Proceedings,16th IFAC Symposium on

Proceedings,16th
Information ControlIFAC Symposium
Problems on
in Manufacturing
Proceedings,16th
Proceedings,16th
IFAC
IFAC
Symposium
Symposium
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
on
on
Information Control
Proceedings,16th
Bergamo, Italy, Problems
IFAC
June in
Symposium
11-13, 2018 Manufacturing
on
Information
Bergamo, Control
Italy, JuneProblems
11-13, in Manufacturing
2018
Information
Information Control
Control Problems in Manufacturing
Bergamo, Italy, JuneProblems in Manufacturing
11-13, 2018
Bergamo, Italy,
Bergamo, Italy, June
June 11-13,
11-13, 2018
2018
ScienceDirect
IFAC PapersOnLine 51-11 (2018) 1347–1352
Contextualizing the outcome of a maturity assessment for Industry 4.0
Contextualizing
Contextualizing the
the outcome
outcome of
of a maturity assessment for Industry
Industry 4.0
Contextualizing the
Contextualizing the outcome of aa
outcome of maturity
a maturity assessment
assessment for
maturity assessment for
for Industry
4.0
Industry 4.0
4.0
M. Colli*. O. Madsen**.
U. Berger***. C. Møller****. M.
M. Colli*.
Colli*.
B. Vejrum O. Madsen**.
O. Madsen**.
Wæhrens*****. M. Bockholt******
U. Berger***. C. Møller****. M.
M. Colli*.
Colli*.
B. Vejrum O.
O. Madsen**.
Madsen**.
Wæhrens*****. M.
U.
U. Berger***. C. Møller****. B. Vejrum Wæhrens*****. M. Bockholt******
Bockholt******
U. Berger***.
Berger***. C.
C. Møller****.
Møller****. B.
B. Vejrum
Vejrum Wæhrens*****.
Wæhrens*****.
*Aalborg University, Aalborg Øst, 9220 Denmark (colli@mp.aau.dk)
M.
M. Bockholt******
Bockholt******
*Aalborg University, Aalborg Øst, 9220 Denmark (colli@mp.aau.dk)
*Aalborg
** AalborgUniversity,
*Aalborg University,Aalborg
University, AalborgØst,
Aalborg Øst,Øst,9220
9220Denmark
9220 Denmark(colli@mp.aau.dk)
Denmark (om@mp.aau.dk)
(colli@mp.aau.dk)
** AalborgUniversity,
*Aalborg University,Aalborg AalborgØst, Øst,9220
9220Denmark
Denmark(colli@mp.aau.dk)
(om@mp.aau.dk)
*** Brandenburg ** Aalborg
University
** Aalborg
Aalborg University,
of Technology
University, Aalborg
Aalborg Øst,
Cottbus, 9220
03046
Øst, 9220
9220 Denmark
Germany
Denmark (om@mp.aau.dk)
(ulrich-berger@t-online.de)
(om@mp.aau.dk)
*** Brandenburg ** University of Technology
University, Aalborg Cottbus,
Øst, 03046 Germany
Denmark (ulrich-berger@t-online.de)
(om@mp.aau.dk)
***
*** Brandenburg
**** Aalborg
Brandenburg University
University of
University,
of Technology
Aalborg Øst,
Technology Cottbus, 03046
9220 Denmark
Cottbus, 03046 Germany (ulrich-berger@t-online.de)
(charles@business.aau.dk)
Germany (ulrich-berger@t-online.de)
**** Aalborg
*** Brandenburg University,
University of Aalborg Øst,
Technology 9220 Denmark
Cottbus, 03046 (charles@business.aau.dk)
Germany (ulrich-berger@t-online.de)
****
*****
**** Aalborg
Aalborg
Aalborg University,
University,
University, Aalborg
Aalborg
Aalborg Øst,
Øst,
Øst, 9220
9220
9220 Denmark
Denmark
Denmark (charles@business.aau.dk)
(bvw@business.aau.dk)
(charles@business.aau.dk)
*****
**** Aalborg
Aalborg University,
University, Aalborg
Aalborg Øst,
Øst, 9220
9220 Denmark
Denmark (bvw@business.aau.dk)
(charles@business.aau.dk)
*****
******
***** Aalborg
Aalborg University,
University, Aalborg Øst,
Aalborg Øst, 9220 Denmark
9220 Denmark (bvw@business.aau.dk)
(mack@business.aau.dk)
(bvw@business.aau.dk)
******
***** Aalborg
Aalborg University,
University, Aalborg
Aalborg Øst, 9220 Denmark (mack@business.aau.dk)
(bvw@business.aau.dk)
******
****** Aalborg University, Aalborg Øst,
Øst, 9220
9220 Denmark
Denmark (mack@business.aau.dk)
(mack@business.aau.dk)
****** Aalborg University, Aalborg Øst, 9220 Denmark (mack@business.aau.dk)
Abstract: The transformation of the manufacturing sector towards Industry 4.0 is setting the scene for a
Abstract:
Abstract:
major The
The
industrial transformation
transformation
change. Currently, of
of the
the manufacturing
manufacturing
the need for assisting sector
sector towards
towards
companies Industry
Industry 4.0
4.0 is
is
in this transformation setting
setting the
the scene
scene
is covered for
for byaaa
Abstract:
major
Abstract: The
industrial
The transformation
change. Currently,
transformation of
of the
the manufacturing
the need for assisting
manufacturing sector
sector towards
companies
towards Industry 4.0 is
in this transformation
Industry 4.0 is setting
setting the
the scene
is covered
scene for
for bya
major
amajornumber industrial
industrial change.
of maturity
change. Currently,
models
Currently,thatthe need
assess
the need for
their
for assisting companies
digital maturity
assisting companies andin
in this
provide
this transformation
indicationsis
transformation is covered
accordingly.
covered by
by
amajor
number of
industrial maturity
change. models
Currently,that assess
the their digital
needrecommendations
for assisting maturity
companies and provide
in provide
this indications
transformation isaccordingly.
covered by
aa number
However,
number of
in
of maturity
order
maturity to models
provide
models that
that assess
operational
assess their
their digital
digital maturity
to
maturity and
diverse
and companies,
provide indications
there
indications isaccordingly.
a need
accordingly. for
However,
amakingnumber in
of order
maturity to provide
models operational
that assess recommendations
their digital to
maturity diverse
and companies,
provide there
indications is a need
accordingly. for
However,
However, thein order
order to
inassessment to provide operational
company-specific.
provide operationalTo recommendations to
to diverse
cope with this challenge,
recommendations diversethis companies,
paper provides
companies, there
there an is aa need
need for
is illustration for
of However,
making
making
a new the
the in order
assessment
assessment
digital to
maturity provide operational
company-specific.
company-specific.
assessment approach To
To recommendations
cope
cope
- 360 with
with this
this
Digital to diverse
challenge,
challenge,
Maturity companies,
this
this
Assessment paper
paper there
provides
provides
- which isan
an is a need
illustration
illustration
based on thefor
making
making
of a new the
the assessment
assessment
digital maturity company-specific.
company-specific.
assessment approach To cope
To cope
- 360 with
with this Maturity
this
Digital challenge,
challenge, this paper
this
Assessment paper -provides
provides
which isanbased
an illustration
illustration
on the
of
Problem
of aa new digital
Based maturity
Learning assessment
(PBL) model. approach - 360 Digital Maturity Assessment - which is based on the
of a new
Problem
Problem
digital
new Based maturity
digitalLearning
Based
assessment
maturity (PBL)
Learning assessment
(PBL) model.
model.
approach
approach -- 360 360 Digital
Digital Maturity
Maturity Assessment
Assessment -- which which is is based
based on on thethe
© 2018, IFAC
Problem
Problem
Keywords: Based
Based (International
DigitalLearning
Learning Federation
(PBL)
(PBL)
transformation, model.
model. of Automatic
Maturity Control)
assessment, HostingBased
Problem by Elsevier Ltd. All
Learning, rights reserved.
Industry 4.0, Smart
Keywords:
Keywords:
manufacturing Digital transformation,
Digital transformation,
transformation, MaturityMaturity assessment,
Maturity assessment, Problem
assessment, Problem
Problem Based Based Learning,
Based Learning,
Learning, IndustryIndustry
Industry 4.0, 4.0, Smart
4.0, Smart
Smart
Keywords:
Keywords:
manufacturing Digital
Digital transformation, Maturity assessment, Problem Based Learning, Industry 4.0, Smart
manufacturing
manufacturing
manufacturing 

 In order to answer this need, several digital maturity models
1. INTRODUCTION  In order
1.
1. INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION In
have
In beento
order
order
answer
topublished
answer this
(seeneed,
this need, several
several
an overview digital
digital
in Schenk maturity
et al.,models
maturity models
2015).
1. INTRODUCTION have
In beento
order to answer
published
answer this
(seeneed,
this need, several
an overview
several digital
in Schenk
digital maturity
et al.,models
maturity 2015).
models
Globally, the manufacturing 1. INTRODUCTION industry is experiencing a have They been
providepublished
a (see
framework an overview
to assess in Schenk
on a highet al.,
level2015).
the
Globally, the manufacturing industry is experiencing a have They
have been
provide
been published
a
published (see
framework an overview
to
(see organizations
an overview assess in Schenk
on
inalong a
Schenk highet al.,
et al.,level2015).
the
2015).
Globally,
tremendous
Globally, the
the manufacturing
change labelled
manufacturing industry
as “The
industry is
is experiencing
Fourth Industrial
experiencing a
a They
digital
They provide
maturity
provide a
a framework
of the
framework to
to assess
assess on
on a
a high
a
high level
well-defined
level the
the
tremendous
Globally, change
theThis labelled
manufacturing as “The Fourth Industrial digital
They maturity
provide a of the
framework organizations
to assess along
on a a
highwell-defined
level the
tremendous
tremendous change
Revolution”. change labelled
change,
labelled alsoindustry
as “The
known
asknown
“The as
isFourth
as experiencing
Industry
Fourth 4.0, isa digital
Industrial
Industrial digital maturity
evolution path. of
maturity the
the organizations
ofThese maturity models
organizations along
along aaaare well-defined
generally
well-defined
Revolution”.
tremendous This change,
change labelled alsoas “The Industry
Fourth 4.0, is digital
Industrial evolution maturity
path. of the
These organizations
maturity along
models arewell-defined
generally
Revolution”.
triggered
Revolution”. by This
Thisan change,
exponential
change, also known
also knowngrowth
known as inIndustry
new
as inIndustry
Industry 4.0, is
digital
4.0, evolution
operationalized
evolution path.
is evolution path. by
path.by TheseThese
the
These maturity
submission of
maturityof amodels amodels
standard
models are
are generally
questionnaire
generally
triggered
Revolution”. by This an change,
exponential also growthas new 4.0, digital
is operationalized the maturity
submission standard are generally
questionnaire
triggered
technologies
triggered by by such
bysuch an as exponential
cloud
an as exponential
exponential computing growth
growthand in
internet
in new new of digital
things. operationalized
to the organizations
digital operationalized
newof things. by
by the
the submission
(see Appendix
submission of
of A, a standard
table
aa standard 1). questionnaire
Answers
questionnaire are
technologies
triggered an cloud computing growthand internet
in digital operationalized
to the organizations by the submission
(see Appendix of A, standard
table 1). questionnaire
Answers are
technologies
These provide
technologies such
an
such as cloud
increasing
as cloud computing
number
computing ofand
new
and internet of
possibilities
internet of things.
for
things. to
to the
mapped
the organizations
in
organizationsthe (see
defined
(see Appendix
maturity
Appendix A,
A, table
model
table 1).
1).andAnswers
Answers standard are
are
These
technologies
provide such
an as cloud
increasing computing
number ofand
new internet of
possibilities things.
for to the
mapped organizations
in the (see
defined Appendix
maturity A, table
model 1).andAnswers standard are
These
the
These provide
development
provide an
an increasing
of new
increasing number
products,
number of new
processes
of new possibilities
and services.
possibilities for
for mapped
mapped in
recommendations
in the
the defined
based
defined on maturity
the
maturityassessed model
model and
maturity
and standard
level
standard are
the
These development
provide an of new products,
increasing number of new
processes possibilities
and services.for mapped in
recommendations the defined
based on maturity
the assessed model and
maturity standard
level are
the
There
the development
are
development a lot of of new
speculations
of new products,
about
products, processes
the potential
processes and
and services.
related
services. to recommendations
provided to
recommendations the based
organizations.
based on
on the
the assessed
assessed maturity
maturity level
level are
are
the
There development
are a lot of of new
speculations products,
about processes
the potential and services.
related to provided to the organizations.
recommendations based on the assessed maturity level are
There
the
There are
are a
implementation
a lot
lot of
of speculations
of these
speculations new about the
technologies
about the potential
(McKinsey
potential related
related andto
to provided
provided to
to the
the organizations.
organizations.
the
Thereimplementation
are a lot of of these
speculations new technologies
about the (McKinsey
potential related andto provided
However, to the
every organizations.
organization is different: they have not only
the implementation
Company,
the implementation 2015), of these
ranging newfromtechnologies (McKinsey
the improvement andin However, every organization is different: they have not only
Company,
the implementation 2015), of these
thesetonew
ranging
ofranging new technologies
from (McKinsey
the improvement
technologies (McKinsey and
andin However, every
Company,
operational
Company, 2015),
effectiveness
2015), rangingranging thefrom
from the
increase ofimprovement
value
the ofimprovement
improvement provided in different
However, every organization
characteristics
different characteristics
in However, every organization
organization
relatedis
related is
different:
is to their specific
different:
to their specific
different:
they
they have
they
business
have
business
have
not
not only
not
but
only
but
only
operational effectiveness
Company, 2015), to thefrom increase
the value provided in different
also diversecharacteristics
requirements related
and to
goals their
(Fig. specific
1). Hence,business it is but
our
operational
through
operationalproducts effectiveness
and
effectiveness to
services the
to the increase
(Schrauf
the (Schrauf
increase of of
et
of value
al.,
value provided
2016)
providedand different
different
also diversecharacteristics
characteristics
requirements related
related
and to
to
goals their
their
(Fig. specific
specific
1). Hence,business
business it is but
but
our
operational
through
through products
products effectiveness
and
and to
services
services increase
(Schrauf et
et value
al., 2016) providedand also
also diverse
belief that the requirements
process ofand goals
goals (Fig.
defining a digital 1).
1). Hence, it
it is
transformation is our
entirely
through new
through
entirely products
products
new
business
businessand models.
and services Not
services
models. (Schrauf
(Schrauf
Not et al.,
surprisingly,
et
surprisingly,al., 2016)
al.,
there
2016)
2016)
there
and
is
andaa also
and
is belief
belief
diverse
diverse
roadmap that
that has
requirements
requirements
the
the toprocess
process
be of
of
and
and
adapted goals
defining
definingto
(Fig.
(Fig.
theaa digital 1).
digital
specific
Hence,
Hence, it
transformation
transformation
context is our
our
the
entirely
great
entirely new
interest
new business
in Industrymodels.
business 4.0 driven
models. Not
Not surprisingly,
by
surprisingly, there
these expectations.
there is
is Aaa belief
belief
roadmap that
that hasthe
the toprocess
process
be of
of
adapteddefining
definingto the aa digital
digital
specific transformation
transformation
context the
entirely
great
great
study new
interest
interest
performed business
in
in Industry
Industry models.
among Danish 4.0
4.0 Not
driven
driven surprisingly,
by
by
companiesthese
these there
expectations.
expectations.
shows that 76%is A
A a roadmap
company
roadmap has
operates
has to
to be
in.
be adapted
This
adapted to the
conceptualization
to the specific
specific is thecontext
focus
context the
of
the
great
great
study interest
interest
performed in
in Industry
Industry
among 4.0
4.0
Danish driven
driven by
by
companiesthese
these expectations.
expectations.
shows that 76% A
A roadmap
company
company
the model has
operates
operates to
development be
in.
in. adapted
This
This to the
conceptualization
conceptualization
presented in this specific
paper. is
is the
thecontext
focus
focus the
of
of
study
of them
study performed
performed among
expect digitalization
among Danish
Danish tocompanies
transformshows
companies their that
shows that 76%
business,
76% company
company
the model operates
operates
development in.
in. This
This conceptualization
conceptualization
presented in this paper. is
is the
the focus
focus of
of
study
of
of them
them
offeringperformed
expect
expect
significant among Danish
digitalization
digitalization
business to
tocompanies
transform
transform
opportunities shows
their
their
within that 76%
business,
business,
the next the
the model
model development
development presented
presented in
in this
this paper.
paper.
of them
offering
of them expect
significant
expect digitalization
business
digitalization to transform
opportunities
to transform their
within business,
the
their business, next the
We model
will development
base our presented
methodological in this
approach paper. on the Problem
offering
three significant
years, and 60% business opportunities
of them already within
have ongoing the next
Industry We will base our methodological approach on the Problem
offering
three years,
offering significant
and 60%business
significant opportunities
of them already
business within
have ongoing
opportunities within the
the next
Industry
next We
Based
We will
will base
Learning
base our
our methodological
(PBL)
methodological approach
model: pedagogical
approach on
on the
fundament
the Problem
Problem of
Based Learning (PBL) model: pedagogical fundament of
three
three years,
4.0-related
4.0-related
three years,
and
and 60%
years,initiatives
initiatives
and 60%
of
of them
them already
60% (Ericsson,
(Ericsson,
of them
2015). have
already have ongoing
2015). have
already ongoing Industry
ongoing Industry We
Industry Based
Based
willLearning
Aalborg base our(PBL)
University
Learning
methodological
(PBL) model:
recognised
model: byapproach
pedagogical
UNESCO
pedagogical
onfundament
the and
fundament
Problem
which of
of
4.0-related initiatives (Ericsson, 2015). Aalborg
Based University
Learning (PBL) recognised
model: by
pedagogicalUNESCO and
fundament which of
4.0-related
4.0-related
Nevertheless, initiatives
initiatives (Ericsson,
(Ericsson,
the digital 2015).
2015).
transformation process involves Aalborg Aalborg
University
Aalborg University
University is
University
University is
recognised
continuously
recognised
recognised
continuously
by
by
UNESCO
by contributing
UNESCO to
UNESCO
contributing
and
and
to
which
anddevelop.
which
which
develop.
Nevertheless,
Nevertheless,
multi-disciplinary the
the digital
digital
activities transformation
transformation
and requires, process
process
therefore, a involves
involves
number Aalborg
The model
Aalborg University
has
University been is
is continuously
introduced
continuously withincontributing
the
contributing medical to
to develop.
domain
develop.
Nevertheless, the
Nevertheless,
multi-disciplinary the activities
digital transformation
digital transformation
and requires, process ainvolves
process
therefore, involves The Aalborg
The model University
has been is continuously
introduced withincontributing
the medical to develop.
domain
multi-disciplinary
of experts on diverse
multi-disciplinary activities
domains,
activities and
and requires,
which
requires, maytherefore,
therefore, aa number
not be present number
number in (Schmidt,
The
The
model
model
modelfor
(Schmidt,
has
1983)
has
1983)
been
been
hascontrasting
been
to
introduced
to facilitate
introduced
introduced
facilitate the
within
the learning
within
within the
learning
the
the
medical
process,
medical
medical
process,
domain
answering
domain
domain
answering
multi-disciplinary
of
of
all experts
experts
companies on
on activities
diverse
diverse
(small domains,
domains,
and and requires,
which
which
medium may
maytherefore,
not
not
enterprises, be
be a number
present
present
SMEs, in
in (Schmidt,
the need
(Schmidt, 1983)
1983) to
to facilitate
facilitate the the
the learning
approach
learning process,
of performing
process, answering
answering pre-
of
of
all experts
experts
companies on
on diverse
diverse
(small domains,
domains,
and which
which
medium may
may not
not
enterprises, be
be present
present
SMEs, in
in (Schmidt,
the
the need
need
defined 1983)
for
for
diagnosis to facilitate
contrasting
contrasting
based the
the
on the learning
approach
approach
the first process,
of
of performing
performing
detected answering
symptoms. pre-
pre-
all
all companies
particular).
companies This(small
makes and
(small and medium
it difficult
medium for enterprises,
many organizations
enterprises, SMEs,
SMEs, in
to
in the
the need
need
defined for
for
diagnosis contrasting
contrasting
based the
the
on approach
approach
the first of
of performing
performing
detected symptoms. pre-
pre-
all companies
particular).
particular).
grasp the This
This
Industry (small
makes
makes
4.0 and
it
it
idea, medium
difficult
difficult
still infor
for
is enterprises,
many
many
infancy, SMEs,
organizations
organizations
and to set in
to
to
up defined
According
defined diagnosis
to
diagnosisit, everybased
based case on
onis the
unique
the first
first and detected
has to
detected be symptoms.
addressed
symptoms.
particular).
grasp the This
Industry makes
4.0 it
idea, difficult
still infor
is many
infancy, organizations
and to set to
up According
defined to
diagnosisit, everybased case onis unique
the first and has
detectedto be addressed
symptoms.
particular).
grasp the
comprehensive Thisstrategies
Industry makes
4.0 ittodifficult
idea, still
address infor
is
the many
digitalorganizations
infancy, and to
transformation set to According
up based on the
According to
to it, every
context, case
through is unique
an active and has to be addressed
interaction with the
grasp the
comprehensive
grasp the Industry
Industry 4.0
strategies
4.0 idea,
idea, still
to address
still in
in is
the
is infancy, and to
digital transformation
infancy, and to set
set up
up
based on the
According
based
case on to it,
the
environment
every
context,
it, every
context, (Savery
case
through
case
through
is
is
et
unique
an active
unique
an
al., active
1996).
and has to
to be
interaction
and interaction
has
While becase addressed
with the
addressed
with the
based
comprehensive
(Andulkar
comprehensive et strategies
al., 2018).
strategies to address
Hence,
to address
address the digital
there
thethere is transformation
a need
digitalistransformation
transformation for based
case
based on the
environment
on the context,
context, (Saverythrough
through et an
al.,
an active
1996).
active interaction
While
interaction casewith
with the
based
the
(Andulkar et strategies
comprehensive al., 2018). to Hence,the digital a need for case environment
approaches test the (Savery
understandinget al., 1996).
of a While
problem case
through basedits
(Andulkar
methodologies
(Andulkar et et
et al.,al.,
that
al., 2018).
can
2018). Hence,
support
Hence, there
there is
companies a
is aa need need
needin for
the case
case
for approaches environment
environment
approaches test the (Savery
(Savery
understandinget
et al.,
al., 1996).
1996).
of a While
While
problem case
case
through based
basedits
(Andulkar
methodologies
methodologies
operationalization that
that
of 2018).
this can
can Hence,
support
support
transformation. there is
companies
companies in
in for
the
the verification
approaches test
among
test the
the a understanding
number
understanding of of
cases,
of a
atheproblem
PBL
problem through
model
through its
bases
its
methodologies that
methodologies
operationalization that
of this can
can support companies
support
transformation. companies in in the approaches
verification
the verification
the understandingtest
among
among the a
a
of understanding
number
number
a problem of
of of
cases,
cases,
on the athe
theproblem
PBL
PBL
specific through
model
model
contingency its
bases
bases
operationalization
operationalization of
of this
this transformation.
transformation. verification
verification
the understandingamong
among aa number
of number
a problem of
of cases,
cases,
on the the
the PBL
PBL
specific model
model
contingency bases
bases
operationalization of this transformation. the understanding
(Savery
the et al., 1996).
understanding of
of a problem on the specific contingency
the understanding
(Savery
(Savery et
et al.,
al., 1996).
1996). of aa problem
problem on on thethe specific
specific contingency
contingency
(Savery
(Savery et
et al.,
al., 1996).
1996).
2405-8963 © 2018, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Copyright
Peer review©under
2018 responsibility
IFAC 1373Control.
of International Federation of Automatic
Copyright © 2018 IFAC 1373
Copyright © 2018 IFAC
10.1016/j.ifacol.2018.08.343 1373
Copyright
Copyright ©© 2018
2018 IFAC
IFAC 1373
1373
IFAC INCOM 2018
1348
Bergamo, Italy, June 11-13, 2018 M. Colli et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 51-11 (2018) 1347–1352
Fig. 1. Digital transformation direction of diverse
organizations towards different and changing goals.
The contribution of this paper consists in bringing up the
need for contextualization within the maturity assessment
process in order to provide, as an outcome, company-specific
guidelines, and propose an approach to cope with it. This
leads to the following research question: is the PBL model
suited as a methodological approach to contextualize the
outcome of a digital maturity assessment? To answer this, a
new digital maturity assessment approach, the 360 Digital
Maturity Assessment (360DMA) is proposed. It is composed
by a novel maturity model used to structure collected
information and by a methodology, based on the PBL model,
to operationalize the assessment process. The paper provides
an overview of the state of the art in terms of digital maturity
models and defines the used one. Eventually it outlines the
developed assessment methodology and describes a
demonstration case to support the final discussion.
2. STATE OF THE ART
Both researchers and research institutions have published
several digital maturity models (Lanza et al., 2016; Leyh et
al., 2017; Lichtblau et al., 2015; Schuemacher et al., 2016),
e.g. Fraunhofer IFF (Schenk et al., 2015) and Acatech (Schuh
et al., 2017). Their common goal is to assess the digital
maturity level of an organization and provide an indication of
activities needed to increase this level. In order to do that, all
of these models are based on the hypothesis that the digital
transformation towards Industry 4.0 is an evolutionary
journey (Kagermann et al., 2013) across a number of
sequential digital stages, characterized by an increasing
digital integration complexity. In other words, as a first key
principle, they build on a cumulative capability perspective
(Miller et al., 1994). As a second key principle, the digital
transformation process is considered to involve a number of
activities within multiple decision areas. Although different
digital maturity models vary in terms of digital stages,
number of dimensions that cover the different organization
1374
areas and implementation strategy (see Appendix A, table 1),
they all present basically the same structure in terms of
progression and arguments behind the different stages. Each
maturity model provides a definition of the different digital
stages and an indication of the considered dimensions. These
elements create the framework used in order to map the
current digital capabilities of the organization. These are
assessed according to the definition of the different digital
stages. The digital stage the organization is aiming for can
then be identified. Through a gap analysis, the weaker
dimensions are pinpointed as areas to be improved through
the application of pre-defined activities selected depending
on the digital stage.
3. THE MATURITY MODEL
The digital maturity model we are using is taking in
consideration a number of existing digital maturity models
(see Appendix A, table 1), ACATECH maturity model firstly
(Schuh et al., 2017). In order to use a more familiar
terminology and fitting scale for the Danish companies that
are currently addressing – or starting to address - the digital
transformation, a “zero digitalization” level has been
introduced and the two “basic digitalization” levels presented
by ACATECH have been unified. As an outcome, the
maturity model used to assess the digitalization level of an
organization is composed by six sequential digital maturity
stages:
1. None: no digital awareness, idea or plan nor
presence of digital data within the organization (e.g.
everything is registered on paper or not registered)
2. Basic: digital processes are in place and operative as
they generate digital data (e.g. machines on the
production floor generate digital data related to their
process) and there is a willingness towards the
digital transformation from the management side
3. Transparent: data is collected and shared according
to value streams needs (e.g. alert data from the
equipment are collected and transmitted to the
service department) and there is a digitalization plan
from the management side in terms of development
direction
4. Aware: data is analysed to capture valuable
information in order to understand the business
insights (e.g. proactive activities identification by
crossing error data, product number, machine
downtime, etc.) and there is a clear digitalization
agenda (e.g. resources and activities are defined)
shared at all hierarchical levels
5. Autonomous: decision making is performed
autonomously based on automatically synchronized
data from the organization and its direct customers
and suppliers (e.g. logistics scheduling is
automatically performed based on production state,
customer orders and location, traffic condition etc.)
and digital development is a well-established
company practice at all hierarchical levels
 IFAC INCOM 2018
Bergamo, Italy, June 11-13, 2018 M. Colli et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 51-11 (2018) 1347–1352 1349
6. Integrated: decision making is performed
autonomously based on automatically synchronized
data from the whole organization’s network (e.g.
suppliers’ suppliers and customers’ customers) and
digital development is a well-established practice at
all hierarchical levels within the whole
organization’s network
Each digital stage is considered to be the necessary enabler of
the following, as its features need to be in place in order to
pursue the digital transformation on a further level, e.g. to
perform data analytics – aware stage - it is necessary to have
data available – transparent stage - in the first place.
In order to map the digital capabilities of the organization,
they are grouped into five areas, called digital dimensions.
These have been obtained by clustering dimensions from the
existing digital maturity models that have been analysed (see
Appendix A, table 1). They consist of:
 Governance: indication of the current state of the
company at an organizational level (e.g. strategy and
plan, resource allocation, digital awareness, engagement
on different hierarchical levels).
 Technology: presence of the elements that make possible
to generate and process digital data (e.g. business
intelligence tool, cloud computing platform, MES, ERP,
augmented and virtual reality tools)
 Connectivity: availability of the infrastructural elements
needed for data transmission inside and outside the
organization (e.g. data sharing capabilities, IT security,
standard data structuring or data transmission
architectures)
 Value creation: ability to capture value from available
data (e.g. pay-per-use or pay-per-save business model,
take-back program, data usage for orders forecasting or
product usage monitoring to enable predictive
maintenance or guide the product design)
 Competence: presence of the mind-set and of the skills
(internally or based on external partnerships) needed for
performing the digital transformation and operate with
digital solutions (e.g. digital competences, training
culture, learning culture)
4. THE METHODOLOGY
The developed methodology is based on the PBL model and
it is meant to act as a dialog tool between a company and the
assessment party, whose aim is to provide a case-specific
assessment outcome. The assessment paradigm therefore
shifts from the currently used expert model, where a
diagnosis is completely outsourced to external experts
(Schein, 2009) to the external helper model, which bases the
diagnostic process, facilitated by external experts, on the
interaction with the assessed party (Schein, 1995, 2008). The
involvement of the company in the assessment process not
only enables a better learning of the case but also the
acquisition of more valid data related to it (Lewin, 1997). The
1375
methodology is intended to be used iteratively in order to be
able to adjust the transformation direction according to
company goals changes and newly available digital
technologies. The operationalization of the methodology
requires, from the assessing party, the presence of field
experts for the areas that have to be investigated, a mediator
that directs the activities according to the methodology and a
rapporteur that collects the information along the way. The
assessment process consists of five sequential steps, built
parallel to the PBL seven steps (Maurer et al., 2012) (Fig. 2).
At first, the creation of awareness is addressed in order to
present and clarify involved concepts and set the scene for
the investigation. An overview of digitalization and of what
is included in the industry 4.0 agenda in terms of
technologies (e.g. cloud computing), implications (e.g. IT
security) and use cases (e.g. predictive maintenance or
autonomous guided vehicles) is provided. This activity can be
done in several ways such as study visits, workshops with
external experts and demonstrations in imaginary Industry
4.0 factories (e.g. Madsen et al., 2017).
The next task, representing for PBL the formulation of a
research question, consists in the definition of scope from the
company side: the unit of analysis considered in the
investigation of the digital maturity is identified (e.g. one
production line, one department, etc.). The scoping of the
investigation goes through a short presentation by the
organization about their understanding, status, strategic focus
and perspectives in relation to the digital transformation.
Data collection is then performed, consisting in collecting
information related to the organization and, specifically, to
the defined unit of analysis. This operational step covers the
three PBL steps related to idea collection, idea structuring
and question identification. These tasks are here represented
by the analysis of organization’s information material, by the
submission to relevant stakeholders (e.g. managers of
functional areas involved in the digital transformation) of a
“self-assessment” questionnaire and by the eventual
preparation and execution of an expert interview workshop.
This involves the relevant stakeholders and it is focused on
low-graded and mismatching questionnaire answers. The
workshop is divided in a number of sessions that covers the
different areas that have to be addressed (e.g. IT, logistics,
etc.) together with the related field experts from the company.
The evaluation and solution selection is aiming to answer to
the formulated learning objectives by mapping the collected
information within the defined digital maturity model. The
current maturity stage of the organization (of the defined unit
of analysis) is therefore assessed both at an overall level and
in relation to each digital dimension. This is done by relating
the collected information to the definition of the digital
maturity stages that have been stated in the maturity model.
The visibility of the maturity level of each digital dimension
makes possible to identify the areas where digital enablers are
lacking and therefore defines a direction for the improvement
activities.
IFAC INCOM 2018
1350
Bergamo, Italy, June 11-13, 2018 M. Colli et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 51-11 (2018) 1347–1352

answers, critical points have been identified as an undefined

Fig. 2. 360DMA methodology operational sequence parallel
to PBL seven steps.
These activities are then selected according both to the
measured digital maturity stage and to the strategic focus,
goals and perspectives of the company, identified in step 2
(i.e. definition of scope).
Eventually, a debriefing covers the PBL post-discussion step:
the assessment outcome is presented plotted on a spider graph
(Fig. 5). A number of pilot projects in order to address the
identified needs and achieve the next digital maturity stage
are proposed.
5. DEMONSTRATION CASE
The 360DMA has been tested and initially validated by the
authors within a large Danish manufacturing company. The
aim was, other than the outcome for the assessed company, to
validate the approach. In accordance to the presented
methodology (Fig. 2), the assessment process started with the
creation of awareness related to the industry 4.0 agenda. The
authors, covering the field expert, mediator and rapporteur
roles, provided an overview of new technologies, use cases
and research projects to company stakeholders directly
involved in the digital transformation of the organization.
From their side, they presented the company business, key
performance indicators and goals. The company vision has
been identified as pointing towards the improvement of
operations efficiency in the Danish production facility to
increase the turnover of 10% yearly by reducing the impact
of labour on product cost. The specific goals in order to move
towards this vision concern production data visualization and
analytics and the introduction of autonomous internal
logistics. These elements helped defining the scope of the
investigation by focusing on the Danish production facility
and, specifically, on production data and internal logistics. A
multiple answer questionnaire composed by 24 questions has
been adapted accordingly and provided to the relevant
company stakeholders (including the COO/executive vice
president – project sponsor - the project manager for the
digitalization agenda and four project team members: a
corporate senior manager, an operations controller and the
corporate senior director from the IT department and the
supply chain director). Through the analysis of questionnaire
digitalization strategy (in regards to both resources and plan),
unclear data accessibility and usage, a non-standardised IT
infrastructure, low training practices, unclear digital
capabilities, no benchmarking in relation to competitors, low
digital devices in production and remote work possibilities.
The data collection workshop has been planned involving the
same company stakeholders and with a focus on these critical
points, addressed in four sessions to cover the unit of
analysis: customer ordering and production setup and
execution, procurement and internal logistics, product
development, IT. By discussing them, the non-standardised
IT architecture and the unclear data accessibility and usage
have been identified as particularly critical points in relation
to the company goals. Once all the information related to the
multiple critical points have been collected, the assessment
process was finalized by mapping them within the maturity
model according to the definitions of the different maturity
stages. The organization has been assessed as aiming for the
transparent stage. The gap that has to be addressed in order to
achieve it concerns the connectivity area (Fig. 3). The
limitations for the digital transformation are represented by
the company tendency of developing tailor-made branches of
the IT infrastructure anytime they are needed and by a lack of
data structure. Due to them, the capability of collecting and
sharing data according to value stream needs, i.e. transparent
stage, is limited. According to that, one recommendation was
to consider the introduction of a standard in regards to the IT
infrastructure in order to facilitate the integration of new
elements. Moreover, it has been suggested to standardise the
way data are structured in order to enable data analytics and,
eventually, sharing and visualization.
Fig. 3. Digital stage in relation to the five digital dimensions
(demonstration case example).
6. DISCUSSION
The demonstration case shows how all the recommendations
that have been provided as an outcome of the assessment
process are not only based on the maturity stage but also
directly related to the initial goals stated by the company. The
process that led to their identification started from the initial
company presentation and continued through a sequence of

1376
 IFAC INCOM 2018
Bergamo, Italy, June 11-13, 2018 M. Colli et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 51-11 (2018) 1347–1352 1351
dialog elements – the questionnaire first, the expert interview
later – that narrowed the investigation down to the digital
transformation limitations concerning the specific context.
However, to generalize the contextualization capabilities of
the 360DMA multiple assessments have to be performed in
organizations with the same degree of digital maturity but
different characteristics and goals. A different outcome in
terms of recommended activities should be observed.
Besides, its capability to adapt to company goals changes has
to be verified by performing multiple iterations of the
assessment in the same organization. Different
recommendations should back up different goals, even if the
company and the digital maturity stage are the same.
7. CONCLUSION
The contribution of this paper consists in bringing up the
importance of a contingency approach within the digital
assessment framework and in proposing an approach to cope
with that. The integration of the PBL model with the digital
maturity assessment process is responding to a need for
assisting diverse companies in their digital transformation
according to their specific context. The developed
methodology, tested through a demonstration case, acts as a
dialog tool with the assessed company, investigating its
specific context. Recommendations are provided accordingly
and consist of company-specific activities. This makes
possible to assist organizations in their digital transformation
at an operational level. Further research efforts can be
allocated on the development of toolboxes to operationally
intervene to address the improvement of each one of the
defined digital dimensions (e.g. identify where to introduce
digital solutions to improve connectivity) and to quantify the
related potential.
REFERENCES
Andulkar, M.; Tho Le, D.; Berger, U. (2018). A multi-case
study on Industry 4.0 for SME’s in Brandenburg,
Germany. In proceedings of the 51st Hawaii International
Conference on System Sciences, 2018
Ericsson (2015). Every. Thing. Connected. A study of the
adoption of “Internet of Things” among Danish
companies.
digital.di.dk/SiteCollectionDocuments/Analyser/IoT_Re
port_onlineversion.pdf
Hevner, A. R.; March, S. T.; Park, J.; Ram, S. (2004). Design
science in information systems research. Management
Information Systems, vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 75-105
Kagermann, H.; Wahlster, W.; Helbig, J. (2013).
Recommendations for implementing the strategic
initiative Industrie 4.0. Acatech, April 2013
Lanza, G., Nyhuis, P., Ansari, S. M., Kuprat, T., Liebrecht,
C. (2016). Empowerment and Implementation Strategies
for Industry 4.0. ZWF Zeitschrift für wirtschaftlichen
Fabrikbetrieb: Vol. 111, No. 1-2, pp. 76-79
Lewin, K. (1997). Action research and minority problems. In:
Lewin K. Resolving Social Conflicts, 143-154.
Washington D.C.: American Psychological Association
(Original publication, 1946)
1377
Leyh, C.; Schäffer, T.; Ble, K.; Forstenhäusler, S. (2016).
SIMMI 4.0 – A Maturity Model for Classifying the
Enterprise-wide IT and Software Landscape Focusing on
Industry 4.0. Proceedings of the Federated Conference
on Computer Science and Information Systems, pp.
1297–1302. Gdansk, Poland, 11-14 Sep 2016
Lichtblau, K.; Stich, V.; Bertenrath, R.; Blum, M.; Bleider,
M.; Millack, A.; Schmitt, K.; Schmitz, E.; Schröter, M.
(2015). “IMPULS - Industrie 4.0- Readiness”. Impuls-
Stiftung des VDMA, Aachen-Köln
Madsen, O.; Møller, C. (2017). The AAU Smart Production
Laboratory for teaching and research in emerging digital
manufacturing technologies. Procedia Manufacturing,
Vol. 9, pp. 106-112
Maurer, H.; Neuhold, C. (2012). Problems everywhere?
Strenghts and Challenges of a Problem-Based Learning
Approach in European Studies. Higher Education
Academy Social Science Conference “Ways of
Knowing, Ways of Learning”, 28-29 May 2012,
Liverpool
McKinsey and Company (2015). Industry 4.0: How to
navigate digitalization of the manufacturing sector,
McKinsey and Company.
www.mckinsey.de/files/mck_industry_40_report.pdf
Miller, J. G.; Roth, A. V. (1994). A Taxonomy of
Manufacturing Strategies. Management Science, vol. 40
(3), pp. 285–304
Savery, J. R.; Duffy, T., M. (1996). Problem Based Learning:
An Instructional Model And Its Constructivist
Framework. In Constructivist Learning Environments:
Case Studies in Instructional Design (Wilson, B. G.), pp.
135-148
Schein, E. H. (1995). Process consultation, action research
and clinical inquiry, are they the same? Journal of
Managerial Psychology, 10(6): 14-19
Schein, E. H. (2008). Clinical inquiry/research. In: Reason, P.
and Bradbury, H. (eds) The SAGE Handbook of Action
Research, 2nd edn, 266-279. London: SAGE Publications
Schein, E. H. (2009). Helping. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-
Kohler
Schenk, M.; Flechtner, E.; Kujath, M.; Haeberer, S. (2015).
Industrie 4.0 CheckUp. Reports of Fraunhofer IFF
Institute, Magdeburg, 2015
Schmidt, H. G. (1983), Problem-based learning: rationale and
description. Medical Education, vol. 17, pp. 11–16
Schuh, G.; Anderl, R.; Gausemeier, J.; Hompel, M.;
Wahlster. (2017). Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index Managing
the Digital Transformation of Companies. Acatech
Study, April 2017
Schumacher, A.; Erol, S.; Sihn, W. (2016). A maturity model
for assessing Industry 4.0 readiness and maturity of
manufacturing enterprises. In proceedings of Sixth
International Conference on Changeable, Agile,
Reconfigurable and Virtual Production (CARV 2016),
Bath, UK, 4-6 Sep. 2016
Schrauf, S., Berttram P. (2016). How digitization makes the
supply chain more efficient, agile and customer-focused.
PWC, published September 7, 2016
IFAC INCOM 2018
1352
Bergamo, Italy, June 11-13, 2018 M. Colli et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 51-11 (2018) 1347–1352

Appendix A

Table 1. Industry 4.0 maturity models

Model name/ Maturity stages Dimensions Comments

reference
SIMMI 4.0 Five stages: Four dimensions: - Focus on the IT-
Leyh et al (2016) 1. Basic digitization 1. Vertical integration landscape
level 2. Horizontal - General activities
2. Cross-departmental integration: enabling stage
digitization 3. Digital product transitions are
3. Horizontal and development presented
vertical digitization: 4. Cross-sectional
4. Full digitization technology criteria
5. Optimized full
digitization
Schuemacher et al. Likert-scale reaching from 1- Nine company dimensions, - General
(2016) “not distinct” - to 5 - “very further detailed into 62 questionnaire
distinct” -. maturity items:
1. Strategy
2. Leadership
3. Customers
4. Products
5. Operations
6. Culture
7. People
8. Governance
9. Technology
ACATECH Six stages: Four dimensions (Industry - Capabilities are
Schuh et al (2017) 1. Computerization 4.0 capabilities), each one examined for each
2. Connectivity defined by two principles: area of the
3. Visibility 1. Resources company
4. Transparency 2. Information - Questionnaire
5. Predictive capability systems combined with
6. Adaptability 3. Organisational visits
structure
4. Culture

IMPULS Six stages: Six dimensions which are - On-line self

Lichtblau et at (2015) 0. Outsider further detailed into 18 assessment
1. Beginner fields: - Actions for stage
2. Intermediate 1. Strategy and transition are
3. Experienced organization presented
4. Expert 2. Smart factory
5. Top performer 3. Smart operations
4. Smart products
5. Data-driven
services
6. Employees

1378