Barriers to adopt industry 4.0 in supply chains using interpretive structural modeling

Abstract

This research aims at exploring barriers of adopting Industry 4.0 in manufacturing supply chains. Data were collected based on a review of extant literature on barriers Industry 4.0 adoption, individual interviews with a panel consisted of academic and industry experts. Following numerous previous studies, interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and matrix multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC) analysis were conducted to order 10 barriers based on their importance and impacts. The results excluded one barrier “cyber security challenges”, categorized another one as a dependent barrier “lack of digital strategy”, and eight barriers as linkage barriers “lack of infrastructure”, “personnel resistance to adopt new technologies”, “high investment requirements”, “data management and quality challenges”, “uncertainty of economic benefits”, “low maturity level of technology”, “lack of adequate skills”, and “job disruptions”. Henceforward, it was concluded that mitigating these eight barriers is very critical to ensure a successful adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies in supply chains. Further studies are required to categorize these eight barriers based on their importance and relationships.

Challenges in Adopting Industry 4.0 for Indian Automobile Industries: A Key Experts’ Perspective

“…The final challenges selected in the study were classified into four categories: (i) Internal, (ii) External, (iii) Apprehensive, and (iv) Prospective challenges. Internal challenges included challenges that were specific to the automobile industry, such as an outdated infrastructure, lack of strategy and standards, lack of knowledge and awareness, the reluctance of top management, lack of support from employees and stakeholders, lack of skilled workers [19], poor internet connectivity and an inability to collect and identify data. External challenges were factors outside the control of the automobile industry, such as lack of government support [20], lack of financial aid, lack of customer awareness, and recession due to the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…External challenges were factors outside the control of the automobile industry, such as lack of government support [20], lack of financial aid, lack of customer awareness, and recession due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Apprehensive challenges included fears and concerns of stakeholders, such as concern for data security [19], fear of loss of employment [21], uncertainty about financial benefits [19], and changes in work organisation. Prospective challenges included challenges inherently expected to deter the implementation of Industry 4.0 tools in the automobile industry, such as the absence of an IT and R&D department, lack of research and collaboration with academia, high initial investment cost, and low maturity level Industry 4.0 tools [19].…”

“…Apprehensive challenges included fears and concerns of stakeholders, such as concern for data security [19], fear of loss of employment [21], uncertainty about financial benefits [19], and changes in work organisation. Prospective challenges included challenges inherently expected to deter the implementation of Industry 4.0 tools in the automobile industry, such as the absence of an IT and R&D department, lack of research and collaboration with academia, high initial investment cost, and low maturity level Industry 4.0 tools [19]. Indian automobile industries use outdated technology and equipment [22], leading to low productivity, increased downtime, higher maintenance costs, and an inability to adapt to new technologies.…”

Barriers and the potential for changes and benefits from the implementation of Industry 4.0 solutions in enterprises

“…In another manuscript, the following classification of barriers is mentioned: economic and financial, cultural, competence, legal, technical, and related to the implementation process (Orzes et al, 2018). It seems that these classifications are only a matter of convention since most authors list mostly the same barriers in their studies and, depending on the topic, focus on selected or more of them (Attiany et al, 2023;Vigneshvaran and Vi-nodh, 2021;Raj et al, 2020). The indicated technical barriers include, among others: insufficient information and communication technology infrastructure (Kumar et al, 2021;Andro-niceanu et al, 2021), lack of standards, uncertainty about the reliability of systems, and difficult interoperability/compatibility of devices.…”

Industry 4.0 and technologies used in SMEs

“…However, the implementation of modern technologies in enterprises also brings specific barriers. Among the most common, we can rank lack of infrastructure, personnel resistance, high investment requirements, lack of digital strategy, uncertainty, lack of adequate skills (Attiany et al, 2023), doubt about sustainability, lack of alternate solutions (Goel et al, 2022), lack of trust, lack of business model or lack of government support (Kumar et al, 2023).…”