Abstract
Although small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) shape the cornerstone of the economy, they encounter various challenges in managing the transition to Industry 4.0. This condition represents an ill-structured problem under uncertainty, which requires a set of specific tools to be solved. This study relies on an integrated approach composed of the interval type-2 fuzzy best–worst method (IT2F-BWM) and the interval type-2 fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (IT2F-DEMATEL) method, to handle the complexities that SMEs experience in the transition to Industry 4.0. The results of the IT2F-BWM revealed the priority of the “organizational” dimension over the “technological” and “strategic” dimensions. Furthermore, the IT2F-DEMATEL results showed that the “organizational” dimension exerted the highest degree of impact. The most effective criteria (sub-dimensions) were “the lack of a skillful management team,” “the need for advanced skills,” and “having insufficient knowledge of and little interest in Industry 4.0 and its outcomes,” which fell under the “organizational,” “technological,” and “strategic” dimensions, respectively. The findings could help firms and enterprises to gain adequate knowledge of Industry 4.0 before implementing it, while clarifying how such entities can enhance their organizations and overcome obstacles by training their human resources.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by MA and SS. The first draft of the manuscript was written by SS, and MA commented on previous versions of the manuscript. MA read and approved the final manuscript.
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Alimohammadlou, M., Sharifian, S. Industry 4.0 implementation challenges in small- and medium-sized enterprises: an approach integrating interval type-2 fuzzy BWM and DEMATEL. Soft Comput 27, 169–186 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00500-022-07569-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00500-022-07569-9