Assessment of the critical success factors that enable implementation of Industry 4.0 concepts in manufacturing companies within the SME sector in the Czech Republic

Abstract

Purpose – the research analyses and identifies, factors that influence and have the most impact in achieving a sustainable process management model in the implementation of Industry 4.0 concepts within production based SMEs. Research methodology – the research adopted qualitative and quantitative research. The qualitative approach involved an extensive and systematic review of literature while the quantitative approach involved the use of an online questionnaire used to collect data and analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis to test the measures of the constructs in the proposed conceptual framework. Findings – the result from the research shows the main influencing factor that enables successful implementation of the Industry 4.0 process management model in SMEs. Research limitations – the main research limitation is that the SMEs covered in the quantitative aspect of the research is located in the Czech Republic. It would be interesting to have similar studies conducted in other geographies for comparison purposes. Practical implications – the findings from the study are useful to practitioners and industry stakeholders who intend to develop the right process management model reliant on Industry 4.0 within their SMEs. Originality/Value – the originality/value is based on the combination of a quantitative alongside the qualitative approach in investigating the phenomenon covered in the study.