Implementing Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) for Industry 4.0: Overcoming buyer-provider information asymmetries through knowledge sharing dynamics

Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) have been considered the ‘entrance door’ to the Industry 4.0 journey. As part of this journey, this system must operate in real-time and be integrated with several other systems, resulting in modular adaptation and customized implementation of this solution. This increased complexity underscores the importance of the relationship between companies and their technology providers, requiring intensive knowledge-sharing (KS) activities between the parties. In particular, information asymmetry between buyers and MES 4.0 providers may be critical for the successful implementation of the system, but little is known about this issue, which has a high impact on the first stage of the Industry 4.0 journey. Thus, we aim to understand how knowledge sharing affects information asymmetry between buyers and technology providers for MES 4.0 implementation. Our investigation is based on qualitative interviews with 56 key experts from 33 companies, which allowed us first to define MES configurations for Industry 4.0, i.e., MES 4.0 as a differentiation from early versions of MES. Then, we conducted a multiple case study with three buyer-provider dyads in the pre-and post-contract phases of MES purchasing to analyze KS dynamics during the implementation of MES 4.0. We propose a model that explains the relationship between MES 4.0 complexity and KS intensity and a decision framework that describes the steps for MES 4.0 implementation while focusing on reducing information asymmetry during the collaboration.