Industry 4.0 roadmap for SMEs: validation of moderation techniques for creativity workshops

Abstract

Industry 4.0 is an element of entrepreneurial strategy to survive to rapidly and constantly changing markets. Several studies acknowledge that small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) face challenges initiating innovation processes towards digital transformation. However, the success of the so called fourth industrial revolution will ultimately depend on whether SMEs can adopt and implement these technologies, as they represent the backbone of numerous economies worldwide. The present study aims at presenting the characteristics of a roadmap service supporting SMEs in the manufacturing and building sector throughout the technological and organisational planning of Industry 4.0 in their business strategies. The results of a social experiment to validate the selected design thinking techniques show that most of them enable innovation dynamics in creativity workshops for Industry 4.0 roadmaps and are useful for deriving an implementation plan for Industry 4.0 in SMEs.