The Industry 4.0 Knowledge & Technology Framework

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit manufacturing industries on an unprecedented scale. Traditional manufacturing paradigms are severely disrupted, and proactive integration of Industry 4.0 becomes an urgent matter for decision makers to mitigate future economic shocks. The proposed Industry 4.0 Knowledge & Technology Framework (IKTF) provides guidance to decision makers by achieving a multi-level sequential framework based on a micro-meso-macro approach. The aim of the IKTF is to allow for first steps to initiate an informed and successful integration of Industry 4.0 in a corporate context. The IKTF presents an answer to the challenge to provide definitions of relevant concepts on the complex topic of Industry 4.0 in a systemic manner of a micro-meso-macro analysis that additionally functions as a foundational support tool for Industry 4.0 integration and decision-making. As a first step, the structure and contents of the IKTF are introduced and described. In a second and final step the applicability of the IKTF is demonstrated and discussed on a theoretical and practical level with the help of a case study.