Industry 4.0 Implementation Challenges and Opportunities: A Technological Perspective

During the last decade, we have witnessed steady movement of industry and academia toward Industry 4.0. Industry 4.0 is a concept aimed at achieving the integration of physical and cybernetic parts of the manufacturing process via networks and driven by Industry 4.0 technology categories used for the prediction, control, maintenance, and integration of manufacturing processes (i.e., cyberphysical systems, Internet of Things, big data analytics, cloud computing, fog and edge computing, augmented and virtual reality, robotics, cybersecurity, semantic web technologies, and additive manufacturing). The research on implementing Industry 4.0 is lagging behind the degree of attention Industry 4.0 attracts. Moreover, contrary to the exponential growth that Industry 4.0 research shows, the implementation of Industry 4.0 in practice is less often covered in the relevant literature. The challenges of implementing Industry 4.0 are even less frequently addressed. Industry 4.0 implementation challenges can be either managerial or technological. In our recent paper, we analyzed managerial implementation challenges. This article, as a continuation of our previous work, identifies, codes, and defines the technological Industry 4.0 implementation challenges. It further analyzes hindering relationships between Industry 4.0 technologies and identifies main challenge themes important for system designers. Finally, this article derives opportunities in the form of recommendations for overcoming current and future technological implementation challenges.