Clustering analysis application on Industry 4.0-driven global indexes

Abstract

Industry 4.0 is one of the most important topics in the academia and business world in recent years as a result of digital milestones in innovation area. Industry 4.0 is considered a great revolution in both manufacturing and services sectors. One of the reasons why Industry 4.0 is described as a revolution is the search for new solutions that unappeared before, to the challenges associated with energy, resources, environment, social and economic impacts by using modern technologies to ensure sustainable prosperity. Another reason is the use of modern technologies such as digital chains, smart systems and industrial internet to accelerate innovation as a result of faster implementation of new business models. The other one, is Industry 4.0 lighten the load of current challenges such as shorter product lifecycles, higher product complexity, and global supply chains for manufacturers in order to make the companies more flexible and responsive to business trends. According to global index scores in several areas as economic, environmental, sustainability, innovation etc. that published by international organizations, the positions of countries relative to other countries can be analyzed. Countries can evaluate their current status according to their index scores and have the opportunity to develop strategies for the performance level that they targeted. The aim of this study is to group countries within the scope of significant impact areas of Industry 4.0 by using Global Innovation Index, Sustainable Development Goals Index, Logistics Performance Index and Environmental Performance Index. By using the global indices mentioned above, countries are grouped and evaluated by using Clustering Analysis from data mining methods.