Current State Analysis of Croatian Manufacturing Industry with Regard to Industry 4.0/5.0

Abstract

It has been more than a decade since the introduction of the Industry 4.0 paradigm. Since then, many issues have been raised in the world: the COVID-19 pandemic, sustainable development goals, and recent dramatic changes in global politics. The global value chains were broken during the pandemic, and the importance of humans as the most important element of the production system was highlighted. It caused rethinking about current industrial paradigms, including the brand new paradigm of Industry 4.0. More focus has been put on human workers, sustainability, and the resilience of the value chain, so the Industry 4.0 update was presented as Industry 5.0. A specific methodology to evaluate the maturity level of the manufacturing industry with regard to Industry 4.0/5.0 is presented and tested in the Croatian manufacturing industry. The developed methodology is unique since it puts Industry 5.0 in the right context with Industry 4.0. Therefore, the Industry 4.0 index remains the main indicator; however, alignment with three Industry 5.0 aims (human-centricity, sustainability, and resilience) represents three additional indicators. The results of the current state analysis are presented as a case study with a discussion about the results and methodology itself.