Enhancing readiness degree for Industrial Internet of Things adoption in manufacturing enterprises: An integrated Pythagorean fuzzy approach

This study proposes a hybrid multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methodology designed to enhance the readiness for adopting the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) in manufacturing enterprises. The Pythagorean fuzzy approach is employed to address uncertainty and imprecision throughout decision-making processes. The development framework in this study incorporates TOE (Technology-Organization-Environment) and HOT fit (Human-Organization-Technology) to pinpoint barriers to IIoT adoption. Additionally, a triple helix model (THM) emphasizing on the synergy among university-industry-government is utilized to formulate pragmatic strategies. The agro-food processing industry in Thailand is used as a case study. In this study, even barriers are identified and validated through the Delphi method. The SWARA (Step-wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis) method determines the importance weights of these barriers, revealing "lack of digital culture", "lack of knowledge and expertise," and "job displacement concerns" as the three most critical barriers. The COBRA (COmprehensive Distance Based Ranking) method is employed to prioritize pragmatic strategies under THM, indicating that the role of the university in enhancing human capital capabilities is the most important, followed by the government's roles in enabling national ICT infrastructures and offering investment incentives as the second and third pragmatic strategies, respectively. A sensitivity analysis validates the proposed framework's reliability and robustness. The study's findings emphasize the potential of this integrated framework to guide future research endeavors among scholars and academicians across diverse industries beyond agri-food processing.