Digitalization of maintenance: exploratory study on the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies and total productive maintenance practices

Abstract

This paper analyzes the joint adoption of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) practices in manufacturing firms. For that, we surveyed 335 practitioners from firms currently implementing TPM and I4.0, located in sixteen countries. The collected dataset was analyzed using sets of partial correlation analyses, obtained when controlling the effect of three contextual variables, all assessed at the firm level: (i) socio-economic context, (ii) technological intensity, and (iii) size. Pairs of TPM practices and I4.0 technologies with significant positive correlations in all partial correlation sets indicate positive trends in the adoption of elements in the pairs, regardless of context, and may be viewed as indicators of TPM practices and I4.0 technologies more prone to be integrated. Our results identified 67 pairs of I4.0 technologies and TPM practices meeting the significance criterion. Four TPM practices (fostering operator ownership, standardization of AM checks, setting 3M—machine/man/material—conditions, and constant search for the next generation of technology) and two I4.0 technologies (Internet-of-Things, and big data) appeared in 26 of the 67 pairs. The study unveiled trends in the integration of I4.0 and TPM, pointing to pairs whose joint adoption is predominant and indicating pathways to the digitalization of maintenance.