Adaptation of Industrial Revolution 4.0 in a Seaport System

Nurul Haqimin Mohd Salleh,Mahendrran Selvaduray,Abdul Hafaz Ngah,Jagan Jeevan,Suhaiza Zailani

doi:10.3390/su131910667

Nurul Haqimin Mohd Salleh, Mahendrran Selvaduray + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su131910667

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Abstract

As pillars of logistics, supply chains, and transport networks, seaports have led to a substantial demand for countless economic advantages. The sustainability and competitive advantage of seaport businesses depend on their ability to adapt to changing business requirements, while Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0) is a current phenomenon that connects the global market through smart technologies involving cyber-physical systems to overcome global trade uncertainty. However, focusing only on growing economic benefits might lead to an ineffective sustainable implementation of IR 4.0 within a seaport system. Therefore, this paper compares the current status of IR 4.0 global implementation against the current Malaysian seaport system to ensure that the development of seaports in Malaysia is aligned with technological trends and global requirements. In addition, this paper investigates the critical sustainable factors (CSFs) for the implementation of IR 4.0 in Malaysian seaports. A Focus Group Discussion (FGD) is used to obtain the data from 13 domain experts, from various maritime stakeholders, which is further analysed by using Thematic Analysis. The result has shown that most seaports have started to initiate a fusion by focusing on IR 4.0 adaptation. In contrast, in Malaysia, the seaports in this country are still behind the global trend and are just starting to explore the concept of IR 4.0 instead of expanding to the next level (global benchmark). The current status and CSFs, for the implementation of IR 4.0 in Malaysian seaports, are presented in comparison to global requirements, and the marginal associations between them are shown. As a conclusion, by comparing a global seaport scenario with Malaysian seaports, the main considerations for sustaining the implementation of IR 4.0 in Malaysian seaports can be discovered.

Highlights

Associate manager Senior officer >20Head of department ManagerBachelor’s degree SecretaryGeneralSource: Authors’ work.Through convenience sampling, experts within the sampling frame, who were available and willing to be involved in the Focus Group Discussion (FGD), were identified [15]
This paper aims to compare the current status of IR 4.0 global seaport implementation against the current Malaysian seaport system and to ensure that the development of seaports in Malaysia is aligned with technological trends and global requirements
There is a lack of studies evaluating the current status of seaports and critical sustainable factors (CSFs) to enable IR 4.0 in the Malaysian seaport system compared to the global trend, while there is a need for qualitative research to be conducted through an FGD to grasp the current scenario in the Malaysian context

Summary

Introduction

Experts within the sampling frame, who were available and willing to be involved in the FGD, were identified [15]. Convenience sampling was carried out by locating potential experts who met the required criteria and were selected on a first come, first served basis until the sample size requirement was met [16]. Among the 13 samples, three experts were recruited from the seaport authorities, two experts from government bodies, six experts from private port operators, and two experts from non-governmental organisations. The session was conducted in two languages, English and the experts’ native language, which mitigated any language barriers for the experts

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Conclusion