Key ingredients for evaluating Industry 4.0 readiness for organizations: a literature review

Abstract

Purpose Industry 4.0 is the present trend in automation and data exchange in organizations. However, till today, there is no generic and common understanding in terms of assessing the Industry 4.0 readiness for organizations. The purpose of this paper is to identify the key ingredients for assessing Industry 4.0 readiness for organizations, the interrelationships that exist between these readiness factors and how future research should proceed given the research findings. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review (SLR) methodology of Tranfield et al. (2003) was employed to ensure the replicability and transparency of the review process. Altogether, 68 articles were identified for the final thematic analysis. Findings The SLR results generated six broad themes of readiness factors. The interrelationship mechanism between these factors was identified. In addition, 17 research propositions were elucidated. Research limitations/implications Being the first literature review on assessing Industry 4.0 readiness for organizations, it finds 17 research propositions which will give the future researchers a guideline for further research in Industry 4.0. Practical implications Although Industry 4.0 is the buzzword, very few organizations understand the concept in detail. This paper will help the organizations to identify the factors which they have to asses critically before implementing Industry 4.0 in an organization. Originality/value Nevertheless, there has been a lot of research on Industry 4.0; this is the first systematic literature to identify the key ingredients for assessing Industry 4.0 readiness for organizations.