Future industrial systems have been popularised in recent years through buzzwords such as Industry 4.0, the Internet of Things (IoT), and Cyber Physical Systems (CPS). Whilst the technologies of Industry 4.0 and likes have many conceivable benefits to manufacturing, the majority of these technologies are developed for, or by, large firms. Much of the contemporary work is therefore disconnected from the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), despite the fact they represent 90 % of registered companies in Europe. This study approaches the disconnect through an industrial survey of UK SMEs (n = 271, KMO = 0.701), which is the first in the UK that used to collect opinions, reinforcing the current literature on the most reported Industry 4.0 technologies (n = 20), benefits, and challenges to implementation. Flexibility, cost, efficiency, quality and competitive advantage are found to be the key benefits to Industry 4.0 adoption in SMEs. Whilst many SMEs show a desire to implement Industry 4.0 technologies for these reasons, financial and knowledge constraints are found to be key challenges.

近年来，通过工业4.0，物联网（IoT）和网络物理系统（CPS）等流行术语，未来的工业系统已得到普及。尽管工业4.0及类似技术对制造具有许多可想见的好处，但其中大多数技术是为大型公司开发的，或由大型公司开发的。因此，尽管许多当代作品代表了欧洲90％的注册公司，但它们却与中小型企业（SME）的需求脱节。这项研究通过对英国中小型企业的行业调查（n = 271，KMO = 0.701）来解决这种脱节问题，这是英国首个用来收集意见的调查，加强了有关最新报道的工业4.0技术（n = 20）的文献。 ），实施带来的好处和挑战。灵活性，成本，效率，发现质量和竞争优势是中小企业采用工业4.0的关键优势。由于这些原因，许多中小型企业表示希望实施工业4.0技术，但发现财务和知识限制是关键挑战。