Revisiting the theoretical evolution of Industry 4.0: A thematic analysis of research focus

Kübra Şimşek Demirbağ, Nihan Yıldırım*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Industry 4.0 (I40), which has been mentioned frequently in recent years, is a collective concept used to express that the developing industry is now in its fourth phase. Enterprises, industries, and even governments are developing strategies and building technology roadmaps for I40. Also, it has occupied a prominent place in the literature, but the comprehensive and systematic studies related to the position of I40 are very limited. Therefore, we aim to investigate the I40 literature and to carry out thematic analysis to reveal the research trends and gaps. The study includes 786 articles on the Scopus database. As a result, articles are mostly based on new tools, technologies and the application of them to manufacturing, while the ‘human’ dimension is ignored. On the contrary, the technical aspect of I40 is ignored while the effect of I40 on human and social dimensions is focused on the studies prepared by Russian academics.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)20-46
Number of pages27
JournalInternational Journal of Technology, Policy and Management
Volume21
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2021 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Keywords

  • CPPS
  • Cyber physical production systems
  • Fourth industrial revolution
  • I40
  • Industry 4.0
  • Internet of things
  • IoT
  • Literature review
  • Smart manufacturing
  • Thematic analysis

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Revisiting the theoretical evolution of Industry 4.0: A thematic analysis of research focus'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this