From Chaos to Calm: Industry 4.0 Practices of Turkish White Goods Companies

Abstract

Just as in the previous industrial revolutions, the rules of the game were rewritten and a new paradigm that is known as “Industry 4.0” was born. However, it is seen that everyone does not understand the concept of Industry 4.0 in a similar manner. For instance, Germany, where the concept was first introduced, is one of the technologically advanced and oldest countries, while labor is abundant and cheap in China, which is the most populous country in the world. On the other hand, Turkey is a developing country that is technologically dependent on center countries and has an import-intense manufacturing structure. Due to the potential changes in productivity level and flexibility capability of companies that Industry 4.0 technologies can enable in manufacturing industries, strategies followed by companies from different countries and industrial contexts should be different and be customized to local conditions, but these differences were not considered in many recent studies in the related literature. As it is understood, there is a need for scientific studies based on real practices of Industry 4.0. In this context, this study aims to explore the current practices of two Turkish white goods manufacturing companies through a case study. The first company offers products and services around the world and the second company is the supplier of the first one.