A study on evaluating the readiness level for Qatar companie to adopt industy 4.0

Abstract

In today's competitive environment, it is obligatory to maintain all business activities in all situations, even under crisis. The recent example of COVID-19, which forced most of the business entities to reduce manpower on-sites to a minimum, is a wakeup call for business entities that rely on physical manpower. Relatively less impact could have resulted if processes, systems and facilities are smart and self dependent objects. There is, therefore, a strong need to convert processes and facilities into smart and self-dependent objects. In this thesis, an evaluative approach is used to assess and evaluate the readiness level of Qatari industries for digital transformation. Digitalization is an unavoidable industrial revolution that needs planning, preparation and changing the mindset of how companies run their operations. While digitalization opens up new business opportunities, past industrial revolutions have been disruptive, and Industry 4.0 is no exception. Therefore, a major transformation in key business areas cannot be ignored. Industry 4.0 has been trigged by both evolutionary and revolutionary innovations, inventions, and technology. In order to cope up with these changes it is necessary for organizations to undergo transformations that position them on a path towards digital transformation and digitalization of production systems. In line with this concept, this thesis investigates the challenges, barriers and success factors that companies should consider when transiting to Industry 4.0. An assessment guide for evaluating business processes of companies and their readiness level for digitalization is outlined. In addition to that, full production cycle for a cement company was evaluated in details. The results show that companies in Qatar should give more credit to transformation towards industry 4.0. Finally, business process change cycle for transforming operations to industry 4.0 is developed. The usefulness of it is to guarantee covering full business cycle and ensure continuous development