對受到人力、技術、資金限制的中小企業之製造業而言，一下子要實施工業4.0是不可能的，找出其發展工業4.0之前提並循序轉型才是最重要的。最後，本研究證實對中小企業來說，實施精實之後再發展工業4.0會比直接實施工業4.0更能提升營運績效。;The process of developing Industry 4.0 is based on lean production in Germany. Lean production is also considered by scholars to be positively related to the development of Industry 4.0 and is also related to the operational performance of enterprises. However, it is rare to propose a model that combines the three dimensions and then verifies them together.
This study uses 165 samples to conduct empirical analysis to explore the role of Lean in the development of Industry 4.0 in Taiwan′s small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises. In this study, we discussed the relationship between lean, industry 4.0 and operational performance, using partial least square structural equation model (PLS-SEM), and proposed a research model that combined the three dimensions for verification. It is used to confirm whether Lean is a prerequisite for Taiwan′s small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises to develop Industry 4.0, and will have an impact on operating performance.
For the manufacturing industry of small and medium-sized enterprises that are restricted by labor force, technology, and capital, it is impossible to implement Industry 4.0 at once. The most important thing is to find out the prerequisites for the enterprise to develop Industry 4.0. Finally, this research confirms that for small and medium-sized enterprises, first implementing Lean and then developing Industry 4.0 will improve operational performance, which is better than directly implementing Industry 4.0.
