Analyzing Industry 4.0 Implementation Barriers in Indian SMEs

Abstract

Production in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) makes a substantial contribution to the Gross Domestic Product directly and indirectly in developing economies including India. In the present time, applying Industry 4.0 to the SMEs will build a smart manufacturing system that will prove to be economically feasible as well as socially sustainable. The purpose of this study is to identify and prioritize major barriers of implementing Industry 4.0 in Indian SMEs. A questionnaire with 12 barriers which were identified based on the literature survey and expert discussion was made to be filled by industry experts of production, information technology, business and members of the top management in SMEs. Further, Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods like TOPSIS, VIKOR and PROMETHEE are used to find the rank for each barrier. The study reveals that the major implementation barriers of Industry4.0 in Indian SMEs are fear of unemployment, lack of IT training, poor IT infrastructure, etc. The ranking for each barrier will not only help to assess risks in manufacturing, supply chain or business initiative, but also to help the managers in devising risk mitigation plans. This study may be used by firms working under the manufacturing sector.