The impacts of Industry 4.0: A descriptive survey in the Italian manufacturing sector

Purpose: This paper is aimed at investigating how much the Italian manufacturing companies are ready to be concretely involved in the so-called ‘Industry 4.0’ journey. In particular, this paper focuses on analyzing the knowledge and adoption levels of specific I4.0 enabling technologies, also considering how organizations are involved and which are the main benefits and obstacles. Design/methodology/approach: A descriptive survey has been carried out on a total of 103 respondents related to manufacturing companies of different sizes. Data collected was analyzed in order to answer five specific research questions. Findings: The findings from the survey demonstrate that Italian manufacturing companies are in different positions in their journey towards the I4.0 paradigm, mainly depending on their size and informatization level. Furthermore, not all the business functions are adequately involved in this transformation and their awareness about this new paradigm seems quite low because of the absence of specific managerial roles to guide this revolution. Finally, there are strong differences concerning both benefits and obstacles related to the adoption of I4.0 paradigm, depending on the technology adoption level. Research limitations/implications: Future research should focus on developing case studies about pilot I4.0 practitioners in order to understand the root cause of successful cases. Both managerial and practical references should be developed, helping Italian manufacturing enterprises to consolidate and strengthen their position in global competitive market. Finally, it would be interesting to carry out the same study in other countries in order to make comparisons and suitable benchmark analyses. Originality/value: Despite scholars have debated about the adoption of technologies and the benefits related to the I4.0 paradigm, to the best of authors’ knowledge, only a few empirical surveys have been carried until now out on the adoption level of I4.0 principles in the manufacturing sector of a specific country.