A reference framework for the holistic evaluation of Industry 4.0 solutions for small- and medium-sized enterprises

The introduction of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) into manufacturing systems involves a wide range of opportunities and risks. The latter are critical for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and could either lead to their future success or jeopardize their economic survival. To scrutinize the impact of an 14.0 solution on their processes, SMEs need to assess their transformed processes holistically with respect to numerous perspectives. Existing assessment approaches either focus on a single 14.0 solution in isolation, assess exclusively from the technological perspective, or lack an overall procedural and economic impact evaluation. The aim of this contribution is to develop a framework of performance metrics for the holistic impact evaluation of 14.0 solutions on SMEs. In the framework, we consolidate the impacts of technology applications discussed in the literature into 16 main fields of action and define adequate performance metrics to assess each of them. The resulting performance framework combines traditional metrics for the evaluation of supply chain processes i.e., supply chain operations reference-metrics and the global reporting initiative, and extends them with additional performance metrics relevant to the assessment of 14.0 solutions. This framework aims to facilitate and systemize the selection of adequate attributes for the evaluation of 14.0 solutions. Through an illustrative example, we demonstrate the practical utility of the framework and its convenience for the purpose of an assessment. (C) 2019, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.