Industry 4.0 and the urgency to implement is talked about widely throughout the industry. Although developed entities such as in Europe or America have a lot of scope regarding the feasibility of implementation of these, the on-ground reality to make this happen is very tough.
The main pillars of 4.0 are possible for bigger firms who reside at the top of the manufacturing pyramid. Nonetheless, the supporting SMEs for these firms are the ones that pick up most of the bandwidth. These SMEs are extremely essential for the ecosystem. They cannot be eliminated. The biggest obstacle for 4.0 is the capital allocation consistently needed over a period of years to keep increasing efficiency. The manufacturing sector isn’t as lucrative as it used to be back in the day. Gone are the days of high margins being achieved.
As operations running the same old way is already a big task, the capex needed for 4.0 takes a backseat; especially in a cyclical industry. The other end of the stick is the adequacy of the employees that SMEs can hire. There is a huge gap between the practical knowledge needed to run new-age businesses and the knowledge with which prospective employees enter the market. There are loads of variables as to why this has occurred. Could be that the system doesn’t allow for apprenticeship-type models for employees to grow or the fact that educational institutions have lost touch with reality and have failed to equip the curriculums for a wholesome knowledge approach.