Towards the Adoption of Industry 4.0 Technologies in the Digitalization of Manufacturing Supply Chain

Abstract

The study used multiple case studies to explore the findings from literature review on adoption of industry 4.0 technologies in manufacturing supply chains. It displays a digitalized supply chain as one of the best options for optimization of manufacturing companies processes and provides insights and some guidance on the industry 4.0 technologies for manufacturing companies to prioritize when starting the digitalization journey; to improve decision making, maximize efficiency and minimize costs. The main objective of the study is to explore various industry 4.0 technologies used in manufacturing supply chains and two propositions were suggested based on the three case companies investigated. The digitalization of manufacturing supply chains has an overall positive impact on how the supply chains operates and improves productivity and growth. It was concluded that industry 4.0 technologies are valuable tools from a managerial perspective, because they provide better process visibility and tracking of requisitions, improved efficiency, optimization of resources, easy to use templates, improved access to ordering data and reporting, improved decision making, and the supply chains are more autonomous.