The Quality 4.0 Roadmap: Designing a capability roadmap toward quality management in Industry 4.0

Abstract

Literature shows that the path toward Quality 4.0 is unclear and that there is no roadmap to assist organizations in preparing or navigating this transition. This article aims to understand such a path, design, and develop a roadmap to guide organizations. The “Quality 4.0 Roadmap” allows organizations to position themselves and smoothly transition to Quality 4.0. It consolidates fundamental Quality Management practices to promote sustained progress toward stages of advanced technological integration. In each stage, the “Quality 4.0 Roadmap” highlights the necessary capabilities organizations need to develop and alerts them of potential pitfalls. This roadmap offers an original tool to assist organizations in achieving and developing the required capabilities for pursuing the digital transition with an operational and human-centered perspective. It also defines vital stages in the Quality 4.0 transition, identifying the evolving requirements and marking boundaries and touchpoints between Technology and Quality management.