# Simultaneous Use of Digital Technologies and Industrial Robots in Manufacturing Firms
## 2 Literature Review
### Industry 4.0 Readiness Models  
As manufacturing firms are quite often integrated into the global economy and global supply chains, they face increasing competitive pressures [34]. Due to the complexity of new technologies and rapid market changes, it is becoming increasingly difficult for firms to find an answer to the question of <<how to stay competitive>>. Rapid technological advances have pushed governments to create strategies and initiatives to improve the entire manufacturing sector in their respective countries. One such example is the German strategic initiative called \"Industrie 4.0,\" which was created to increase the competitiveness of the German manufacturing sector through digitization and interconnection [35] and is now synonymous with the fourth industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0. Because the concept of Industry 4.0 is so broad and it encompasses a variety of terminologies and techniques, it is possible that not all technologies may be equally relevant to all firms [34]. To address these issues, researchers have developed Industry 4.0 readiness and maturity models. As [PERSON] has already stated, there is a difference between readiness and maturity assessment. Readiness assessment takes place before the maturity evaluation and should not be treated as a synonym [9]. Some authors define the readiness model as \"the degree to which organizations are able to take advantage of Industry 4.0 technologies [36], while others define it as \"an instrument to conceptualize and measure the starting point and allow for initializing the development process [9]. With these definitions in mind, it can be established that an Industry 4.0 readiness model tries to represent how ready an enterprise is to implement advanced technologies and concepts following the Industry 4.0 paradigm. As [PERSON] et al. observed, the difference between the degree of maturity and the degree of readiness remains undefined [14]. Since the majority of existing readiness models follow very similar steps (literature review, questionnaire formulation, data gathering, interviews/workshops with experts and model confirmation with a case study), this paper only focuses on their attributes or dimensions. Considered by many as the first available readiness model, the IMPULS Industry 4.0 Readiness measurement model uses the following six key dimensions as the foundation: strategy and organization, smart factory, smart operations, smart products, data-driven services, and employees [11]. This is available as an online self-check tool for Businesses and measures Industry 4.0 readiness on six levels (from level 0 to level 5) [11]. It was commissioned by the IMPULS Foundation of the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) and was not published as an article. [PERSON] has proposed a so-called Future readiness index which would help in defining future strategic interventions [37]. It is based on the future thinking space, which includes technology, behavior, events, and the capability to do future thinking [37]. [PERSON] and others have assessed Industry 4.0 of the European Union based on Factor analysis of ICT usage and digitization of the corporate sector [38]. They have concluded that a country's readiness may be characterized by (ICT) infrastructure and big data maturity. [PERSON] et al. have proposed a model that can be used as a tool for the identification of enabling technologies that need to be improved to achieve a higher degree of readiness for the Implementation of Industry 4.0 [14]. This model focuses only on the technological aspect of Industry 4.0 and does not consider other concepts. The authors believe that IoT, big data, cloud computing, cyber-physical systems, autonomous robots, additive manufacturing, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence form foundations which enable adequate Industry 4.0 implementation. Based on an exploratory sequential mixed method design, [PERSON] et al. identified 10 dimensions of Industry 4.0 readiness [39].