The true potential of the industry 4.0, which is a byproduct of the fourth industrial revolution, cannot be actually realized. This is, of course true, until the smart factories in the supply chains get connected to each other, with their systems and the machines linked to a common networking system. The last few years have experienced an increase in the adoption and acceptance of the industry 4.0's components. However, the next stage of smart factories, which will be the smart supply chains, is still in its period of infancy. Moreover, there is a simultaneous need to maintain a focus on the supply chain level implementation of the concept that industry 4.0 puts forth. This is important in order to gain the end to end benefits, while also avoiding the organization to organization compatibility issues that may follow later on. When considering this concept, limited research exists on the issues related to the implementation of industry 4.0, at the supply chain level. Hence, keeping in mind this lack of literature and research available, on a phenomenon that will define the future of business and industry, this study uses an exploratory approach to capture the implementation of industry 4.0 concepts across multiple tiers of the supply chain. Based on this research, the study proposes a multistage implementation framework that highlights the organizational enablers such as culture, cross-functional approach, and the continuous improvement activities. Furthermore, it also highlights the staged implementation of the advanced tools, starting from the focal organization with the subsequent integration with the partner organizations.
Keywords: Industry 4.0; Smart factories; Smart supply chain management.
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