Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Strategic Roadmapping Towards Industry 4.0 for Manufacturing SMEs

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Advances in Production Management Systems. Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable and Resilient Production Systems (APMS 2021)

Part of the book series: IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology ((IFIPAICT,volume 631))

Abstract

In recent years, there is a growing focus on the role of small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs), and their development towards Industry 4.0. One way of supporting SMEs in this effort, is by utilizing the method of strategic roadmapping. This article presents a) a theoretical framework for the use of strategic roadmapping towards industry 4.0, and b) insights from a validation of the framework in four pilots - Norwegian manufacturing companies. The framework offers a systemic view of the company by focusing on five dimensions: business and strategy, product, customers and suppliers, production processes, and factory and infrastructure. Simultaneously, the framework offers a stepwise method to look at these five dimensions from a strategic perspective in a holistic way. The empirical data from the pilot companies offer insights on how the companies take up the strategic roadmapping method into their strategic operations, as well as which topics related to Industry 4.0 get integrated into their future vision, strategies and plans. The results indicate that the use of the strategic roadmapping method supports companies in seeing diverse routes towards Industry 4.0 and provides support in prioritizing relevant projects and activities.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Anderl, R., et al.: Guideline Industrie 4.0 - guiding principles for the implementation of Industrie 4.0 in small and medium sized businesses, January 2015

    Google Scholar 

  2. Battistella, C., De Toni, A.F., Pillon, R.: The extended map methodology: technology roadmapping for SMEs clusters. J. Eng. Tech. Manage. 38, 1–23 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jengtecman.2015.05.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Brettel, M., Friederichsen, N., Keller, M., Rosenberg, N.: How virtualization, decentralization and network building change the manufacturing landscape: an Industry 4.0 perspective. Int. J. Sci. Eng. Technol. 8, 37–44 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  4. European Commission: User guide to the SME definition. Report, European Union (2015). https://doi.org/10.2873/620234

  5. Erol, S., Jäger, A., Hold, P., Ott, K., Sihn, W.: Tangible Industry 4.0: a scenario-based approach to learning for the future of production. Procedia CIRP 54, 13–18 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2016.03.162. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212827116301500. 6th CIRP Conference on Learning Factories

  6. Erol, S., Schumacher, A., Sihn, W.: Strategic guidance towards Industry 4.0 - a three-stage process model. In: International Conference on Competitive Manufacturing (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Ghobakhloo, M.: The future of manufacturing industry: a strategic roadmap toward Industry 4.0. J. Manuf. Technol. Manage. 29(6), 910–936 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1108/jmtm-02-2018-0057

  8. IEA: Energy technology roadmaps a guide to development and implementation. Report, OECD/International Energy Agency (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Issa, A., Hatiboglu, B., Bildstein, A., Bauernhansl, T.: Industrie 4.0 roadmap: framework for digital transformation based on the concepts of capability maturity and alignment, vol. 72, pp. 973–978, January 2018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2018.03.151

  10. Leone, D., Barni, A.: Industry 4.0 on demand: a value driven methodology to implement Industry 4.0. In: Lalic, B., Majstorovic, V., Marjanovic, U., von Cieminski, G., Romero, D. (eds.) APMS 2020. IAICT, vol. 591, pp. 99–106. Springer, Cham (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57993-7_12

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  11. Moeuf, A., Pellerin, R., Lamouri, S., Tamayo Giraldo, S., Barbaray, R.: The industrial management of SMEs in the era of Industry 4.0. Int. J. Prod. Res. 56, 1–19 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2017.1372647

  12. Müller, J.M., Buliga, O., Voigt, K.I.: Fortune favors the prepared: How SMEs approach business model innovations in Industry 4.0. Technol. Forecasting Soc. Change 132, 2–17 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2017.12.019. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162517312039

  13. Orzes, G., Poklemba, R., Towner, W.T.: Implementing Industry 4.0 in SMEs: A Focus Group Study on Organizational Requirements, Book Section 9, pp. 251–278. Palgrave MacMillan (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25425-4

  14. Qin, J., Liu, Y., Grosvenor, R.: A categorical framework of manufacturing for Industry 4.0 and beyond. Procedia CIRP 52, 173–178 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2016.08.005

  15. Rojko, A.: Industry 4.0 concept: background and overview. Int. J. Interact. Mobile Technol. (iJIM) 11(5), 77–90 (2017). https://online-journals.org/index.php/i-jim/article/view/7072

  16. Santosa, C., Mehrsaia, A., Barrosa, A.C., Araújob, M., Aresc, E.: Towards Industry 4.0: an overview of European strategic roadmaps. In: Manufacturing Engineering Society International Conference 2017, MESIC 2017, Procedia Manufacturing, pp. 972–979. Elsevier (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.promfg.2017.09.093

  17. Schumacher, A., Erol, S., Sihn, W.: A maturity model for assessing Industry 4.0 readiness and maturity of manufacturing enterprises. Procedia CIRP 52, 161–166 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2016.07.040. The Sixth International Conference on Changeable, Agile, Reconfigurable and Virtual Production (CARV2016)

  18. Sjøgren, J., Krogh, E., Christensen, L.C., Olsen-Skåre, K.H.: Digitalt veikart - for en heldigitalisert, konkurransedyktig og bærekraftig bae-næring. Report (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Stentoft, J., Wickstrøm Jensen, K., Philipsen, K., Haug, A.: Drivers and barriers for Industry 4.0 readiness and practice: a SME perspective with empirical evidence. In: 52nd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (2019). https://hdl.handle.net/10125/59952

  20. Vogelsang, K., Liere-Netheler, K., Packmohr, S., Hoppe, U.: Success factors for fostering a digital transformation in manufacturing companies. J. Enterp. Transform. 8, 1–22 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1080/19488289.2019.1578839

  21. Vrchota, J., Volek, T., Novotna, M.: Factors introducing Industry 4.0 to SMEs. Soc. Sci. 8, 130 (2019). https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci8050130

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work is part of the project Digifab – Automated digitalization and roadmap towards Industry 4.0 for manufacturing SMEs, funded by the Research Council of Norway (NFR project nr. ES603431). The authors thankfully acknowledge the funding agency, Digifab project partners and the case companies.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

    Elli Verhulst & Stine Fridtun Brenden

Authors
  1. Elli Verhulst
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Stine Fridtun Brenden
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elli Verhulst .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. IMT Atlantique, Nantes, France

    Alexandre Dolgui

  2. Centrale Nantes, Nantes, France

    Alain Bernard

  3. IMT Atlantique, Nantes, France

    David Lemoine

  4. ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Friedrichshafen, Germany

    Gregor von Cieminski

  5. Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico City, Mexico

    David Romero

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Verhulst, E., Brenden, S.F. (2021). Strategic Roadmapping Towards Industry 4.0 for Manufacturing SMEs. In: Dolgui, A., Bernard, A., Lemoine, D., von Cieminski, G., Romero, D. (eds) Advances in Production Management Systems. Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable and Resilient Production Systems. APMS 2021. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, vol 631. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85902-2_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85902-2_1

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-85901-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-85902-2

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Societies and partnerships