A study on the barriers that impact the adoption of Industry 4.0 in the context of Brazilian companies

PurposeThis research aims to evaluate the impact of barriers experienced by Brazilian companies in adopting Industry 4.0 (I4.0).Design/methodology/approachAs a methodological approach, the survey method was used, adopting the use of the questionnaire for data collection. From the feedback of 99 companies (with an index of 80%), quantitative analyzes of the data were carried out with the aid of factor analysis and linear regression to validate the proposed structural model.FindingsThe barriers construct does not impact the I4.0 adoption construct. Directly evaluating the effect of the variables that make up the barriers construct in the I4.0 adoption construct, it was observed that three barriers affect effectively the adoption of I4.0: technological infrastructure; financial constraint and lack of understanding of the benefits of I4.0.Research limitations/implicationsAs a limitation, the research was conducted only in the Brazilian context, requiring the development of future studies in other countries that can strengthen the findings of this research.Practical implicationsIn addition, the results achieved provide relevant insights into public policymakers and business managers, helping them to deeply understand the barriers that impact the adoption of I4.0. This facilitates the propagation of I4.0 concepts in the context of Brazilian companies and in the formulation of public policies adapted to each sector, allowing a more assertive action in the face of the types of barriers experienced by organizations during the adoption of I4.0.Social implicationsThe findings can help practitioners and policymakers to understand in detail this new industrial model and the difficulties that prevent its implementation.Originality/valueFrom an extensive literature review, no studies were identified that statistically validate which barriers effectively affect the adoption of I4.0. This research is a pioneer in proposing a structural model to analyze the barriers experienced by workers during the adoption of I4.0, exploring Brazilian companies, from different economic sectors and sizes. It is noteworthy that the literature still focuses efforts on manufacturing companies.