Decision-making methods for selecting the best strategy for Industry 4.0

Emerging Industry 4.0 creates a critical challenge when an organisation decides to reform and adapt to developing technologies. The decision maker must be aware of the elements prior to implementing Industry 4.0 strategies and technologies. Following the research approach, this article presents the decision making framework for SMEs in Industry 4.0 implementation decisions. This research begins with Industry 4.0 aspects and readiness maturity levels that identify SME capability. This model is a hybrid multi-criteria method: the fuzzy DEMATEL was used to evaluate the direction of the aspect, and then the fuzzy best-worst method analysed the weighting of aspects. After that, the prioritisation of strategies was ranked. The result concluded the priority of SMEs to select the suitable strategy toward Industry 4.0. Moreover, human skills are the core organisational aspects that embrace adaptation. Finally, the research not only highlights the best strategies selection but also presents the human skills that support organisational implementation. Copyright © 2023 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.