Study on the Influence of Customer Concentration Degree on the Intelligent Transformation and Upgrading of Manufacturing Enterprises

Intelligent manufacturing is a global trend in the development of the manufacturing industry and a key direction for the transformation and upgrading of China's manufacturing sector. This paper explores the relationship between customer concentration and the intelligent transformation of manufacturing enterprises from the perspective of customer concentration, revealing the mechanisms through which innovation investment levels and innovation path dependence mediate the relationship between customer concentration and intelligent transformation in manufacturing. To this end, based on data from Chinese A-share manufacturing enterprises from 2013 to 2021, the study employs web crawling technology to collect "intelligent transformation" keywords from corporate annual reports, thereby characterizing the level of intelligent transformation in enterprises. The results indicate that customer concentration inhibits the intelligent transformation and upgrading of enterprises. Mechanism analysis shows that customer concentration primarily mitigates its inhibitory effect on intelligent transformation by promoting corporate innovation investment, while it exacerbates the inhibitory effect through innovation path dependence. Finally, the study proposes countermeasures and suggestions from three aspects: adjusting customer structure, enhancing innovation investment, and fostering an open and diversified mindset, providing theoretical guidance and insights for promoting the intelligent development of Chinese manufacturing enterprises.