INDUSTRY 4.0: STATE OF THE ART AND RESEARCH IMPLICATIONS

Background: Over the last few years, the Industry 4.0 concept has attracted attention among both academics and practitioners. Industry 4.0 is a very broad domain including production processes, efficiency, data management, relationship with consumers, competitiveness, and much more. Therefore, the aim of the paper was to analyze the main contributions published on the topic of Industry 4.0.

Methods: The literature review method was used to verify current knowledge on the Industry 4.0 topic, with the use of developed methods for literature review research dedicated to it. 

Results: On the basis of the literature review procedure, answers to the research questions were obtained: RQ1: Is the “Industry 4.0” topic still relevant for researchers? RQ2: Does the national policy on Industry 4.0 influence the research interest in Industry 4.0? RQ3: What are the key components of Industry 4.0? RQ4: What are the implications of Industry 4.0 for other research topics?

Conclusions: This paper contributes theoretically to the development of the literature on Industry 4.0. Results obtained from the research not only summarise the current research activities but also indicate existing potential research directions. The findings of this review can be used as the basis for future research on Industry 4.0 and related topics, as well as a guideline for making a literature review.