Are We Ready to Change? A Self-assessment Tool to Measure Industry 4.0 Readiness for Medellin Apparel MSMEs

The need to adopt technological tools that improve the process management and focus on assertive decision making is a reality that manifests itself not only in large enterprises, but also in Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs). However, successful adoption requires not only the correct identification of digitisation needs, but also a diagnosis of current capabilities to acquire and implement technologies that will allow them to address internal deficiencies. This diagnosis is not always made consciously, which can lead to technology projects failing even after considerable resources have been invested. This study aims to propose a self-assessment tool to measure the readiness of SMEs to adopt Industry 4.0 tools. The main expected impact of this tool is to mitigate the low success of technology projects in these companies, and to enhance their growth by focusing their resources on improvement projects that fit their operational realities.