Abstract
Purpose – the research analyses and identifies, factors that influence and have the most impact in achieving a sustainable process management model in the implementation of Industry 4.0 concepts within production based SMEs. Research methodology – the research adopted qualitative and quantitative research. The qualitative approach involved an extensive and systematic review of literature while the quantitative approach involved the use of an online questionnaire used to collect data and analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis to test the measures of the constructs in the proposed conceptual framework. Findings – the result from the research shows the main influencing factor that enables successful implementation of the Industry 4.0 process management model in SMEs. Research limitations – the main research limitation is that the SMEs covered in the quantitative aspect of the research is located in the Czech Republic. It would be interesting to have similar studies conducted in other geographies for comparison purposes. Practical implications – the findings from the study are useful to practitioners and industry stakeholders who intend to develop the right process management model reliant on Industry 4.0 within their SMEs. Originality/Value – the originality/value is based on the combination of a quantitative alongside the qualitative approach in investigating the phenomenon covered in the study.
Highlights
Manufacturing companies in the Small and Medium Scale (SME) segment of the industry are confronted with challenges related to productivity improvements in the operations and manufacturing processes
Another interesting perspective is that of Petrasch and Hentschke(2016) whose assessment of Industry 4.0 is done in terms of technological concepts classified under three broad categories: Embedded Systems (ES)/cyber-physical systems (CPS) (Cyber-Physical Systems), Internet/Cloud of Things (IoT/CoT), Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)/Internet of Services (IoS)/Cloud Computing (CC)
The idea of categorization is relevant in simplifying the inquiry into the dynamics of Industry 4.0 and all related concepts such as Lean Manufacturing which is a methodology with the potential to improve productivity and decrease costs in manufacturing organizations (Sanders et al, 2016); Business Process Modelling (BPM) which describes behavioral aspects of a system and are usually on the formal requirements or early design level (Petrasch & Hentschke, 2016); and Cyber-Physical Systems and how they interact with current practices such as Lean Manufacturing in improving efficiency of existing processes analysis and modeling systems
Summary
Manufacturing companies in the Small and Medium Scale (SME) segment of the industry are confronted with challenges related to productivity improvements in the operations and manufacturing processes. Improving the overall efficiency of SME manufacturing processes leads to narrowing the gap between SMEs and large multinational companies in terms of productivity (Lee et al, 2015). These improvements can be achieved by introducing more efficient processes that take advantage of advanced technological innovation such as offered collectively under a group of technologies that are shaping the industrial revolution called Industry 4.0 which is largely shaped by ICTs dominated technologies. It is about the stage in the organization and control of the entire value stream along the lifecycle of production technologies (Chromjakova, 2017)
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