BACCHETTI Andrea

The ‘Industry 4.0’ paradigm has been created in Germany in 2011 and then translated and reinterpreted in both highly industrialized countries and emerging economies. All these initiatives build on a common paradigm shift in industrial production aimed at exploiting advanced digitalization for bringing intelligence into devices and systems. Moreover, they all look for integrating Information Technology (IT) with Operational Technology (OT) to facilitate the connection among humans, machines and products in an intelligent way, for the purpose of satisfying customized demands. My research is mainly aimed at investigating how much the Italian manufacturing companies are ready to be concretely involved in the so-called ‘Industry 4.0’ journey. In particular, analyzing the knowledge and adoption levels of specific I4.0 enabling technologies, also considering how organizations are involved and which are the main benefits and obstacles. This main line of research is flanked by a specific initiative on the agrifood sector (in joint with Politecnico di Milano) and a vertical survey on the logistics processes. Indeed, another specific research project is ongoing with the aim to make a direct comparison between Italian and German I4.0 readiness and maturity.