Determining the Level of Use of the Industry 4.0 Solutions in the COVID-19 Pandemic Era: Results of Empirical Research

Abstract

Changes in the world’s situation and the need to be competitive and less dependent on the global economy lead to improvements in many organisations. Together with business model transformation, using the latest technologies such as augmented reality, autonomous robots, mobile technologies, big data, cloud computing, and others known as an Industry 4.0 pillars, enterprises are changing the industry status quo. These technologies are widely described and studied in the literature, mainly on the example of large production companies. In order to fill the gap, this article had two objectives. The first objective was to investigate the usage of Industry 4.0 technologies in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. The second one was to verify the strength of the impact of selected barriers on the level of implementation of individual I4.0 technologies and influence of cooperation during technology implementation. To achieve the objectives of the article, quantitative research was conducted. Data from 125 anonymous survey participants were collected in October 2021 and analysed using a statistical tool. The study results revealed that the term Industry 4.0 is known among industry employees. Surveyed organisations are using I4.0 technologies and still planning to implement them in a wider range despite the pandemic situation. Moreover, the most often-cited barriers in the literature on the subject are costs or employees’ acceptations, too-individualised customer requirements, or insufficient standardisation, which affect the implementation of Industry 4.0 solutions with strengths varying from low to moderate intensity. The information in this paper may be of use to Industry 4.0 solution providers or collaborative and partnership organisations.