APPLICATION OF INDUSTRIAL INTERNET OF THINGS (IIOT) IN THE PACKAGING INDUSTRY IN POLAND

Background: This paper explains the concept of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and highlights the benefits of its adoption. The purpose of the study was to identify and evaluate practices and approaches of organisations toward the implementation of IIoT solutions in the packaging industry in Poland.

Methods: The results are based on non-sensitive quantitative data collected with the use of a survey questionnaire method and CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interview) as a data collection technique. Participants completed anonymous survey questionnaires, with responses analysed collectively without the identification of individuals. No continuous tracking or observation methods were used, and the data did not include personal information such as health, genetics, beliefs, or political views.

Results: The results reveal that companies within this industry are not early adopters of IIoT, but they are rather digitally immature, with a poor degree of IIoT implementation, poor degree of quality systems digitisation, and no plan towards transformation to enterprise systems such as MRP, ERP, or CRM. The application of IIoT has potential for improvement. The paper outlines the analysis of organisational culture in terms of supporting innovation and continuous improvement, showing that the level of support is moderate, however, the bigger company is, the more supporting the organisational culture it has.

Conclusions: Data reveal that the application of IIoT solutions in the packaging industry in Poland is still not very common. Poor adoption of IIoT may be related to fear of technology, budgetary issues, or lack of qualified staff. Although digitisation already changed the software and the hardware side of organisations, most of them are not digitally mature enough to be able to take advantage of the fourth industrial revolution, which can be a strategic advantage for early adopters.