Adoption of Strategies the Fourth Industrial Revolution by Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Bogota D.C.

Abstract

Throughout history, the industry has presented abrupt changes reflected by new technologies and new ways to perceive the world. These radical changes, due to their deep transformations are denominated revolutions. The first industrial revolution spanned between 1760 - 1830 and the main characteristic was the jump from manual production to mechanical production. The second industrial revolution, took place between 1850 and 1940 and it was recognized due to the development of electricity. The third industrial revolution began in 1943 approximately, and the main technology was the computer. The fourth industrial revolution began in 2011 during the Hanover conference, and it became more important in 2016 during the world economic forum in Davos Switzerland. Its main characteristics are the combination of the physical and the digital world through technologies such as cyber-physical system, internet of things, large information processing, smart factory and cloud computing. An actual research shows that in Colombia micro, small, and medium-sized companies- MSMs- have problems with productivity, exporting capacity and customer service. The main cause for this is that these companies do not use modern technology to optimize their processes. This paper presents results of a research developed with 311 MSMs in Bogotá. The type of research is descriptive. In order to define the sample, it was used probabilistic sampling, with 90% of confidence level and 5% of error range. For information collecting the instrument was a survey applied, directly in the companies. The aim of this research was to identify de current adoption status of fourth industrial revolution strategies by MSMs in Bogotá, and then to have a base line that enables MSMs to be aware of the advantages and challenges of the fourth industrial revolution. In addition, the research proposes an implementation road map of fourth industrial revolution strategies for MSMs in Bogotá. The results show that the MSMs in Bogota do not know what the fourth industrial revolution is about. The main technology used is cloud computing. A conclusion is that, the MSMs in Bogotá are not yet taking advantage of the fourth industrial revolution opportunities.