Industrie 4.0 process transformation: findings from a case study in automotive logistics

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the transformation of logistics processes to meet requirements of Industrie 4.0. Design/methodology/approach The authors follow the principles of action design research to conduct a single-case study investigating four logistics processes at a leading German car manufacturer. For the development of artifacts, the authors used Method Engineering. Findings The case study reveals a set of Industrie 4.0 process design principles, providing guidelines for the design and management of Industrie 4.0 compliant processes. In the second step, the authors use these process design principles for the development of a first version of a method for Industrie 4.0 process transformation. Research limitations/implications In the light of limited scientific knowledge about Industrie 4.0 process transformation, the paper uses a single-case study design. This is adequate considering the research goal at hand and the richness of empirical insight the authors had access to. However, a single-case design is limited regarding generalizability and demand for future qualitative and quantitative research. Practical implications The Industrie 4.0 process design principles support practitioners in the design and management of Industrie 4.0 compliant processes. In addition, the method developed by the authors supports enterprises in the transformation of their current processes toward Industrie 4.0. Originality/value The paper describes the first attempt – as far as the authors are aware – to derive guidelines for the design and management of Industrie 4.0 processes from the analysis of a real-world industrial setting. Likewise, the method for Industrie 4.0 process transformation presented in this paper is presumed to be the first such method developed in full accordance with the principles of Method Engineering.

Implementing Industry 4.0: assessing the current state

“…The second cluster, which we will refer to as the case-study cluster, comprises of four articles. The articles in the case-study cluster explore in detail how separate manufacturing companies implemented Industry 4.0 (Hermann et al, 2020;Johansson et al, 2020;Veile et al, 2020;Schott et al, 2020). Hence, this cluster answers how Industry 4.0 is implemented in practice by manufacturing companies and thereby partly answers research question 2 (How to implement Industry 4.0?…”

“…The case-study cluster describing how to implement Industry 4.0 The next four articles study how Industry 4.0 can be implemented in practice and what the challenges are during implementation (Hermann et al, 2020;Johansson et al, 2020;Veile et al, 2020;Schott et al, 2020). These articles study cases of companies that implemented Industry 4.0.…”

Digital organisational readiness: experiences from manufacturing companies

“…Companies in the manufacturing industry are seeking guidance on how to prepare and organise themselves to implement the principles of Industry 4.0 and they are not ready for the changes and opportunities related to the digital transformation. Besides numerous publications, there are still gaps to clarify the impacts of Industry 4.0 on companies and how companies can navigate through the digital transformation journey (Schuh et al, 2017;Hermann et al, 2019). Garengo et al (2005) identified that small companies tend to put more efforts into technical and technological capabilities rather than analysing and developing supporting managerial practices.…”

“…The conciliation of the top-down and bottom-up approach is necessary to identify the impact of the changes in the performance dimensions and into the company's decision areas. Hermann et al (2019) developed four steps for Industry 4.0 process transformation: a review of current processes, design of Industry 4.0 goals, developing a strategic implementation plan and implementing the planned strategies. The authors suggest using workshops, maturity models for assessments, development of strategic plans for improvement and processes optimisation and organisation of activities following principles and measures derived from project management models.…”

Industry 4.0 technologies usage: motives and enablers

“…Despite these advantages, it is still unclear what will be the impact of I4 on companies (Hermann et al, 2019). There are many challenges, including issues related to information technology security and data protection, the organization of work, lack of skills, training of skilled workers and the development of uniform standards required in the digitized economy (Stanton Chase, 2017).…”