# Low-Cost Digitalization Solution through Scalable IIoT Prototypes
## 1 Introduction  
Many industries are embracing Industry 4.0 advancements since the term was first introduced in 2011. The term Industry 4.0 resulted from a German government initiative to increase the global competitiveness of the country's manufacturing industry [1]. In the following years, many countries adopted and started researching and refining the principles set in the initial report. A set of guidelines and principles was shaped and presented as the nine pillars of Industry 4.0 [2]. Major industrial stakeholders took notice and started investing in the research, advancement followed, and the growth has been steady ever since. Leading adopter industries in 2020 were automotive, computer, electronic and electric, and metals and mining, as well as process industries, with adoption rates ranging up to 36% [3]. It is also worth noting that major advancements have been observed in North America, Europe, and Asia. While this is expected, due to the level of financial investment in those regions, there are still a lot of industries in other parts of the world that have not started the process of adoption. One of the main culprits for this is that the starting position of those industries is further back than the industries in the aforementioned regions. Other reasons include a low level of education, and the unawareness of the potential for improvement through Industry 4.0 adoption, as well as the implementation cost. Therefore, there is still room for improvement and more research that has the goal of stimulating the adoption process. According to Eurostat [4], in 2018, small and medium enterprises (SME) made up the vast majority of enterprises in the EU, ranging from 97% in Germany and Luxembourg,to 98% and above in the remaining EU Member States. Therefore, developing solutions to help SMEs in the process of digital transformation is a topic worth investigating and investing in. Digital transformation is the integration of new digital technologies into all business areas, leading to a fundamental change in the way the organization works [5]. [PERSON] et al. [6] deem that the digital transformed business is approximately 25% more successful than other business forms. Nevertheless, leaping from the current level of industrialization to Industry 4.0 is sometimes deemed too risky, especially for SMEs. These companies do not have big development teams and are not able to dedicate a substantial amount of investment to something that is not certain to bring immediate results and profit. Survey results conducted in [7; 8] show the responsibility for the decision-making in SMEs is mostly in the hands of a small group, if not only one person, the entrepreneur. These decision-makers are interested in advancing the company and its operations, but it is difficult to motivate them into big changes or investments, especially if their current operation is successful. Considering Industry 4.0 as a luxury rather than a necessity diminishes their motivation for change. [PERSON] et al. [9] have observed that motivation and the support of top management, among other factors, are essential for the adoption of smart technologies. Therefore, the focus lies on overcoming the lack of motivation in adopting Industry 4.0 paradigms [10]. The lack of motivation among decision-makers has been singled out as one of the biggest problems for the Industry 4.0 adoption rate, and the authors desire to further investigate it in this article. The decision-makers need to have a clear benefit from Industry 4.0 to be truly convinced that it is a smart business move. Thorough knowledge of the factory state, including insights into ongoing operations, is the underlying basis for the entrepreneurial improvement of a manufacturing company's business. In [11], the author investigated the aspects that can enable a company to identify areas of improvement, as well as unessential or replaceable tasks. Knowledge is gained by understanding information. Information, in turn, can be created from data that first of all have to be acquired.