Analysis of Challenges Responsible for the Slow Pace of Industry 4.0 Diffusion

The pace of Industry 4.0 adoption in manufacturing industries has been slow as it is accompanied by several barriers, specifically in the emerging economies. The current study intends to identify and understand the landscape of these challenges. Further, this paper prioritizes the challenges on the basis of their relative importance. To achieve this objective, the authors combine the fuzzy delphi approach along with the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process. Additionally, a sensitivity analysis is done to enhance robustness of the findings. The global rankings of the challenges reveal that the most significant factors that hamper the full realization of smart manufacturing include cybersecurity, privacy risks, and enormously high number of technology choices available in the market. The analysis offers insights into the reasons for the slow diffusion of smart manufacturing systems and the results would assist managers, policymakers, and technology providers in the advent of manufacturing digitalization.