Empirical investigation of Industry 4.0 readiness of manufacturing organizations operating in India

Abstract In developing countries like India, the adoption of Industry 4.0 (I 4.0) technologies has the potential to improve resource efficiency, waste reduction, and support sustainable manufacturing practices. However, organizational and technological challenges limit its adoption due to low I 4.0 readiness in areas such as digital skills, AI, and real-time monitoring. The extant literature indicates that large Indian manufacturing enterprises demonstrate relatively higher capabilities in adopting basic shop-floor technologies, such as sensors, Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), barcodes, and RFID, compared with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which often face resource and expertise constraints in adopting I 4.0 technologies. Against this backdrop, it becomes necessary to investigate the I 4.0 readiness of large organizations and SMEs in India. This study aims to evaluate the I 4.0 readiness of Indian manufacturing organizations on 7 dimensions and 34 readiness items. The survey is conducted in 174 manufacturing organizations in India. The statistical analysis is carried out to test hypotheses related to readiness items. The findings indicate that organizations lack the necessary environment for I 4.0 adoption. Nevertheless, these organizations believe that their leadership is supportive and fosters a culture of continuous improvement. Indian manufacturing organizations face a readiness disparity that constrains their ability to use digital transformation for sustainable manufacturing. The digital skills, end-to-end planning, real-time monitoring, cyber-security, AI, and value chain integration are significant barriers to sustainable manufacturing capability. This study offers both theoretical and practical insights that can inform the development of a structured framework for implementing I 4.0.