Digital transformation in manufacturing industry: The case of Gaziantep

All the technological changes and all the industrial revolutions that have occurred in the history of humanity have definitely left their mark on society and companies. In addition, the concept of Industry 4.0 increases its importance today. With the increasing digitalization after Industry 4.0, companies have to change their competitive strategies in order to exist in the national and international market. In addition to all these, thanks to the developing technologies with Industry 4.0, it provides significant effects on market performance, competitive strategy and production. In this research, it is aimed to determine the use and awareness of Industry 4.0 technologies, the problems and benefits encountered in the use of Industry 4.0 technologies in the 4 manufacturing sectors (manufacture of medical devices, textile, chemistry, machinery) operating in the province of Gaziantep. In the city of Gaziantep, where the study was conducted, it has been determined that the textile, chemistry and machinery sectors have also developed depending on the textil sector. The revolution created by technological change manifests itself in all parts of the economy, especially in the manufacturing sector, with the emergence of new forms of production and tools. In order to see the traces of this technological change, especially in a production area where labor-intensive industry is concentrated In this study, semi-structured interview method, which is one of the qualitative research methods, was used and data were obtained by conducting semi-structured interviews from 4 manufacturing sectors (manufacture of medical devices, textile, machinery, chemistry) operating in Gaziantep. As a result of the findings, there are serious deficiencies in the use of Industry 4.0 technologies in the Gaziantep manufacturing industry, except for the manufacture of medical devices. Many problems, especially with financing problems, prevent the use of digital technologies.