Industry 4.0 enabling technologies in manufacturing: implementation priorities and difficulties in an emerging country
Pedro Guilherme Sanches Contieri, Rosley Anholon, Luis Antonio de Santa-Eulália
Abstract
Industry 4.0 is one of the most heterogeneous waves of global industrialisation and the impact of new technologies in the industry is not clear. The present research aims to explore the perception of professionals from the Brazilian manufacturing sector regarding the main enabling technologies of Industry 4.0, their priority and difficulty level of implementation. A survey was carried out and collected data were analysed using a Fuzzy-TOPSIS approach. The results were summarised into a final ranking and it was possible to understand the perception of professionals regarding Brazilian manufacturing. For them, companies for aforementioned sector need to prioritise investments in shop-floor digitalisation (common fact in developing countries) and focus on understanding cybersecurity requirements (which hinders the implementation process). Understanding of Industry 4.0 phenomena in emerging countries is essential to grasp its particularities at a global level, helping researchers, decision-makers and policymakers to leverage Industry 4.0 in the context of a globalised economy.