Assessment of Industry 4.0 maturity levels of businesses under smart transformation in manufacturing and logistics: The case of TR81 Area

Nowadays, it is very important for businesses to follow the new technologies and applications brought by Industry 4.0 in order to maintain their competitive positions and raise them to higher levels. The aim of this study is to determine the smart transformation preparations in production and logistics; to reveal their current situation in the process of adaptation to Industry 4.0 and Industry 4.0 maturity level and to determine how much importance they attach to adapting to Industry 4.0 of manufacturing enterprises operating in various sectors in Çaycuma, Ereğli, Alaplı, Karabük and Bartın Organized Industrial Zones (OIZ) in the TR81 Region. Within the scope of this purpose, the study was carried out in 125 manufacturing enterprises located in TR81 Region OIZ. In the study, quantitative method and qualitative method were used together. Thus, by choosing an integrated, mixed method, it is aimed to collect more reliable and in-depth data, to benefit from the advantages of both quantitative and qualitative methods and to eliminate their disadvantages. Data were collected through survey and interview. The study is the first study conducted in manufacturing enterprises operating in (OIZ) in the TR81 Region to determine the smart transformation preparations in production and logistics; to reveal their current situation in the process of adaptation to Industry 4.0 and Industry 4.0 maturity level and to determine how much importance they attach to adapting to Industry 4.0. As a result of the study, it was determined that the average of "organizational structure current situation" is high, the average of "resources general current situation" is high, the average of "information systems general current situation" is high, and the average of "culture current situation" is high. The average of the sub-dimensions "human resources current status" is very high, "physical infrastructure current status" average is high, "logistics infrastructure current status" average is low, "data integration current status" average is high, "data usage current status in decision-making processes" average is high. In addition, it was determined that the mean scores of the importance level that the businesses gave to the expressions in the scale were higher than the mean scores of the current situation of the businesses for each dimension. In addition, it has been determined that the high investment cost is considered the biggest obstacle to the use of Industry 4.0 in businesses. As a result, businesses actually attach great importance to adapting to Industry 4.0, but it has been revealed that they have not yet reached a sufficient maturity level in areas such as being included Industry 4.0 compliance in the logistics infrastructure, the existence of autonomous machines that can operate without unattended supervision, the existence of database management systems, the existence of enterprise resource planning software such as ERP, inclusion of Industry 4.0 in mission and vision statements and business strategies, R&D activities, and the presence of engineers who work/can work in the field of Industry 4.0.