A framework for evaluating the barriers to adopting Industry 4.0 in Indian SMEs: an approach of best-worst method

Abstract

This study aims to highlight the need for Industry 4.0 in a manufacturing system and explore the importance of the barriers to adopting Industry 4.0 technologies in Indian SMEs. Many barriers to implementing Industry 4.0 were explored through a literature review. These barriers are prioritized using the Best-Worst Method (BWM). The framework has illustrated the approach to exploring the barriers and ranking these barriers based on feedback from industry experts. Some of the barriers such as lack of infrastructure, lack of financial resources, lack of government initiatives, high complexity, and cyber security and data ownership issues are observed to be very influential in SMEs to adopting Industry 4.0. The proposed framework can also be used in other industries for implementing Industry 4.0 technologies. Prioritizing and overcoming the barriers step-by-step may help the manager to digitalize the systems.