Importance of Production Environments When Applying Industry 4.0 to Production Logistics - A Multiple Case Study

摘要

Manufacturing companies are now on the move towards the fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0. It is driven by rapid technological developments and the need for industrial actors make oneself independent of high labor costs. Industry 4.0 concerns several aspects of industrial production, including production logistics. The purpose of this paper is to investigate what are the key elements of Industry 4.0 that are related to production logistics, and how the production environment influence the applicability of these elements. This is done through a multiple case study of four Norwegian manufacturing companies. The findings from the study indicate that the applicability of the elements of Industry 4.0 related to production logistics are dependent on the production environment.