Development and application of a maturity model for Industrial Agile Working

Abstract

In recent years, several companies approached agile working strategies to increase the resilience of their business. Agile work started spreading also to the manufacturing sector, thanks to the adoption of technologies that increasingly allow remote control of production systems. Nevertheless, agile working in the industry, namely Industrial Agile Working (IAW), requires organisational transformations and investments in technological innovations to guarantee its successful implementation. The first objective of this paper is to define the most relevant dimensions that affect the applicability of agile working practices in industrial contexts. The second objective is to develop an Industrial Agile Working Maturity Model (IAWMM) to measure the maturity of a company in adopting IAW practices. Starting from a set of dimensions identified through scientificic literature analysis, the IAWMM was tested by involving several companies in the manufacturing sector. The refined IAWMM was finally applied to a small sample of companies. The results report a good readiness of the companies concerning the knowledge and application of the key enabling technologies but still a low willingness concerning organisational change and flexible workforce management models. However, the IAW appears to be a promising strategy to promote a better workforce wellbeing and companies’ efficiency and resilience.