Adaptation to Industry 4.0 in the Visegrád Group

Motivation: The concept of Industry 4.0 is widely recognised, since technological development is an inseparable factor of the modern organisations functioning. Due to this, the interest in the subject of the 4th industrial revolution has grown in recent years. However, far too little attention has been paid to the measurement of readiness and implementation of key attributes in Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Aim: The major objective of this study was to investigate the adaptation to Industry 4.0 in the Visegrád Group. Consequently, in the theoretical part both a historical context and a description of the main components of Industry 4.0 was introduced, which was the basis for the evaluation of the V4 transition toward Industry 4.0 in the empirical section. Materials and methods: Both quantitative (basic statistical analysis) and qualitative (critical analysis of the subject literature) methods were used in this investigation. The research data was drawn mainly from institutional reports and Eurostat database. Results: The investigation indicated that the transition towards Industry 4.0 in V4 countries is less advanced than in other European regions and need particular attention. Despite the relatively good results achieved in the field of robotisation, especially in the foreign-owned automotive industry, in general the Group lags behind the majority of Western and Baltic countries in terms of already adapted technologies, innovations and digital skills.