Identification of critical success factors,risks and opportunities of Industry 4.0 in SMEs

SMEs, as prominent actors in industry, must meet more and more complex customer expectations. Recently, the concept of Industry 4.0 has emerged. This new approach enables the control of production processes by providing real-time synchronisation of flows and by enabling the production of unitary and customised products. Our research goal is to identify Industry 4.0 risks, opportunities and critical success factors with regards to the industrial performance of SMEs. The recent emergence of Industry 4.0 and the inherent difficulty of identifying detailed examples has not yet enabled a satisfactory statistical study to be conducted on Industry 4.0 cases in SMEs. To reach our research goal, we selected 12 experts to conduct a Delphi study supplemented by Régnier’s abacuses. Our study demonstrates that the major risks facing the adoption of Industry 4.0 in SMEs include a lack of expertise and a short-term strategy mindset. Our research also indicates that training is the most important factor for success, that managers have a prominent role in the success and/or failure of an Industry 4.0 project, and that SMEs should be supported by external experts. Lastly, Industry 4.0 offers a unique opportunity to redesign SME production processes and to adopt new business models.     

Past,present and future of Industry 4.0 - a systematic literature review and research agenda proposal

Over the last few years, the fourth industrial revolution has attracted more and more attentions all around the world. In the current literature, there is still a lack of efforts to systematically review the state of the art of this new industrial revolution wave. The aim of this study is to address this gap by investigating the academic progresses in Industry 4.0. A systematic literature review was carried out to analyse the academic articles within the Industry 4.0 topic that were published online until the end of June 2016. In this paper, the obtained results from both the general data analysis of included papers (e.g. relevant journals, their subject areas and categories, conferences, keywords) and the specific data analysis corresponding to four research sub-questions are illustrated and discussed. These results not only summarise the current research activities (e.g. main research directions, applied standards, employed software and hardware), but also indicate existing deficiencies and potential research directions through proposing a research agenda. Findings of this review can be used as the basis for future research in Industry 4.0 and related topics.     

The link between Industry 4.0 and lean manufacturing: mapping current research and establishing a research agenda

In recent years, Industry 4.0 has emerged as one of the most discussed concepts and has gained significant popularity in both academia and the industrial sector. Both Industry 4.0 and lean manufacturing utilise decentralised control and aim to increase productivity and flexibility. However, there have been few studies investigating the link between these two domains. This article explores this novel area and maps the current literature. This is achieved through a systematic literature review methodology, investigating literature published up to and including August 2017. This article identifies four main research streams concerning the link between Industry 4.0 and lean manufacturing, and a research agenda for future studies is proposed.     

An empirical study for smart production for TFT-LCD to empower Industry 3.5

Abstract

With increasing technological advancements, manufacturing intelligence has become a crucial issue for maintaining competitive advantages. Industry 4.0, proposed by Germany, is one of the large-scale projects to achieve manufacturing intelligence and smart production. Others include the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership 2.0 (AMP2.0) from the United States, Industry 4.1J of Japan and Made in China 2025. On the other hand, most of the emerging countries may not be ready for the migration of Industry 4.0 directly since their industrial infrastructures are different with the leading countries. This study aims to propose Industry 3.5 as a hybrid strategy between existing Industry 3.0 and to-be Industry 4.0, in which digital decision-making, big data analytics, and manufacturing intelligence are integrated to empower smart production with disruptive innovations that can be realized in existing industrial infrastructure. To estimate the validity of the proposed Industry 3.5, an empirical study was conducted in a thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) manufacturing factory in Taiwan. A smart daily planning and scheduling (DPS) system is developed to enhance manufacturing intelligence for smart production without a fully automation facility as the Cyber-Physical System proposed in Industry 4.0. This study concludes with discussions of development directions for industrial revolution.     

Industry 5.0: improving humanization and sustainability of Industry 4.0

The widespread digitization and dynamic development of the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution, leading to the dehumanization of industry, have increased the interest of the scientific community in aspects of industrial humanization, sustainability and resilience. Hence, the aim of the article is to identify areas related to humanization and sustainability of the concept of Industry 4.0. A bibliometric analysis of Web of Science using Vosviewer tools, Excell and content analysis of selected papers were applied. The most important results include the determination of the dynamics of the increase in the number of publications in the segment of Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0. The article indicates the weaknesses of the concept of Industry 4.0, especially in the area of the role of man in smart factories and sustainable development. Thus, the framework of the concept of Industry 5.0 was identified. In addition, the bibliometric analysis carried out allowed the identification of an important stream of employee skill development.

     

Scientific mapping to identify competencies required by industry 4.0

The objective of this study was to identify what competencies are identified in the literature as necessary for Industry 4.0 by conducting a survey of the literature and a scientific mapping of the evolution of the issues related to the qualification of professionals for Industry 4.0 and possible paths for research and education. A search was conducted on the Scopus, Web of Science and Science Direct databases for the interval from 2010 to 2018. This systematic review revealed topics and authors currently specialized in the field and allowed mapping the field of study. The identification of journals and keywords useful in future studies was also an object of this study. SciMAT software was used for the systematic literature review. The results are highlighted by the set of competencies (knowledge and skills) that must be developed in professional education to accompany the new industrial revolution, as well as the importance of integrating efforts by companies, governments and universities. These efforts should focus on creating “learning factories”, which are understood to be environments that provide practical experiences to these professionals, preparing them in the best way possible for the requirements of Industry 4.0. This conceptual map showed that the main competencies needed include skills: (leadership, strategic vision of knowledge, self-organization, giving and receiving feedback, pro-activity, creativity, problem solving, interdisciplinarity, teamwork, collaborative work, initiative, communication, innovation, adaptability, flexibility and self-management) and knowledge of contemporary fields (information and communication technology, algorithms, automation, software development and security, data analysis, general systems theory and sustainable development theory).     

Implementation of Industry 4.0 and lean production in Brazilian manufacturing companies

The adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies has been deemed as a strategy to increase product quality and make manufacturing processes more efficient. However, the way that these technologies are integrated into existing production systems and which processes they can support is still under investigation. Thus, this paper aims to examine the relationship between lean production (LP) practices and the implementation of Industry 4.0 in Brazilian manufacturing companies. To achieve that we use data from a survey carried out with 110 companies of different sizes and sectors, at different stages of LP implementation. Data collected were analysed by means of multivariate analysis. Our findings indicate that LP practices are positively associated with Industry 4.0 technologies and their concurrent implementation leads to larger performance improvements. Further, the contextual variables investigated do matter to this association, although not all aspects matter to the same extent and effect.     

Collaboration networks and collaboration tools: a match for SMEs?

Global patterns of industrial production have resulted in relocation of industrial operations groups in an effort to create new markets for mass and customised mass production. The collaborative effort between these dispersed teams increases the likelihood of combining ideas and knowledge in novel ways. Internet technologies enable these virtual collaboration networks to seamlessly engage in discussions that demonstrate a richness of perspectives when it comes to problem-solving and innovative idea-exchange. Indeed, knowledge creation and harnessing collective knowledge are salient features of collaborative networks (CNs) and this is witnessed by a new interest in these entities. However, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) display a difficulty in partnering and collaborating in global networks, especially since their technological infrastructure may be lacking. Given the widespread adoption of collaborative technologies in social contexts, this research seeks to examine how such informal interactions are facilitated in SMEs through Web 2.0 tools. Specifically, this paper seeks to contribute to existing literature by examining how Web 2.0 affects the collaborative effort in two SME CNs; this study demonstrated that the collaboration effort is amplified when Web 2.0 tools are available. Other parameters such as trust in other members’ ability; perception of usefulness; and enhancement of collective knowledge are seen as supporting the CN mutuality. In addition, it brings together the three diverse research areas of collaborative networks, internet collaborative tools and psychological barriers and enablers.     

Cyber–Physical Production Systems for Data-Driven,Decentralized, and Secure Manufacturing—A Perspective

With the concepts of Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing gaining popularity, there is a growing notion that conventional manufacturing will witness a transition toward a new paradigm, targeting innovation, automation, better response to customer needs, and intelligent systems. Within this context, this review focuses on the concept of cyber–physical production system (CPPS) and presents a holistic perspective on the role of the CPPS in three key and essential drivers of this transformation: data-driven manufacturing, decentralized manufacturing, and integrated blockchains for data security. The paper aims to connect these three aspects of smart manufacturing and proposes that through the application of data-driven modeling, CPPS will aid in transforming manufacturing to become more intuitive and automated. In turn, automated manufacturing will pave the way for the decentralization of manufacturing. Layering blockchain technologies on top of CPPS will ensure the reliability and security of data sharing and integration across decentralized systems. Each of these claims is supported by relevant case studies recently published in the literature and from the industry; a brief on existing challenges and the way forward is also provided.     

Sustainable manufacturing in Industry 4.0: an emerging research agenda

This systematic review intends to identify how sustainable manufacturing research is contributing to the development of the Industry 4.0 agenda and for a broader understanding about the links between the Industry 4.0 and Sustainable Manufacturing by mapping and summarising existing research efforts, identifying research agendas, as well as gaps and opportunities for research development. A conceptual framework formed by the principles and technological pillars of Industry 4.0, sustainable manufacturing scope, opportunities previously identified, and sustainability dimensions, guided analysis of 35 papers from 2008–2018, selected by a systematic approach. Bibliometrics data and social network analysis complement results identifying how research is being organised and its respective research agendas, relevant publications, and status of the research lifecycle. Results point to that the current research is aligned with the goals defined by different national industrial programs. There are, however, research gaps and opportunities for field development, becoming more mature and having a significant contribution to fully developing the agenda of Industry 4.0.     

“Nothing new under the sun”; do we need new searching protocols to establish the patentability of industry 4.0 inventions?

Efficient patentability searching demands that the searcher has the ability to identify efficiently the best sources of likely prior art for each invention being searched. This applies both within industry, at the point of drafting a patent application, and within patent offices conducting searches to support substantive examination. Industry 4.0 inventions are characterised by a particular nature and combination of technologies, notably the inclusion of aspects of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The default information sources currently used to establish patentability of ‘conventional’ inventions may be inappropriate for this new class of invention. This is partly due to the different structures of publication and methods of dissemination of research results found within computer science professions. It is suggested that searching in the secondary or tertiary literature may be a more fruitful approach to establish patentability in these areas of technology. However, expertise in the use of these types of source has been substantially lost, as the information industry has concentrated on production of full-text primary sources. Database production, database usage and search protocols all need to be reassessed if they are to meet the challenges of searching Industry 4.0 inventions.     

Investigating the value of integrated operations planning: A case-based approach from automotive industry

During the last decade, many researchers have focused on joint consideration of various operations planning aspects like production scheduling, maintenance scheduling, inventory control, etc. Such joint considerations are becoming increasingly important from the point of view of current advancement in intelligent manufacturing, also known as Industry 4.0. Under the concept of Industry 4.0, advanced data analytics aim to remove human intervention in decision-making. Thus, the managerial level coordination of decisions taken independently by various departments will be out of trend. Therefore, developing an approach that optimises various operations planning decisions simultaneously is essential. Available literature on such joint considerations is more of the exploratory in nature and is limited to simplistic production environments. This necessitates the investigations of value of integrated operations planning for wide range of manufacturing scenarios. Present paper adopts a case-oriented approach to investigate the value of integrated operations planning. First, an integrated approach for simultaneously determining job sequencing, batch-sizing, inventory levels and preventive maintenance schedule is developed. The approach is tested in a complex production environment of an automotive plant and substantial economic improvement was realised. Second, a comprehensive evaluation is performed to study the robustness and implications of proposed approach for various production scenarios. Results of such pervasive performance investigations confirm the value of proposed approach over conventional approaches.     

Impacts of Industry 4.0 technologies on Lean principles

Industry 4.0 is increasingly being promoted as the key to improving productivity, promoting economic growth and ensuring the sustainability of manufacturing companies. On the other hand, many companies have already partially or fully implemented principles and tools from the Lean management approach, which is also aimed at improving productivity. While the two approaches use very different strategies, they share some common principles. The objective of this article is to highlight the links between the principles and tools proposed by Industry 4.0 and those proposed by the Lean management approach, with a particular focus on how some of Industry 4.0's technologies are improving the implementation of Lean principles, depending on the technologies’ capability levels. As such, this study aims to provide a characterisation of the impacts of Industry 4.0 technologies on Lean principles according to targeted capability levels. The results obtained show strong support for Industry 4.0 technologies for Just-in-time and Jidoka, but little or no support for waste reduction and People and Team work. There is, therefore, a clear need to pursue the deployment of Lean management while improving certain Lean principles using Industry 4.0 technologies.     

Modelling and quantification of industry 4.0 manufacturing complexity based on information theory: a robotics case study

The new industrial revolution called Industry 4.0 imposes new challenges to the research community. One of the main issues in Industry 4.0 is the management of the huge amount of information exchanged among its different integrated systems. The present work demonstrates how the traditional manufacturing system is transformed to the Industry 4.0 manufacturing system and proposes a modelling and quantification approach, which includes metrics from the Information Theory estimating the complexity and the capacity of the Industry 4.0, from the perspective of the communication among the systems. The application impact of the proposed Industry 4.0 system and the comparison of these metrics before and after shifting to Industry 4.0 is also analysed and validated in a case study from the Robotics Industry.     

Industry 4.0: Architecture and Equipment Revolution

The development of science and technology has led to the era of Industry 4.0. The core concept is the combination of “material and informationization”. In the supply chain and manufacturing process, the “material” of the physical entity world is realized by data, identity, intelligence, and information. Industry 4.0 is a disruptive transformation and upgrade of intelligent industrialization based on the Internet-of-Things and Big Data in traditional industrialization. The goal is “maximizing production efficiency, minimizing production costs, and maximizing the individual needs of human beings for products and services.” Achieving this goal will surely bring about a major leap in the history of the industry, which will lead to the “Fourth Industrial Revolution.” This paper presents a detailed discussion of industrial big data, strategic roles, architectures, characteristics, and four types of innovative business models that can generate profits for enterprises. The key revolutionary aspect of Industry 4.0 is explained, which is the equipment revolution. Six important attributes of equipment are explained under the Industry 4.0 perspective.     

Designing lean value streams in the fourth industrial revolution era: proposition of technology-integrated guidelines

Despite the envisioned interrelations, the way Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies can influence the design and implementation of lean value streams is still unknown and little empirical evidence is found in the literature. This article aims at proposing guidelines integrated with I4.0 technologies for designing lean value streams. We gathered experts’ opinions regarding the relationship between guidelines for designing a lean value stream and I4.0 technologies. The identification of the most important relationships provided arguments for the proposition of enhanced guidelines for designing lean value streams within the Fourth Industrial Revolution context. The integration of I4.0 technologies into the guidelines for designing a lean value stream raises a distinct approach that benefits from the simplicity and efficiency of Lean Production with ease and agility of the technologies typical of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Such technology-integrated guidelines may allow overcoming existing barriers while lead companies to superior performance results.     

Industry 4.0: state of the art and future trends

Rapid advances in industrialisation and informatisation methods have spurred tremendous progress in developing the next generation of manufacturing technology. Today, we are on the cusp of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In 2013, amongst one of 10 ‘Future Projects’ identified by the German government as part of its High-Tech Strategy 2020 Action Plan, the Industry 4.0 project is considered to be a major endeavour for Germany to establish itself as a leader of integrated industry. In 2014, China’s State Council unveiled their ten-year national plan, Made-in-China 2025, which was designed to transform China from the world’s workshop into a world manufacturing power. Made-in-China 2025 is an initiative to comprehensively upgrade China’s industry including the manufacturing sector. In Industry 4.0 and Made-in-China 2025, many applications require a combination of recently emerging new technologies, which is giving rise to the emergence of Industry 4.0. Such technologies originate from different disciplines including cyber-physical Systems, IoT, cloud computing, Industrial Integration, Enterprise Architecture, SOA, Business Process Management, Industrial Information Integration and others. At this present moment, the lack of powerful tools still poses a major obstacle for exploiting the full potential of Industry 4.0. In particular, formal methods and systems methods are crucial for realising Industry 4.0, which poses unique challenges. In this paper, we briefly survey the state of the art in the area of Industry 4.0 as it relates to industries.     

The relevance of Industry 4.0 and its relationship with moving manufacturing out,back and staying at home

In view of the fact that Industry 4.0 is becoming increasingly essential, the implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies is believed to be an essential strategic component in further increasing the efficiency of manufacturing processes and in determining decisions concerning globalisation strategies. Thus, this paper provides an empirical analysis of the essential constructs of Industry 4.0, and drivers and barriers for Industry 4.0. The paper is based on 270 valid answers to a questionnaire-survey distributed among Danish manufacturers. Regression analyses were used to test the proposed hypotheses. The results of the analyses reveal that the identified drivers and barriers for Industry 4.0 have a positive impact on the perceived relevance of Industry 4.0 among companies. Furthermore, the analyses show that the perceived relevance of Industry 4.0 among companies has a positive impact on companies that have moved manufacturing back and on companies that have moved manufacturing out and back. Conversely, the perceived relevance of Industry 4.0 among companies has a negative impact on companies that have remained domestic. The perceived relevance of Industry 4.0 has no impact on companies that have moved manufacturing out. This research, in general, offers to both researchers and practitioners an increased consciousness concerning the relevant drivers and barriers for Industry 4.0 in decision processes about where to locate manufacturing.     

Intelligent Manufacturing in the Context of Industry 4.0: A Review

Our next generation of industry—Industry 4.0—holds the promise of increased flexibility in manufacturing, along with mass customization, better quality, and improved productivity. It thus enables companies to cope with the challenges of producing increasingly individualized products with a short lead-time to market and higher quality. Intelligent manufacturing plays an important role in Industry 4.0. Typical resources are converted into intelligent objects so that they are able to sense, act, and behave within a smart environment. In order to fully understand intelligent manufacturing in the context of Industry 4.0, this paper provides a comprehensive review of associated topics such as intelligent manufacturing, Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled manufacturing, and cloud manufacturing. Similarities and differences in these topics are highlighted based on our analysis. We also review key technologies such as the IoT, cyber-physical systems (CPSs), cloud computing, big data analytics (BDA), and information and communications technology (ICT) that are used to enable intelligent manufacturing. Next, we describe worldwide movements in intelligent manufacturing, including governmental strategic plans from different countries and strategic plans from major international companies in the European Union, United States, Japan, and China. Finally, we present current challenges and future research directions. The concepts discussed in this paper will spark new ideas in the effort to realize the much-anticipated Fourth Industrial Revolution.     

An empirical evaluation of industry 4.0 applications of companies in Turkey: The case of a developing country

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate Industry 4.0 applications in companies of Turkey, a developing country. It also aims to determine how the following factors affect the level of Industry 4.0 applications: technological level of products manufactured, the presence of an R&D department, and the size of the company. A specially-designed questionnaire was used in the survey. According to the results of our research, it can be stated that companies that produce highly technological products are more likely to develop Industry 4.0 applications and to implement Industry 4.0 technologies. If companies of developing countries expense more for R&D, it is expected that their readiness for Industry 4.0 transformation will also be higher. According to our survey, productivity is the main benefit expected by Industry 4.0 applications and lack of technical skills and expertise is one of the most important challenge of Industry 4.0 transformation of companies in Turkey.