Change made in shop floor management to transform a conventional production system into an "Industry 4.0": Case studies in SME automotive production manufacturing

Industry 4.0 will be the most powerful driver of innovation over the next few decades, innovation being the move towards sustainable competitiveness and profitable growth [1]. The research underpins the earlier research in methodological terms and traces successful performance such as productivity and quality results of an SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) within the context of Industry 4.0. This new industrial paradigm is not just about technology, but it also involves changes in the technical and production development, so current ways of value creation are evolving and bringing extensive organizational consequences and opportunities. Our case study presents the systematic diversification process described in the Maturity Model to implement Industry 4.0 scenario [2] in an automotive production company, using the three elements: Envision, Enable and Enact. We choose to present this case study because many companies want to start the implementation of this new business model. However, there is a gap of information concerning the steps that a small and medium production unit needs to make in order to change the strategy of the company regarding the Industry 4.0. All the above affect directly the productivity results without negative effects on the quality results of the analysed company.