In this article, an employee perspective has been applied in aiming to explore how organizations face challenges and take responsibility for industrial digitalization, thus extending the research on the human-centric perspective in relation to Industry 4.0 technologies. To give emphasis to the human-centric perspective, the co-workership wheel was applied to identify and analyze data. The findings of an explorative longitudinal qualitative case study consisting of 35 in-depth interviews with informants from a manufacturing company were used. Additional data collection consisted of documents and project meetings. By applying a human-centric perspective, llessons learned from this case study show that taking responsibility for industrial digitalization is challenging and the importance of an adaptive organizational culture and a focus on learning and competence are crucial. We argue that the findings give useful implications for manufacturing organizations navigating the challenges of industrial digitalization to sense and seize the benefits of Industry 4.0 technologies.

Contemporary manufacturing companies are navigating industrial digitalization anticipating increased production efficiency and competitiveness in a volatile environment. This study focuses on the implementation processes of digital tools for production planning and control (PPC), i.e., advanced planning and scheduling (APS) software, in relation to the application of analog planning with physical flow boards. Digital tools can support understanding the consequences of production changes and variations, hence facilitating adaptable and resilient manufacturing. However, technological changes can be daunting, and effective implementations require dynamic capabilities to remain competitive in elusive environments. The aim is to study the implementation processes of an APS software to understand the requirements of fruitfully moving from analog planning to next-generation digital tools for decision support in PPC. The paper presents an explorative case study, at a manufacturing company within the energy sector. The interview study took place over 9 months during 2020–2021, investigating current and retrospective aspects of the case across 2019–2021. The case study comprises 17 in-depth interviews with a range of company employees, e.g., logistics managers and functions responsible for digitalization development. The results highlight the challenges of implementing and especially trusting digital tools for PPC. To realize the value of digital tools for PPC, it is argued that it is imperative to simultaneously apply a human-centric perspective in decision making to ensure trustworthy, sustainable, and resilient human-data-technology nexus implementations towards smart manufacturing.

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PurposeThis study draws on technological frames to provide an understanding of organizational processes of strategizing by exploring how strategizing organizational capabilities for industrial digitalization could be understood through managers' perceptions of digital technology applications. This study complements earlier research focused on industry outcomes by addressing technological frames to understand how strategizing organizational capabilities within industrial digitalization may provide insight into socio-cognitive aspects which may affect technology-induced organizational change.Design/methodology/approachThe single case study uses 14 in-depth interviews collected over two years (October 2020 to February 2022). The study follows an interpretative research design exploring managers' perceptions of industrial digitalization through a digitalization project.FindingsThe case study contributes to research by emphasizing socio-cognitive aspects through technological frames exploring how and why managers' perceptions of industrial digitalization affect strategizing organizational capabilities. The study contributes to practice by bringing attention to the disparate views of industrial digitalization. By illustrating how socio-cognitive aspects shape organizational capabilities, this study offers managers valuable insight into the relationship between an organization's capabilities, the individual and the shared structures affecting a digitalization project.Research limitations/implicationsThe case study is limited to Swedish manufacturing industries and is not aiming to be transferred or generalized to other industrial contexts or countries.Originality/valueThis study recognizes that strategizing organizational capabilities depends on managers' ability to illuminate the socio-cognitive aspects. Hence, the study contributes to practice by bringing attention to the disparate views among managers on the enhancement efforts made using digital technologies.

A question that becomes important as the level of digitalisation increases in society and businesses is accounting for how one interprets digitalisation. There are positive examples of digitalisation in relation to gender, age and physical ability and how digital technologies can positively enhance a workplace, although the norm-critical perspective is seldom represented. A more dynamic perspective such as the norm-critical is needed to depict potential limiting structures or assumptions interpreted by digitalisation. This briefing paper takes on an interpretative approach using the Swedish manufacturing industry as a case to illustrate the perspectives related to gender, age and physical ability relative to digitalisation. The norm-critical perspective has formed the narrative and viewpoints presented in this paper. The aim is to highlight the norm-critical perspective as a potential analytical lens among researchers and industry professionals alike to understand how digitalisation is negotiated and given value and how digitalisation is manifested and interpreted to that given value.