Maturity Assessment of Industry 4.0 Implementation in Kazakhstani and Norwegian Oil and Gas Contexts

Abstract

The present industrial revolution in modern history, called Industry 4.0, completely changes the vision and processes of modern production and makes it more efficient, high quality, and potentially more profitable. The spreading of Industry 4.0 across all industries did not leave behind the oil and gas sector. More developed countries such as Norway, where the oil and gas industry plays a crucial role, have already initiated Industry 4.0 transformation and progressing toward achieving higher maturity levels. At the same time, developing countries such as Kazakhstan, where the oil and gas sector is also one of the most important industries, make their initial attempts towards Industry 4.0 but in a more cut-rate way. Therefore, this study aimed to conduct a maturity assessment of the oil and gas sectors of two countries, through a new Industry 4.0 readiness assessment model (RAM), developed exclusively for oil and gas companies. As a result, the model helped to identify the current maturity level of enterprises, strengths and weaknesses, and pinpoint country-specific patterns. Although the research focuses primarily on the upstream sector, the developed model and research results can also be extended to address the needs of the midstream and downstream sectors.