Making Industry 4.0 relevant to small business - a case study

Despite the much-discussed positive impact Industry4.0 has on organisation, SMEs reported mixed results. Although the recent pandemic has given a big push for SMEs to adopt digital technologies, it appears to fall short of the desired digital innovation in management practices. Adopting the lens of operations management, this paper attempts to explore the relevance of Industry4.0 to small business through theoretical argument and case study. A framework to guide Industry4.0 approach in small business is proposed. It also attempts to explore the relationship and tension between operations management methodology, Industry4.0 technology, managerial capabilities, and operations performance objectives