Defining and assessing industry 4.0 maturity levels – case of the defence sector

Abstract

Firms do not currently fully appreciate the complex characteristics of Industry 4.0 and as a result are uncertain about what it represents for them. In this study, an assessment model is developed to measure the level of implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies, around three dimensions: ‘Factory of the Future’, ‘People and Culture’, and ‘Strategy’. The ‘Factory of the Future’ is the main dimension and is composed of eight attributes: Additive Manufacturing, Cloud, Manufacturing Execution System, Internet of Things and Cyber Physical Systems, Big Data, Sensors, e-Value Chains, and Autonomous Robots. The study uses a defence manufacturing firm to develop, test and validate the model and report on 12 partners. We concluded that the focal firm has an Industry 4.0 maturity level of 59.35, above the sector average of 55.58. This research contributes by empirically developing a model and providing an analysis of major firms in the Defence supply network.

Keywords:

• Industry 4.0
• maturity assessment
• defence sector

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the focal firm for the access, support and the contribution of its employees as well as The Manufacturing Institute. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lee Bibby

Lee Bibby is a Production Project Control Manager who works within the Manufacturing Defence Industry. Lee has worked within the Manufacturing Defence Industry for 8 years within a variety of roles from Manufacturing Engineering to Project Management. Lee’s early academic career focussed on Electronic and Electrical Engineering but more recently has focussed on Manufacturing Leadership, Manufacturing Technology Evolution and Operations Management. Lee has a passion, enthusiasm and interest in the manufacturing industry, in particular the developments around Industry 4.0 and the Factory of the Future topics.

Benjamin Dehe

Dr Benjamin Dehe is a Senior Lecturer in Operations Management at Huddersfield Business School, UK. He focuses his research and work in the application of operations excellence, lean and six-sigma concepts and theories in manufacturing, built environment and sport. Recently he has focused aspect of his research on big data, new technologies and Industry 4.0. His work, which has been published in national and international journals such as: International Journal of Operations and Production Management, Expert Systems with Applications, International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management and Production Planning and Control, revolve predominantly around the decision-making processes.