Assessing the barriers to Industry 4.0 implementation from a workers' perspective

Abstract

Industry 4.0 aims to generate not only economic, but also ecological and social benefits. So far, the majority of scientific papers has dealt with technological foundations or showcases within the concept, whereas economic, and especially ecological and social aspects have been considered less, but are of high importance, as particularly social concerns hamper Industry 4.0 implementation. This includes, among other factors, workers' fears to be replaced by machines, especially relating to low shilled jobs or repetitive tasks. Further, distrust in new technologies or lacking skills of employees can be named. This paper aims to contribute to this topic by interviewing 41representatives of a German manufacturing plant in order to identify concerns hampering Industry 4.0 implementation. The paper presents concerns regarding Industry 4.0 implementation and several reasons behind the barriers named, for instance employee acceptance that mostly relating to fears to be replaced, lacking support and lacking competencies.