionizing the automotive industry. Then, we introduce the business process management (BPM) and business process model and notation (BPMN) methodologies, as well as their relationship with maintenance. Finally, we present the case study of the Renault Cacia, which is developing and implementing the concepts mentioned above.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Cimini ◽  
Albachiara Boffelli ◽  
Alexandra Lagorio ◽  
Matteo Kalchschmidt ◽  
Roberto Pinto

PurposeThis article aims to investigate the organisational implications of adopting Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies, giving specific attention to operations. The paper addresses these implications in two directions: organisational prerequisites for, and consequences of, I4.0 technologies.Design/methodology/approachThe research is based on a multiple case study of Italian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in manufacturing. Ten case studies have been developed through interviews, company visits and secondary data collection.FindingsThe multiple case study results show that: (1) a lean organisational structure supports effective adoption of I4.0 technologies; (2) introducing such technologies is linked to developing a new kind of job profile (i.e. the “Autonomous Operative Job Profile”); and (3) higher levels of technology adoption create a higher need for non-technical competences.Research limitations/implicationsA limitation of this research relates to the highly heterogeneous maturity levels of the sampled companies, due to the relative newness of the I4.0 paradigm. Future research could, therefore, longitudinally analyse the technology integration process within organisations.Practical implicationsThis research provides preliminary evidence about how organisations and technologies co-evolve, thus suggesting that managers should co-design these areas. It also demonstrates the extreme importance of designing a structured process and a clear set of human resource management tools to favour SME organisational development.Originality/valueThe study is built upon a conceptual framework derived from the sociotechnical perspective that analyses the interconnections between technology implementation and organisational change. From the results, three research propositions are derived to be tested on a larger scale.


Author(s):  
Hien Nguyen Ngoc ◽  
Ganix Lasa ◽  
Ion Iriarte

AbstractThe transition to industry 4.0 has impacted factories, but it also affects the entire value chain. In this sense, human-centred factors play a core role in transitioning to sustainable manufacturing processes and consumption. The awareness of human roles in Industry 4.0 is increasing, as evidenced by active work in developing methods, exploring influencing factors, and proving the effectiveness of design oriented to humans. However, numerous studies have been brought into existence but then disconnected from other studies. As a consequence, these studies in industry and research alike are not regularly adopted, and the network of studies is seemingly broad and expands without forming a coherent structure. This study is a unique attempt to bridge the gap through the literature characteristics and lessons learnt derived from a collection of case studies regarding human-centred design (HCD) in the context of Industry 4.0. This objective is achieved by a well-rounded systematic literature review whose special unit of analysis is given to the case studies, delivering contributions in three ways: (1) providing an insight into how the literature has evolved through the cross-disciplinary lens; (2) identifying what research themes associated with design methods are emerging in the field; (3) and setting the research agenda in the context of HCD in Industry 4.0, taking into account the lessons learnt, as uncovered by the in-depth review of case studies.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ghizlane El bok ◽  
Abdelaziz Berrado

Purpose Categorizing projects allows for better alignment of a portfolio with the organizational strategy and goals. An appropriate project categorization helps understand portfolio’s structure and enables proper project portfolio selection (PPS). In practice, project categorization is, however, conducted in intuitive approaches. Furthermore, little attention has been given to project categorization methods in the project management literature. The purpose of this paper is to provide researchers and practitioners with a data-driven project categorization process designed for PPS. Design/methodology/approach The suggested process was modeled considering the main characteristics of project categorization systems revealed from the literature. The clustering analysis is used as the core-computing technology, allowing for an empirically based categorization. This study also presents a real-world case study in the automotive industry to illustrate the proposed approach. Findings This study confirmed the potential of clustering analysis for a consistent project categorization. The most important attributes that influenced the project grouping have been identified including strategic and intrinsic features. The proposed approach helps increase the visibility of the portfolio’s structure and the comparability of its components. Originality/value There is a lack of research regarding project categorization methods, particularly for the purpose of PPS. A novel data-driven process is proposed to help mitigate the issues raised by prior researchers including the inconsistencies, ambiguities and multiple interpretations related to the taken-for-granted categories. The suggested approach is also expected to facilitate projects evaluation and prioritization within appropriate categories and contribute in PPS effectiveness.


Author(s):  
Dominik T. Matt ◽  
Erwin Rauch ◽  
Michael Riedl

Industry 4.0 is for most companies and especially for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) one of the major challenges after the wave of lean management. The aim of this chapter is to provide a methodological guidance for the practical use of the Industry 4.0 vision and principles in production system design in the specific context of SMEs. Based on the analysis of literature, a procedure model for the target-oriented introduction of Industry 4.0 principles in SMEs is proposed. A first practical evaluation of the approach is carried out based on two industrial case studies. The experiences made in the industrial cases show that Industry 4.0 is not limited to the application in large enterprises but is very suitable also for SME. This chapter contributes, with its case-study-based methodology, to the existing sparse knowledge on the introduction of Industry 4.0 in SME production systems.


Author(s):  
Dominik T. Matt ◽  
Erwin Rauch ◽  
Michael Riedl

Industry 4.0 is for most companies and especially for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) one of the major challenges after the wave of lean management. The aim of this chapter is to provide a methodological guidance for the practical use of the Industry 4.0 vision and principles in production system design in the specific context of SMEs. Based on the analysis of literature, a procedure model for the target-oriented introduction of Industry 4.0 principles in SMEs is proposed. A first practical evaluation of the approach is carried out based on two industrial case studies. The experiences made in the industrial cases show that Industry 4.0 is not limited to the application in large enterprises but is very suitable also for SME. This chapter contributes, with its case-study-based methodology, to the existing sparse knowledge on the introduction of Industry 4.0 in SME production systems.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jia Hao Tan ◽  
Tariq Masood

Airports have taken centre stage in the fight against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and adoption of technologies has been instrumental in helping airport operators to mitigate operational and health concerns relating to the pandemic. A novel framework for the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies was developed based on the insights gathered from an industry survey of 102 airport operators and managers around the world and 17 semi-structured interviews. The framework provides a ‘three-proof’ approach (proof of technology, proof of operations and proof of business) to guide airport operators in their decision-making process in adopting Industry 4.0 technologies in airports. This framework is further verified through a case study of the technology implementation efforts of a leading Asian airport.


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