scholarly journals Challenges of Industry 4.0 Technology Adoption for SMEs: The Case of Japan

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (20) ◽  
pp. 5807 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Prause
Keyword(s):  
Technology Adoption ◽  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Advanced Manufacturing ◽  
Management Support ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Market Uncertainty ◽  
Market Transparency ◽  
Technology Adoption Model ◽  
Made In China

In the light of several national advanced manufacturing strategies such as Industry 4.0 in Germany or the Made in China 2025 initiative in China, this article examines the challenges of Industry 4.0 adoption of Japanese small and medium-sized manufacturing firms. A technology adoption model for Industry 4.0 is developed and empirically tested with 38 manufacturing companies. The results yield that the market uncertainty of the firm’s business is a significant driver for adoption in the short, medium, and long-term. Relative competitive advantage matters in the short term and top management support in the long-term. No support has been identified concerning advanced manufacturing complexity and market transparency of Industry 4.0 solutions.

Motivation to Invest in Advanced Manufacturing Technology

2013 ◽  
Vol 307 ◽  
pp. 437-442
Author(s):  
Josef Hynek ◽  
Václav Janeček
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Technology Adoption ◽  
Modern Technology ◽  
Postal Survey ◽  
Manufacturing Technology ◽  
Advanced Manufacturing Technology ◽  
Advanced Manufacturing ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Potential Benefits

This paper presents selected results of postal survey focused on advanced manufacturing technology adoption and utilization that was carried out in the Czech Republic two years ago. We have narrowed our focus on motivation of managers of manufacturing companies to invest in modern technology here. We believe that the most important motives are strongly linked to potential benefits that are associated with particular technology and that is why we have studied various benefits of advanced manufacturing technology and we put it into context of the problems the managers have to face nowadays. Our results show that from this perspective there are many good reasons to invest in modern technology.

scholarly journals Industry 4.0 and Technology Adoption in The Garment Industry

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luthfina Ariyani ◽  
Wati Hermawati ◽  
Trina Fizzanty ◽  
Ardanareswari Ayu Pitaloka ◽  
Andi Budiansyah
Keyword(s):  
Technology Adoption ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Product Life Cycle ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Organizational Context ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Adoption Process ◽  
Management Support ◽  
New Production

Industry 4.0 is a major change that occurs in the manufacturing industry where the application of internet-based technology and information technology is key in forming a value chain network. This study aims to explore the application of industry 4.0 in the perspective of technology adoption theory, with a qualitative approach to five garment companies in Indonesia. Application of Industry 4.0 is seen in two aspects, namely technology for production and management, and Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) Framework is used as a reference in analysing the factors that influence companies in adopting industry 4.0. The results of this study indicated that Indonesian garment companies have done a considerable technological transformation into more sophisticated direction. Adoption of new production machines, improvement in software systems, and the new and improved construction of factories that lead to the use of more modern technology were conducted at firm level. However, in general there are no companies that completely deploy industry 4.0. Several factors were identified as the determinants to this adoption process; in the technological context it consists of benefits and costs consideration; in the organizational context, it includes management support and workforce competence; while in the environmental context it consists of the product life cycle, global competition, and government support.

scholarly journals The road towards industry 4.0: a comparative study of the state-of-the-art in the Italian manufacturing industry

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ting Zheng ◽  
Marco Ardolino ◽  
Andrea Bacchetti ◽  
Marco Perona
Keyword(s):  
Technology Adoption ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
The State ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Business Functions ◽  
Italian Manufacturing Firms

PurposeThis paper has two objectives: first, to investigate the state-of-the-art of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) adoption in Italian manufacturing firms and, second, to understand variations in technologies implemented and business functions involved, benefits perceived, and obstacles encountered in I4.0 implementation over a three-year period.Design/methodology/approachThe approach adopted in this research is descriptive, nesting longitudinal features. The paper presents a descriptive survey of 102 Italian manufacturing companies. The authors also evaluated non-response biases. The longitudinal approach was achieved by comparing the responses of the 40 sub-samples in common with a second similar survey launched three years prior, which aimed to identify patterns of evolution in the adoption of the I4.0 paradigm.FindingsSurvey findings demonstrate that Italian manufacturing companies still have limited awareness of I4.0 technologies, and the adoption of I4.0 technologies differs per technology. Company size and information system coverage level are the two factors that impact the company's technology adoption level. The comparative study shows that knowledge and adoption increase in a three-year interval with an unbalanced involvement of business functions regarding the I4.0 transformation. Indeed, companies are still seeking I4.0 solutions to reduce costs and lead times primarily, and the benefits perceived by companies are shown to be related to the number of I4.0 technologies in use. Finally, when companies put the I4.0 technologies into practice, competence is constantly considered the most significant barrier.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper aims at conducting a thorough investigation into the development of I4.0 adoption in manufacturing companies. The main limitation of this study concerns the limited number of subjects involved in the longitudinal study (40) and the focus on a limited geographical area (Italy). In addition, more I4.0 technologies could also be incorporated into the survey protocol to gain further insight into I4.0 development.Originality/valueThe authors provide one of the first attempts to assess the variations of I4.0 implementation concerning technology adoption, business function involvement, and the alteration of benefits and obstacles. Several studies presented in the literature highlight the lack of longitudinal studies investigating the development of the I4.0 paradigm in a specific manufacturing context: this paper is the attempt at filling this gap.

scholarly journals Challenges with Coordination of Technology Development and Transfer of Industry 4.0 Technologies in IMNs

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viktorija Badasjane ◽  
Mats Alhskog ◽  
Anna Granlund ◽  
Jessica Bruch
Keyword(s):  
Internet Of Things ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Technology Development ◽  
New Products ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Manufacturing Network ◽  
Embedded Case Study

Within an international manufacturing network (IMN), one particular factory, called the lead factory is responsible for development of new products, processes and technologies as well as transferring these to the subsidiaries within the IMN. These responsibilities require coordination, which is found difficult even in the best-performing companies due to its complexity. When the responsibility for development of Industry 4.0 technologies are included such as cyber-physical systems and Internet of Things the complexity increases further. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to identify what are the challenges with coordination of technology development and transfer of Industry 4.0 technologies in IMNs. Accordingly, a real-time embedded case study was carried out with six manufacturing companies. One major finding is that development of Industry 4.0 technologies does not fit the current way of organizing technology development at lead factories. Another finding is that several of the identified challenges connected to technology development can be derived from a lack of a long-term strategy ensuring competence for future needs.

Development of a structural model based on ISM for analysis of barriers to integration of leanwith industry 4.0

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vigneshvaran R ◽  
S. Vinodh
Keyword(s):  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Customer Value ◽  
Structural Model ◽  
Management Support ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Original Contribution ◽  
Barriers To Integration ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeTo develop a structural model based on Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) approach to analyse the barriers to integration of Lean with Industry 4.0.Design/methodology/approachIntegrated lean and I4.0 is essential for optimising customer value, rapid product design and redesign to comply with customer demand on time. Also, manufacturing processes to be made more flexible, intelligent and agile. In this context, integrated lean and Industry 4.0 barriers were identified and an ISM approach is employed to identify hierarchical structure of barriers and analysed.FindingsThe result obtained reflects that barriers “increasing competitive pressure”, “lack of long-term vision”, “lack of management support”, “lack of capital fund” are found to be the important barriers that affect the integration of lean and I4.0.Research limitations/implicationsIn the present study, 16 barriers are analysed. In future, additional barriers could be included.Practical implicationsThe driving and dependence power of barriers were analysed from ISM model and it provided guidance for practitioners to concentrate on barriers for integrating lean and I4.0.Originality/valueThe idea of developing structural model for analysis of barriers to integration of lean with I4.0 is the original contribution.

Using Advanced Manufacturing Technologies Related to Industry 4.0

2020 ◽  
pp. 127-146
Author(s):  
Iztok Palčič ◽  
Borut Buchmeister ◽  
Robert Ojsteršek
Keyword(s):  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
New Products ◽  
Advanced Manufacturing ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Product Complexity ◽  
Complex Products ◽  
Advanced Manufacturing Technologies ◽  
Manufacturing Technologies ◽  
Technological Intensity

This chapter deals with the use of advanced manufacturing technologies in Slovenian manufacturing companies in the light of Industry 4.0. The main objective of the chapter is to determine the adoption of technologies in manufacturing companies, and to analyse how selected technologies affect different company characteristics. The authors have analysed the differences in the use of technologies, depending on the company size, technological intensity, product complexity, ability to introduce new products, etc. Results are based on a sample of 118 Slovenian manufacturing companies, whose data were obtained through the 2018/19 European Manufacturing Survey edition. The results are presented with the use of descriptive statistics, and they show that the use of specific technologies in Slovenian manufacturing companies is quite diverse. They found out that the number of technologies used and the potential of their use have a positive impact on the product characteristic in terms of increasing the ability to manufacture complex products and to introduce new products to the market.

Sociotechnical factors and Industry 4.0: an integrative perspective for the adoption of smart manufacturing technologies

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Érico Marcon ◽  
Marlon Soliman ◽  
Wolfgang Gerstlberger ◽  
Alejandro G. Frank
Keyword(s):  
Technology Adoption ◽  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Work Organization ◽  
Organizational Factors ◽  
Smart Manufacturing ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Manufacturing Technologies ◽  
Systemic View

PurposeAs the level of implementation of Industry 4.0 increases, misalignments between adopted technologies and organizational factors may result in benefits below expected. This paper aims to analyze how organizational factors can contribute to a higher level of adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies. The paper uses a sociotechnical perspective lens to achieve this aim.Design/methodology/approachUsing a sample of 231 manufacturing companies in Denmark, a leading country in Industry 4.0 readiness, the paper analyzes through cluster analysis and logistic regression whether the development of four sociotechnical dimensions – that is, Social, Technical, Work Organization and Environmental factors – in these companies can benefit the achievement of higher levels of Industry 4.0 technology adoption.FindingsThe results show that companies focused on the development of sociotechnical aspects generally present higher Industry 4.0 adoption levels. However, some sociotechnical factors are less supportive than others.Originality/valueBased on these results, practitioners can plan the adoption of advanced technologies, using a systemic organizational view. This study provides evidence on a growing field with few empirical studies available. The paper contributes by providing an analysis of a leading country in Industry 4.0 implementation, presenting a systemic view on technology adoption in the Industry 4.0 context.

scholarly journals The importance of social networks for the SME’s innovation potential in Industry 4.0

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 48-61
Author(s):  
Přemysl Písař ◽  
Andrea Tomášková
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Experimental Testing ◽  
Management Support ◽  
Research Results ◽  
Term Stability ◽  
Long Term Stability ◽  
Innovation Potential ◽  
Main Component

Social network usage is a prerequisite for the functioning of companies and their competitiveness. The level, focus of their usage, and link with the company process are important. This research focuses on SMEs, how they use social networks, and how this affects their innovation potential. The study aims to determine the importance of social networks for SME’s competitiveness and long-term stability. To achieve this goal, 359 European SMEs were studied (2017–2019), two research questions and seven hypotheses were developed. Pearson’s correlation and stepwise regression were used, and the obtained results were verified by experimental testing. The research results showed that companies using social media as a main component of their business, are active at using modern technologies and are declaring the importance of social networks to develop innovation potential. Fastness and reliability of communication are crucial for business operations in the company. Social networks offer many opportunities and connections between strategic planning, controlling management, and performance level. All SMEs mostly use Facebook, and this does not depend on size, age or industry. The research results lead to the understanding that social networks and controlling-oriented management support SME business activities and their innovation potential and long-term stability in a hyper-competitive environment. AcknowledgmentThe paper has been prepared within the project “Risk Management in Industry 4.0” supported by the Specific University Research Funds of the University of Finance and Administration, Estonská 500, 101 00 Prague 10, Czech Republic. Funder ID: 04274644. 3. Award number: 7427/2019/02 IGA VŠFS.

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