Adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies: an analysis of small and medium-sized companies in the state of São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

This paper analyzed the level of adoption and compared characteristics of adopters and non-adopters of Industry 4.0 technologies. Primary data for the year 2021 were collected by means of a structured questionnaire applied to 30 small and medium-sized companies of the metallurgical sector, who operate with machining processes, in the state of São Paulo. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistical measures and correlation estimates. The technologies adopted by the companies in the sample were: Cloud Computing (10 companies), Horizontal and Vertical Integration Systems (5 companies), Big Data (4 companies) and Industrial Internet of Things (4 companies). The comparative analysis between the characteristics of adopters and non-adopters showed that: (I) adopters have, much more frequently, employees with ICT capabilities and also more frequently hire ICT consulting services; (II) the use of ERP and MRP systems is much higher among companies that adopt Industry 4.0 technologies; (III) adopters participate more frequently in cooperation programs with Universities, Science and Technology Institutes or Research and Technological Development Promotion Agencies; (IV) companies that adopt 4.0 technologies have a greater perception of relative advantage and compatibility of these technologies.

Organizational Architecture, Industry 4.0 and Data Analysis for Smes

“…The study highlights what Junior and Carrer (2022) mention that businesses that have invested in specialized personnel to achieve better materials requirement planning (MRP) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) are observed in the Figure 3, where it is observed that wholesale and retail trade and services companies show more use of Industry 4.0 technologies, while companies in the manufacturing industry and transportation and transportation companies logistics to a lesser extent.…”

“…However, companies that have adopted industry 4.0 technologies can hire specialized personnel in Information and Communication Technologies, implement better systems for material requirements planning (MRP) and enterprise resource planning (ERP), in addition to who collaborate more actively with universities and research centers and have a better perception of their own comparative advantages (Junior, Carrer, 2022). But different authors maintain that it is important to move towards the new schemes because in the end, companies can manage to increase their competitiveness (Ynzunza et al, 2017).…”