The Determining Factors in the Implementation of Industry 4.0 in Argentine SMEs

Abstract

The I40 represents a new paradigm in the production of goods and services of companies, through the unification of digital technologies and the Internet with conventional industry. The objective of this work is to analyze the determinants of the implementation of the I40 in SMEs. In particular, we study the effect on implementation of factors such as size, sen-iority, gender, level of technical training of management, the presence in the SME of an internal I40 manager and whether it is a family business or No. To this end, an attempt was made to develop an empirical study based on a sample of 1,142 Argentine SMEs. As a methodological strategy, a model was defined to be developed in two stages. In the first, a confirmatory factor analysis was proposed to determine the latent variable: I40 per com-pany, and in the second, a linear regression model was developed based on the variables chosen as probable determinants. The main results allow us to affirm that the age and size of the organization can have a favorable implication for the incorporation of I40 tools. We also found a positive association between the male sex of management, the manager's training in related technical issues and the presence of an internal person responsible for the digitalization process, in the implementation of technologies associated with the I40. At the same time, we do not find. a significant relationship between the implementation of the I40 model and the family business. The conclusions may be useful for directing public promotion policies on the youngest and smallest companies and facilitating their possibili-ties of incorporating the new production paradigm, as well as the formulation of policies with a gender perspective.