Translating transparency into value: an approach to design IoT solutions

Abstract

PurposeThis research proposes and demonstrates a framework that can be used to systematically address the idiosyncratic design of Internet of Things (IoT)-based solutions, and to match the explorative aspects of introducing a new technology to the exploitative needs, to improve the performance of production operations.Design/methodology/approachDue to the applied nature of this research, a design science research (DSR) framework was adopted in order to ensure both the rigor and applicability of the outcomes.FindingsA process excellence perspective, operationalized through a business process management approach, is applied to scope the solution space according to its exploitative potential. The mapping of the information flow that needs to be established defines the technological infrastructure of the solution.Research limitations/implicationsThe theoretical generalizability of the proposed framework is limited by a testing sample of a single case. The research implications are related to a call for the contextualization of IoT applications. Further research will involve the application of this approach to a diverse range of industrial settings. While the domain is far from saturated, a framework that can facilitate such investigations has been provided.Practical implicationsThe proposed framework provides practitioners with an approach to designing IoT solutions that can consistently address their needs for operational performance improvements.Originality/valueThis research proposes a framework that links the enabling of transparency via the integration of IoT in production operations to contextual characteristics and business potential. Furthermore, it highlights the developmental drivers of IoT solutions, which emerged during the empirical demonstration of this framework.

Twin Transition: Synergies between Circular Economy and Internet of Things – A study of Danish Manufacturers

“…The third and last workshop concerned the final technological solution and assessing the changed performance and criticalities in the operations. An elaboration of the workshop process can be found in Colli et al (2021b).…”

“…CE considers the internal company perspective (including the business model, product design, and operations), the external supply chain perspective (including the reverse logistics and collaboration with external partners), and the institutional context perspective (including the legislation, standards, and the potential financing options) (Uhrenholt et al, 2022b). I4.0 represents a series of intelligent technologies that serve as new levers for manufacturers in achieving competitiveness through the generation, analysis, and use of digital data to support and perform business processes (Colli et al, 2021b). In particular, the internet of things (IoT) is arguably the backbone of digital transformation due to its capability to enable the interconnectedness of systems through increased transparency (Haddud et al, 2017).…”

“…Furthermore, the IoT enables improvements in collaboration and communication across supply chain partners (Zhu et al, 2018), which are becoming increasingly important in pursuing CE (Mishra et al, 2018). For this reason, this study refers to the relation between CE and IoT as the twin transition, as this link has been emphasised in literature (Colli et al, 2021b).…”

Prioritising enabling factors of Internet of things (IoT) adoption in digital supply chain

“…For example, IoT enables better systems integration and data management in the supply chain (Porter and Heppelmann, 2014) thereby enabling real-time logistics information and increases in the frequency and accuracy of product information (Rebelo et al, 2022;Chhabra et al, 2022). It was such potential that encouraged researchers such as Michele Colli et al (2021) to not only indicate that IoT is critical to enabling supply chains but also to further describe IoT as the "technological backbone" of Industry 4.0.…”

“…, 2022). It was such potential that encouraged researchers such as Michele Colli et al. (2021) to not only indicate that IoT is critical to enabling supply chains but also to further describe IoT as the “technological backbone” of Industry 4.0.…”