Differences between small and medium sized companies when realizing smart production - experiences from northwest smart production program in Denmark

The challenges of utilizing new digitalization and automation opportunities are significantly different in smaller companies compared to larger companies. Most of the literature and experiences relate to larger companies, and approaches for small companies have yet to emerge. Larger companies are internally self-driven in their approaches, but smaller companies need support from outside sources. This chapter summarizes initial experiences of how smaller companies can be supported. The empirical background is a municipal business support program Northwest Smart Production Program (NVSP), which aims to support SMEs in exploiting development opportunities in relation to smart production. Methodologically, the chapter is based on an action research approach, where the development of the individual company has been the aim of the NVSP program. Given the exploratory nature of the chapter, the research results are documented with qualitative observations and supplemented with case studies. The NVSP program has been focusing on both medium sized and smaller companies; however, this chapter will focus specifically on the challenges that have been experienced in the smaller companies.