Myths and facts of industry 4.0

Abstract

The recent and large number of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) publications, along with various levels of maturity in practical implementations, make it prone to myths. The objective of this paper is two-fold. First, we aimed at identifying the myths and facts related to I4.0 implementation. Second, we examined their pervasiveness between organisations with different I4.0 adoption levels. For that, we conducted a multi-step approach in which semi-structured interviews with twelve experts allowed us to raise these myths and facts. Then, data collected through a survey with 115 practitioners enabled the assessment of their pervasiveness. Ten myths and ten facts of I4.0 were consolidated and categorised according to the five attributes of the Diffusion of Innovation Theory (relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, trialability, and observability). Regarding their pervasiveness, we identified that, while the myths appear to be more prominent from the late adopters' perspective (less mature), the facts are more significantly perceived by the early adopters (more mature) of I4.0. This study helps practitioners to better comprehend the intricacies of I4.0, demystifying false ideas or assumptions and reinforcing real facts about its implementation. As many organisations still struggle to grasp the fundamentals of I4.0, our research provides conceptual clarity, setting expectations and mitigating some potential barriers to the digital transformation. Our findings might have multiple uses such as the design of more realistic I4.0 implementation plans that account for the myths as well as for the design of training programs that might dispel the myths before they spread across the industries.