Systematic Literature Review of Industry 4.0 Implementation Frameworks Focusing on Applicability in Manufacturing SMEs

Abstract

Industry 4.0 (I4.0) is not an exceedingly new concept. Since the term was coined in Germany in 2011 it has come to encompass many enabling technologies around the digitalisation of manufacturing processes growing further into the service industry and beyond. The need for businesses to begin to explore these options to reap the benefits of I4.0 is growing and while many larger organisations are maturing in their adoption many SMEs are not. This paper conducts a systematic literature review (SLR) of the tools available to organisations looking to implement I4.0. The research will focus on tools are around the areas of readiness models, maturity models and frameworks that provide detail on how to begin the journey to I4.0 implementation. The key research questions to be answered are if these tools cater to the unique needs of manufacturing SME’s and the challenges they face. What sets this SLR apart from other analysis is the identification of a research gap for a detailed framework for manufacturing SMEs to implement I4.0 in an agile and sustainable way. As the manufacturing world is changing and consumers are making more informed choices about what they buy with a view towards sustainability how can I4.0 help manufacturing SMEs operate in a sustainable way whilst remaining agile to changing economic conditions. This SLR will form the basis for further research into this area to support SMEs on their I4.0 adoption journey.

An overview of the Digital Transformation and Industry 4.0 technologies implementation frameworks

“…Frameworks can also be of strategic type -the ones that are related to designing or pursuing a certain organizational strategy, or procedural type -the ones that are related to the governance of certain activities. Some authors include the maturity models in the group of frameworks for the implementation of DT and I4.0 (Denning & Liyanage, 2022). This question was previously extensively researched in (Argilovski et al, 2022).…”

Empathising and Defining the Strategy Development Process Adoption of Industrial 4.0 in SMEs

“…Another focus in another framework is about on a sociotechnical perspective that analyzed the relationship between technology implementation and organizational changes [23]. Meanwhile, another framework focuses on the training and re-skilling process to build a strong workforce for Industry 4.0 implementation [24] and a study that examines several existing frameworks to see how a framework can be flexible and sustainable to help SMEs implement Industry 4.0, but this research is still at the stage of comparing different frameworks [25]. These studies have revealed clear knowledge gaps in how to effectively and sustainably apply Industry 4.0 in manufacturing SMEs, highlighting the need for a holistic framework to help SMEs overcome the challenges they face in adopting Industry 4.0.…”

Az ipar 4.0 felkészültség értékelési rendszere a témamodellezés segítségével – középpontban a kis- és középvállalatok

“…Az elmúlt években számos modell próbálta megragadni a legfontosabb előfeltételeket (Lichtblau és szerzőtársai [2015], Nick és szerzőtársai [2021], Santos-Martinho [2020]), de valódi áttörés nem történt. A lehetséges okok között szerepel, hogy hiányzik egy olyan ipar 4.0 felkészültségi modell, amely valóban a kis-és középvállalatokra modellezné a problémát (Denning-Liyanage [2022], Mittal és szerzőtársai [2018]). Jelen munkánkban erre a kutatási résre összpontosítunk.…”