Abstract
In the light of several national advanced manufacturing strategies such as Industry 4.0 in Germany or the Made in China 2025 initiative in China, this article examines the challenges of Industry 4.0 adoption of Japanese small and medium-sized manufacturing firms. A technology adoption model for Industry 4.0 is developed and empirically tested with 38 manufacturing companies. The results yield that the market uncertainty of the firm’s business is a significant driver for adoption in the short, medium, and long-term. Relative competitive advantage matters in the short term and top management support in the long-term. No support has been identified concerning advanced manufacturing complexity and market transparency of Industry 4.0 solutions.
Highlights
Manufacturing is the backbone of large economies such as the U.S, Europe, China, or Japan
While some advanced manufacturing strategies include the usage of new materials, advanced human-machine interaction, assistive systems, and factory virtualization, the common element in all definitions is the linkage of physical systems and virtual systems using information and communication technologies for facilitating manufacturing processes
Raymond [19] underlines this approach and postulates that innovation diffusion theory (IDT) and TOE frameworks “[ . . . ] need[s] to be enriched when the innovation relates to complex technologies with an inter-organizational locus of impact, for which adoption decisions are linked and when the innovation is adopted by organizations” [19]
Summary
Manufacturing is the backbone of large economies such as the U.S, Europe, China, or Japan. While some advanced manufacturing strategies include the usage of new materials, advanced human-machine interaction, assistive (ambient) systems, and factory virtualization, the common element in all definitions is the linkage of physical systems and virtual systems using information and communication technologies for facilitating manufacturing processes. These two elements of the advanced manufacturing strategies, cyber-physical systems, and digital integration of production and business processes are not new in the industrial context. Both parts are the core principles of a so-called Smart Factory. Maturity models for small-and-medium-sized enterprises should be different from multinational-enterprises due to their specific requirements [13]
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