Attitudes to and experience of Industry 4.0

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About this research

We would be very grateful if you would fill out the very short questionnaire below. We are an EU Interreg-funded project tasked with examining and supporting the uptake of digital technology amongst manufacturing SMEs in the North Sea region.

We will not attempt to sell you any services, use your data commercially, or reveal your company name outside of the project. Further details about the project can be found here: https://northsearegion.eu/growin4/about-the-growin-40-project/

We are interested in national differences in the attitudes of firms toward industry 4.0. technology (also known as Industrie 4.0.). Your responses should reflect the shared attitudes of the senior team, CEO and/or owner as you understand them to be.

Any of the following are considered as industry 4.0 technology:

Additive Manufacturing/3D Printing for fast prototyping;
Bar-code/QR code/radio-frequency (RFID) and scanning for inventory and or pricing;
Augmented/Virtual Reality for 3D virtualisation;
Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) for data collection and analysis;
Simulations for optimisation purposes;
System integration among machines and/or manufacturing systems for improved communication;
Cloud computing to improve data accessibility and integrity, helping to eliminate data silos
Autonomous robots and or collaboration robots (Cobots) for enhanced performance;
Fixed/programmable/flexible automation to increased productivity;
Cyber security to protect information systems and production lines from cyber threats;
Big data analytics to analyse data trends, communicate insights, and optimise processes.

About your business

1.1. Company name

2.2. Country:

3.3. Region:

4.4. City:

5.5. Your name (optional)

6.6. Main area of business (sector)

7.7. Number of Employees:

Less than 5

5 - 20

20 - 50

50 - 100

100 - 150

150 - 200

200 - 250

More than 250

Please rank the following factors in terms of their degree of influence on your strategic thinking:

This part of the survey uses a table of questions,

8.8. Competition with other firms

Please don't select more than 1 answer(s) per row.

	1	2	3	4	5
Low						High

This part of the survey uses a table of questions,

9.9. Production costs

Please don't select more than 1 answer(s) per row.

	1	2	3	4	5
Low						High

This part of the survey uses a table of questions,

10.10. Regulation

Please don't select more than 1 answer(s) per row.

	1	2	3	4	5
Low						High

This part of the survey uses a table of questions,

11.11. BREXIT

Please don't select more than 1 answer(s) per row.

	1	2	3	4	5
Low						High

This part of the survey uses a table of questions,

12.12. Industry 4.0

Please don't select more than 1 answer(s) per row.

	1	2	3	4	5
Low						High

13.13. Our firm has a clear strategy for identifying and adopting appropriate industry 4.0 technology’. Please select the most appropriate statement:

Definitely not true;

We have discussed adopting industry 4.0 but do not have an active strategy;

We have developed a clear strategy;

We have developed and begun to act on our strategy;

Our strategy is being implemented.

14.14. Is Industry 4.0 over-hyped?

Yes

No

15.15. Industry 4.0 adopted by competitor firms is a threat to my firm’s competitiveness

Yes

No

16.16. We are an industry leader in adopting industry 4.0 technology

Yes

No

17.17. How often is industry 4.0 discussed in meetings?

Not at all;

Very occasionally;

It often comes up;

It is a regular agenda item;

It is a key concern and almost always discussed.

18.18. When was the last time that the business purchased any new capital machinery?

0 - 1 years

1 - 2 years

3 - 5 years

Last 10 years or more

19.19. Was this machinery industry 4.0 ready?

Yes

No

20.20. Would you mind commenting on the machinery, its digital capability, and the decision to purchase in relation to this?

21.21. Was the incorporation of industry 4.0 technologies considered as a factor for the new machinery purchase?

Not at all

Somewhat

It was a factor, but not a determining one, in the purchase decision

It was an important factor in the decision to purchase

It was a key factor

Not applicable

22.22. To what extent do you utilize the ‘digital’ aspect of the capital machinery you use? You may select more than one response.

Machine settings (digital controls);

Machine monitoring (digital displays);

Take advantage of automated operation;

Remote machine control;

Remote machine monitoring;

Predictive maintenance;

Data for machine process improvement;

Combined data for overall plant improvement

Other

a.22.a. If you selected Other, please specify:

23.23. If you think it would help, please comment further on the general operation of your machinery with regards to exploiting digital capability

24.24. What plans, if any, do you have to retro-fit existing machinery with industry 4.0 technology over the next 1-4 years?

Not planned

Planned but no firm decisions made yet

A clear retrofit strategy is in place

We are in the process of retrofitting our machinery

We are at the end of a retrofit project

25.25. Is the firm happy with its present level of digitalization?

Yes

No

26.26. Other comments on your strategy regarding 4.0