Exploring Global Research Trends in Internet of Things and Total Quality Management for Industry 4.0 and Smart Manufacturing

Amid the accelerated digital transformation and with the growing demand for smart manufacturing, the applications of the Internet of Things (IoT) and total quality management (TQM) have attracted increasing attention. Using R for bibliometric analysis, we explored research trends in IoT and TQM in terms of digital transformation and smart manufacturing. Data were gathered from the Web of Science from 1998 to 2025, with a total of 787 publications from 265 sources involving 2326 authors. A total of 31% of the authors collaborated internationally, indicating global interest in this topic. The publications had 33.65 citations on average, totaling 33,599 citations. Wang L.H. and Tao F. were identified as important authors. Keywords of “Industry 4.0”, “cyber-physical systems”, and “big data” underscore the technological significance of IoT and TQM. Major journals such as the Journal of Manufacturing Systems and IEEE Access had notable academic influence. Co-citation analysis results revealed that IoT and TQM played a significant role in driving digital transformation and enhancing production efficiency, offering references for enterprises in strategic planning for smart manufacturing.