How does Industry 4.0 contribute to operations management?

Abstract

Interconnection among systems requires the interaction between different technologies, such as radio frequency identifier, sensors, processing in the cloud and cyber-physical systems. The use of these technologies entails transforming the way operations management is carried out within companies, with potential for application in several fields of activity. This article aims to identify the contribution of the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies for companies’ operation management (OM). Based on a survey with 38 successful cases of Industry 4.0 implementation, the results achieved the main benefits of the use of these technologies for OM. These results indicate that Industry 4.0’s contributions are more concentrated in areas such as Technology management and Just-in-time manufacturing. Further, the maturity level of the successful cases analyzed is still incipient, indicating a potential for increasing productivity after the application of these technologies.