The place of strategies in cyber-physical transformation of manufacturing companies

Abstract

The concept of Industry 4.0 has been with us for more than a decade. The idea for the concept called 'Industrie 4.0' came from the German government's High Tech Strategy project and was first used at the International Hannover Messe in 2011. The year 2013 was considered the beginning of the new industrial concept, at which time the final report of a working group operating in Germany to prepare, among other things, recommendations for smart industry was published [1]. In order to be implemented by companies, the concept must be embedded in their development strategies. The provision for cyber-physical transformation in development strategies will be relevant for decades to come. Large manufacturers are already making investments in the direction of smart manufacturing. These manufacturers include the world's largest steel producers. Manufacturing is moving towards smart production; maybe in a decade or two, the largest manufacturers of industrial products will be smart factories. The purpose of the research is to accept the place of the new development concept in the strategy of companies. Manufacturing companies that join Industry 4.0 should note this fact in their development strategies. The strategic goal(s) aimed at Industry 4.0 in manufacturing companies facilitate the various organizational divisions to implement new technologies, initially in the form of islands, and over time towards cyber-physical production systems (CPSs). Only CPSs can create smart factories, but in order to achieve this strategic goal, it is already necessary to record in the strategy that the company is investing in smart solutions. This paper provides an introduction to emphasize the importance of companies' strategies in building CPSs.