Measuring the Industry 5.0-Readiness Level of SMEs Using Industry 1.0–5.0 Practices: The Case of the Seafood Processing Industry

Abstract

SMEs across the globe have witnessed increasing internal and external pressure to adopt the recent industrial revolution (4.0 & 5.0). There has been pressure for SMEs to adopt Industry 4.0 technologies, but this did not transpire in traditional industries such as agricultural and seafood processing. Also, there is no published evidence of Industry 4.0 technologies’ support for food processing industries to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). Hence, Industry 5.0 is conceptualized to be (a) human-centric, (b) sustainable, and (c) resilient. However, most of the earlier studies conducted to assess the “Industry 4.0 adoption level” failed to address the respondents’ current level of industrial practices. Therefore, to overcome the research gap, this research aims to measure the current level of industrial practices and I5.0 readiness level of seafood processing SMEs in Thailand. Thus, this research developed a seven-factor framework including “production line”; “major energy source”; “seafood processing”; “packaging”; “labelling”; “anti-bacterial testing methods sensory, texture analyzing and quality control”; and “business process, documentation, and communication”, with forty-two questions related to Industry 1.0–5.0 practices in the context of seafood processing SMEs. The findings reveal that the SMEs are still in I1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 practices. There is minimal adoption of I4.0. However, there is a comparatively higher level of Industry 5.0 readiness among SMEs in terms of business processes, documentation, and communication. Thus, SMEs can adopt Industry 5.0 partially, and escalate step-by-step from Industry 1.0–Industry 4.0 according to changing trends and demand.