A critical review of smart manufacturing & Industry 4.0 maturity models: Implications for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

The objective of this paper is to critically review currently available Smart Manufacturing (SM) and Industry 4.0 maturity models, and analyze their fit recognizing the specific requirements of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). To this end, this paper presents features that are characteristic for SMEs and identify research gaps needed to be addressed to successfully support manufacturing SMEs in their progress towards Industry 4.0. The results of this study show that only a limited number of the SM and Industry 4.0 roadmaps, maturity models, frameworks and readiness assessments that are available today reflect the specific requirements and challenges of SMEs. The main findings include: (1) the current standard starting level 1 (base level) of most maturity models appears to be disconnected from the real digitization and smart manufacturing maturity level of many SMEs. Therefore, we propose a level 0 specifically designed to reflect the 'real - base level' for SMEs; (2) the transition from this new base level, level 0, to the current standard level 1, requires significant effort including a mind-set change; (3) maturity models and readiness assessments can be associated with an SM toolkit, and (4) SMEs need to develop their own, unique SM or Industry 4.0 vision and roadmap. This study provides insights that help towards developing a realistic SM (Industry 4.0) maturity model for SMEs that reflects their industrial realities more accurately. With the help of SM maturity models that are more customized to the SME specific requirements, the SMEs' stakeholders will be able to better define their SM (Industry 4.0) vision, roadmap, and strategic projects. It will ultimately lower the entry barrier and reduce the risk of the transition process towards SM and Industry 4.0 and support the critical change in culture. Summarizing, we identified manufacturing SMEs' specific requirements, conducted a literature review of current SM maturity models, and discussed how these maturity models reflect the SME specific requirements.