A catalogue of digital solution areas for prioritising the needs of manufacturing SMEs
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Publication Date
2021Journal Title
Computers in Industry
ISSN
0166-3615
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Volume
133
Type
Article
This Version
AM
Metadata
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Schönfuß, B., McFarlane, D., Hawkridge, G., Salter, L., Athanassopoulou, N., & de Silva, L. (2021). A catalogue of digital solution areas for prioritising the needs of manufacturing SMEs. Computers in Industry, 133 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compind.2021.103532
Abstract
The digitalisation of the manufacturing industry is perceived to be critical for achieving future productivity gains. As a result, programmes such as Industry 4.0 (I4.0) have received a huge amount of attention. A series of authors have identified a gap in digitalisation research in the area of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs). The majority of studies and developments are focussed on larger companies, disregarding SME-specific digitalisation challenges such as knowledge, resource, and technology-awareness limitations. Based on the literature, we believe that a major reason for the disconnect is the discussion of digitalisation from a technology-centric viewpoint. Instead, we propose a problem-centric view on digitalisation as a means of addressing operational challenges through digital technologies. The aim of this paper is to identify the solution areas associated with these challenges that are relevant to a majority of manufacturing SMEs. In this study, we collate a catalogue of digitalisation priorities, conducting workshops with manufacturing SMEs (n=128). The final catalogue comprises 59 items with a clear hierarchy. Out of all participants in the study, 86% ranked one of the top 5 items as a key priority for their business. This contribution can help focus research, systems development, and standardisation to increase accessibility to digitalisation for manufacturing SMEs.
Embargo Lift Date
2023-12-01
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compind.2021.103532
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/327630
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
Licence URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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