Prerequisites for the adoption of AI technologies in manufacturing – Evidence from a worldwide sample of manufacturing companies

Abstract

In current discussions, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is ascribed great influence on production processes. Research on AI has seen tremendous growth in recent years. However, most of the research has focused primarily on various AI technologies, and less on prerequisites and enablers for adoption of AI at firm-level. This is surprising, given the fact that many companies are still struggling to establish AI in their production and to drive their AI adoption forward.To close this gap, this study analyses the impact of various technological, organizational and environmental (TOE) prerequisites for a successful adoption of AI technologies in manufacturing. Based on a cross-national survey of 655 company representatives from the manufacturing industry, our results contribute to a better understanding of why some companies are more determined than others when it comes to implementing AI in their production. We find evidence that organizational factors, such as digital skills, company size, and R&D intensity, have the greatest impact on the adoption of AI in manufacturing. Furthermore, in order to gain new insights into the interplay of new technology adoption and global production strategies, this paper addresses the question of which factors explain a primarily domestic or globally oriented technology adoption. We find that especially research-intensive, knowledge-based and service-oriented companies tend to roll out AI technologies not only at their domestic but also at their foreign production sites.