Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to characterize the interfaces between manufacturing companies and the Internet of Things (IoT) suppliers involved in their digital servitization.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper builds on an explorative case study of a manufacturing firm and its IoT suppliers. This paper relies on the Industrial Network Approach to study interfaces between buying firms and their suppliers.

Findings

This paper identifies three distinct types of supplier interfaces: connected, digital and digital-physical. They all contain technical resource interfaces with additional organizational and/or technical complexities that need to be managed. Connectivity, an Agile approach to software development and strong technical dependence emerged as key factors that impact the interactions between manufacturing firms and IoT suppliers and how their resources are combined.

Practical implications

This paper offers managerial implications regarding the importance of internal organization (such as appropriate cross-functional teams) to manage the dynamics of collaborations required by digital technologies, maintain interactions with IoT suppliers and identify and manage interdependences between IoT suppliers. Building close relationships with suppliers of crucial infrastructure (e.g. IoT cloud platform and data security systems) can also be beneficial for manufacturing firms to reduce risks. Finally, attention should be given to IoT technology strategy, which impacts both digital and digital-physical supplier interfaces.

Originality/value

In digital servitization, manufacturing firms are heavily reliant on external resources for IoT technology. Despite this, few studies have investigated the characteristics of their interfaces with IoT suppliers, how these can be managed and how resources are combined.

中文翻译：

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数字化转型中的供应商接口：一家制造公司和物联网供应商的探索性案例研究

目的

本文的目的是描述制造公司与参与其数字服务化的物联网 (IoT) 供应商之间的接口。

设计/方法/方法

本文基于对一家制造公司及其物联网供应商的探索性案例研究。本文依靠工业网络方法来研究采购公司与其供应商之间的接口。

发现

本文确定了三种不同类型的供应商接口：连接的、数字的和数字物理的。它们都包含需要管理的额外组织和/或技术复杂性的技术资源接口。连接性、敏捷的软件开发方法和强大的技术依赖性成为影响制造公司和物联网供应商之间的互动以及他们的资源如何组合的关键因素。

实际影响

本文就内部组织（例如适当的跨职能团队）管理数字技术所需的协作动态、保持与物联网供应商的互动以及识别和管理物联网供应商之间的相互依赖关系的重要性提供了管理启示。与关键基础设施（例如物联网云平台和数据安全系统）的供应商建立密切关系也有利于制造企业降低风险。最后，应关注物联网技术战略，它会影响数字和数字-物理供应商界面。

原创性/价值

在数字服务化中，制造公司严重依赖外部资源来获取物联网技术。尽管如此，很少有研究调查他们与物联网供应商的接口特征、如何管理这些接口以及如何组合资源。