Autor: Patricia Deflorin

Technological changes related to Industry 4.0 generate new potentials. Hence, it is important to understand which dimensions of a business model to adapt. Industry 4.0 technologies enable a company to offer new products, new services or to achieve efficiency improvements. The Industry 4.0 business model decomposition allows visualising which goal the initiative has, what the value offering is and which processes, technologies and capabilities are needed. As connectivity is a key dimension of Industry 4.0, technologies and systems are needed to connect internal and external processes.

Latest publications in journals and newspapers tend to draw a cheerless future for companies producing in Western Europe. This is reason enough to analyze the companies still competing successfully in high cost countries. What kinds of success factors have these companies in common? Based on a benchmarking project, 48 companies have been identified, which, in comparison to their competitors, stand out with a superior development of their market share, sales and margin. Out of these, the four most successful companies have been chosen to gain a better understanding of the success factors of producing in high cost countries.