In Search of Industry 4.0 and Logistics 4.0 in Small-Medium Enterprises—A State of the Art Review

Abstract

The implementation of Industry 4.0 currently concerns mainly large enterprises. However, the economy of most European countries is based on the activities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). For this reason, the further development of the I4.0 concept and the technology of Logistics 4.0 depends on adjusting its assumptions to the needs of SMEs. The article aims to identify research areas regarding the adaptation of Industry 4.0 and Logistics 4.0 solutions to the needs of the SME sector, based on a review of the literature. The PRISMA method, one of the popular analytical methods used in a literature review, was used for the research. The selection of publications for the analysis was based on the Web of Science database, an important interdisciplinary research platform. Ninety-five publications were accepted for the final analysis, which concerned only the application of Industry 4.0 in SMEs and 10 publications on Logistics 4.0. The conducted studies of the literature allowed to identify the scope of research on the implementation of the concept of Industry 4.0 and Logistics 4.0 in the SME sector. The research allowed us to distinguish five thematic groups in total, which have been characterized. One of the identified groups concerns the adaptation of Logistics 4.0 systems to the needs of SMEs. The number of publications on this group of studies is minimal, therefore this area has been recognized as the currently existing research gap.

Keywords

• small-medium enterprise
• PRISMA framework
• European Union countries
• Industry 4.0 technologies
• digitization
• implementation barriers