Abstract The many scholars approaching Industry 4.0 today need to confront the lack of an agreed-upon definition, posing serious limitations to theory building and research comparability. Since its initial German conceptualization in 2011, both the technological landscape and the understanding of the Industry 4.0 have evolved significantly leading to several ambiguities. In parallel, similar concepts often used as synonyms − such as “smart manufacturing”, “digital transformation”, and “fourth industrial revolution” − have increased the sense of confusion around the scope and characteristics of the phenomenon. This study approaches the issue through an analysis of almost 100 definitions of Industry 4.0 and related concepts. The review of academic publications has been complemented by a selection of the most influential non-academic sources, including governmental bodies and consulting companies. Each definition has been broken down into its underlying technological and non-technological definitional elements. This categorization will serve as a basis for future research to approach the phenomenon in its multiple facets.

中文翻译：

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工业4.0定义背后：分析与开放问题

摘要 当今许多接近工业 4.0 的学者需要面对缺乏一致同意的定义，这对理论构建和研究可比性造成严重限制。自 2011 年最初的德国概念化以来，技术格局和对工业 4.0 的理解都发生了显着变化，导致了一些歧义。与此同时，经常被用作同义词的类似概念——例如“智能制造”、“数字化转型”和“第四次工业革命”——增加了对该现象范围和特征的混淆感。本研究通过分析工业 4.0 和相关概念的近 100 个定义来解决这个问题。对学术出版物的审查得到了一些最具影响力的非学术来源的补充，包括政府机构和咨询公司。每个定义都被分解成其基本的技术和非技术定义元素。这种分类将作为未来研究的基础，以从多个方面处理该现象。