Internet of Things and the next generation of supply chains : Creating visibility through connectivity in an end-to-end automotive supply chain

With the fourth industrial revolution, new technologies and business opportunities arise, enabling previously unknown performance improvement possibilities within the manufacturing industry and its supply chains. The main actor within Industry 4.0; Internet of things (IoT) promises benefits across the entire logistics value chain by increasing supply chain connectivity and visibility. However, IoT is still in its initial stages in the manufacturing industry and respective supply chain environment, leaving uncertainty about possible application areas and impacts. The purpose of this study is therefore to investigate the role IoT-technologies have in enabling supply chain visibility and connectivity, and the impact on supply chain performance. To answer the proposed research questions, the study followed an abductive, cross-sectional research design. Empirical, qualitative data was collected through a combination of document studies and interviews with an automotive Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and several third-party visibility vendors. The analysis of the collected data resulted in an outline describing ten information fields representing the information demands within a connected end-to-end supply chain, how IoT-technologies can be used to satisfy these demands and the general impact of increased visibility on the supply chain performance. To further ease the implementation decisions of IoT solutions for manufacturing OEM’s, additional research regarding the implementation process of an IoT system is needed