TY - JOUR
T1 - Smart Systems and Collaborative Innovation Networks for Productivity Improvement in SMEs
AU - Thomas, Andrew
AU - Morris, Wyn
AU - Haven-tang, Claire
AU - Francis, Mark
AU - Byard, Paul
N1 - Funding Information:
This scientific work was financially supported by grant IGA 224/2019/FVHE and projects PROFISH CZ.02.1. 01/0.0/0.0/16_019/0000869, Biodiversity (CZ.02.1.01/0 .0/0.0/16_025/0007370) and CENAKVA (LM2018099). The authors express their deep appreciation to Mgr. Kevin F. Roche BSc. CSc. for manuscript improvement and for language editing. The authors also thank Jana Vrablova for laboratory work and technical support during toxicity tests on zebrafish.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021/3/1
Y1 - 2021/3/1
N2 - The adoption of Smart Manufacturing Systems in manufacturing companies is often seen as a strategy towards achieving improvements in productivity. However, there is little evidence to indicate that UK manufacturing SMEs are prepared for the implementation of such systems. Through the employment of a triangulation research approach involving the detailed examination of 36 UK manufacturing SMEs from three manufacturing sectors, this study investigates the level of awareness and understanding within SMEs of Smart Manufacturing Systems. The development of a profiling tool is shown and is subsequently used to audit company awareness and understanding of the key technologies, collaborative networks and systems of SMS. Further information obtained from semi-structured interviews and observations of manufacturing operations provide further contextual information. The findings indicate that whilst the priority technologies and systems differ between manufacturing sectors, the key issues around the need for developing appropriate collaborative networks and knowledge management systems are common to all sectors.
AB - The adoption of Smart Manufacturing Systems in manufacturing companies is often seen as a strategy towards achieving improvements in productivity. However, there is little evidence to indicate that UK manufacturing SMEs are prepared for the implementation of such systems. Through the employment of a triangulation research approach involving the detailed examination of 36 UK manufacturing SMEs from three manufacturing sectors, this study investigates the level of awareness and understanding within SMEs of Smart Manufacturing Systems. The development of a profiling tool is shown and is subsequently used to audit company awareness and understanding of the key technologies, collaborative networks and systems of SMS. Further information obtained from semi-structured interviews and observations of manufacturing operations provide further contextual information. The findings indicate that whilst the priority technologies and systems differ between manufacturing sectors, the key issues around the need for developing appropriate collaborative networks and knowledge management systems are common to all sectors.
KW - Manufacturing
KW - Productivity profile
KW - Smart Manufacturing Systems
KW - Survey
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85099473772&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/joitmc7010003
DO - 10.3390/joitmc7010003
M3 - Article
SN - 2199-8531
VL - 7
JO - Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity
JF - Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity
IS - 1
M1 - 3
ER -