Implementing industry 4.0 in the construction industry- strategic readiness perspective

Abstract

Within the last five years, Industry 4.0 has become a disruptive wave of change that affects the construction industry in many ways. One of the most critical elements in this regard is the industry's implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies. In this study, we propose a multi-criteria decision-making model, named ConFIRM, to measure the strategic readiness of construction firms concerning Industry 4.0 implementation. The existing literature proposed some models to evaluate the maturity towards Industry 4.0. However, no model has yet been proposed that evaluates strategic readiness. Also, none focused on the construction industry. ConFIRM is a five-stage model where the modified AHP-TOPSIS technique was used to assess the readiness level. The model was evaluated and quantified using a panel of experts from the Malaysian construction industry. The results indicated that the human capital component is the most critical factor affecting the success of Industry 4.0 implementation. Specifically, the intellectual agility, knowledge, skills, and competencies of the construction professionals. Consequently, a case study was used to test the utilisation of the proposed model. Moreover, recommendations to enhance the readiness level were concluded from the readiness model.