The impact of smart manufacturing approach on the South African manufacturing industry

Abstract: SM is a technology-driven approach that mainly utilises machines to monitor the entire production of an organisation. The objective of SM in an organisation is to identify ways to automatize the manufacturing process while using data analytics to optimize the manufacturing performance. This research mitigates the impact of technology, in this case expressed as SM in South African industries. The research followed a quantitative approach whereby 42 respondents from low, medium low and high technology industries took part in the study. Data has been amassed from first-hand experience by mean of an adapted questionnaire constituted of three sections: The first section was about the general demographic information of the respondents. Section two investigates the respondent’s awareness on SM. Finally, section three assessed the impact that SM had on the performance of the organisation. The findings of this study revealed that Smart Manufacturing has a positive impact in South African manufacturing organisations as it allows effective operations, fast response to customers demand, real time operations optimisation. Nevertheless, Smart Manufacturing is a new concept under the fourth industrial revolution in South Africa and will need time before being totally implemented in all organisations as it is costly