This paper demonstrates the concept of a systematic methodical 'in-practice' analysis based on the Industry 4.0 maturity model, which has been developed at the Munich University of Applied Sciences. It demonstrates how Industry 4.0 knowledge of well-developed companies can be analyzed, bundled and transferred to less developed companies. The research is focused on the industrial development of small and medium sized enterprises from the manufacturing sector. Furthermore, the combination of the concept and the findings of this paper give an idea how knowledge exchange between companies in the field of digital transformation can be supported in practice.