Implementing Industry 4.0 – The Need for a Holistic Approach

Recent studies have shown that corporations around the world are aware of the topic industry 4.0 and the possible implications associated with it, such as more flexible, resilient, and productive manufacturing sites. While the outlook seems positive, the findings of several studies have also documented that most of the companies that are aware of industry 4.0 technologies and concepts still have not started to implement them. At the same time, corporations that are already engaged with the transition faced a considerable number of challenges. These challenges have been the subject of several investigations since the introduction of Industry 4.0 and illustrate why corporations seem to hesitate with initiating the transitional process. What is more, these findings also show that while some factors slow down the adaptation of new technologies and concepts related to Industry 4.0, other factors seem to have positive effects and even make a potential implementation more likely. However, to the frustration of practitioners, scientists, and governments, the current landscape of Industry 4.0 implementation research resembles a puzzle that has not been put together yet. As a result, the current status of the implementation of Industry 4.0 is difficult to comprehend at best as the referring knowledge and expertise are widely dispersed throughout a number of different publications. Furthermore, the potential dynamic between implementation factors cannot be examined if elements are treated as isolated and individual phenomena. In order to shed more light on this shortfall, this study set out to explore the factors that have an impact on the implementation of industry 4.0 and to build a solid foundation for future research that is mainly focused on a more coherent and complete understanding of the transition towards Industry 4.0 by acknowledging the dynamic between the already identified factors.