Industrial Transformation Roadmap for Digitalisation and Smart Factories: The Danish SMEs Model

Today only some sections of the supply chain are digitalized, but some companies are also already far with Industry 4.0, where the virtual factory and the physical factory work closely together (digital twin). Industry 4.0, which started in Germany among the large OEMs, seems to have not resonated much with SMEs. There is an imminent challenge of coming up with a feasible transformation roadmap which will resonate effectively and efficiently with SEMs as they are the core backbone of every performing economy. This research investigates Smart Factories/Industry 4.0 in the Danish SMEs model perspective. This research's main objectives are to develop a feasible roadmap in the form of a conceptual framework for easy industrial transformation to the digitalizing and smart way of (doing things) developing products and/or services. This research employs quantitative research methods such as surveys and interviews where applicable as well as a literature review in the SMEs perspective. Previous research has shown that the digital evolution coined as Industry 4.0 was started among large companies. However, this initial precedence has not resonated very much with all-inclusive industrial evolution, especially within the SMEs perspective. The main industrial implication will be the definition of a clear feasible roadmap for what this research terms as an industrial transformation process - "digital change management process - Industry 4.0/Smart factory" in the industrial SMEs perspective - the Danish Model. This research seeks to propose a conceptual smart factory roadmap in an Industry 4.0 perspective, which could be adopted among manufacturing SMEs to effectively, and efficiently transform their production operations. The Danish model perspective or angle of Industry 4.0.