Importance of maturity assessments in promoting adoption of i4.0 concepts in SMEs

Most European countries have developed oriented initiatives to widespread the Industry 4.0 (i4.0) paradigm and boost its implementation within their economies to take full advantage of its potential value creation. However, the reality shows that this effort doesn´t reach most companies, particularly SMEs. Previous studies indicated that Portuguese SMEs need different approaches to increase their knowledge about i4.0 concepts. An effective way of assisting SMEs to grasp its actual condition in terms of preparedness to face i4.0 challenges consists in running an on-line diagnosis. This paper contributes with a methodology developed by ISQ in Portugal, with the aim of stimulating the awareness and adoption of i4.0 concepts by SME. In this context, we present a platform, named SHIFTo4.0, which assesses the level of i4.0 maturity and proposes multiple guidelines considering 6 diferent dimensions. As result, we present a case study which demonstrates the importance of the SHIFTo4.0 on-line platform.