When technologies become Industry 4.0 platforms: Defining the role of digital technologies through a boundary-spanning perspective

Abstract

The implementation of Industry 4.0 is usually built around core technologies that integrate different complementary hardware and software to coordinate activities within and across the company's borders. These technologies can operate as platforms, becoming the base of technology integration in the digital transformation journey. However, the specialized literature has not yet addressed Industry 4.0 technologies from a system view by considering the types of platforms involved. Rather, most Industry 4.0 technologies are considered singular entities of digital transformation. Thus, we aim to define which and how Industry 4.0 technologies can operate as platforms. We propose four types of platforms that support Industry 4.0 features: (i) Networked Manufacturing Operations platforms; (ii) Vertical Integration platforms; (iii) End-to-End Engineering platforms; (vi) Horizontal Integration platforms. We adopt a Boundary-Spanning (BS) perspective to analyze technologies as Industry 4.0 platforms using four BS activities: information collection and processing, external representation; task coordination; and knowledge transformation. We employ a multiple-case approach by scrutinizing 40 cases and selecting seven in which Industry 4.0 technologies are used as platforms. Although only the internet of things and cloud-based systems are conceived as technology platforms in practice, we show that Industry 4.0 can embrace other technologies as platforms that contribute to building cyber-physical systems. We suggest that some of these technologies can operate either as stand-alone or platforms, depending on how their use is designed in the digital transformation process for Industry 4.0 implementation. We provide a framework explaining platform layering as a value chain for these technologies.