Industrial 4.0 value chain primary activities analysis in digital transformation: Model proposal for the automotive sector

With the emergence of the concept of Industry 4.0, kaizen and 6 sigma studies, which were carried out in companies, were replaced by Digital Transformation studies. Companies focused on digital transformation studies to provide operational efficiency, reduce costs, realise new business models and create competitive advantage by increasing customer satisfaction. In particular, the digitalization of the automotive industry forces companies to an unprecedented change. OEMs' are forced to compete with technology companies such as Google and Apple, which come from outside the industry boundaries. Therefore, the thesis is intended to create specific industry 4.0 evaluation model for Turkey automotive industry by giving detailed information about the digital transformation studies and to determine the maturity level of the automotive industry with the implementation of this model. The thesis consists of four chapters in total. In the first part, the concepts of digital transformation and industry 4.0 with industry 4.0 components are discussed. In the second part, value chain activities in the automotive sector are examined. In the third section, specific industry 4.0 evaluation model has developed for the automotive sector in Turkey. Then the analysis results which 164 participants and 72 companies operating in this sector were shared. In the last part, 41 sales processes in the automotive sector were examined by using CRM, which is one of the applications in the customer integration dimension within Industry 4.0 model. Then, the efficiency of the processes were determined by data envelopment analysis. Recommendations with reference to some effective processes are presented for increasing outputs and reducing inputs.