Abstract
The historical evolution of manufacturing value chains (VCs) has evolved in parallel with the opportunities offered by automation and communication technologies. Since the mid-1980s, advances in telecommunications simplified the coordination of production and related activities, resulting in organizational specialization on single VC activities, while being geographically dispersed. A new wave of innovation is impacting business and society today; the Industry 4.0. The impact on VC configuration is not yet clear. Some trajectories are taking shape. This paper focuses on the potential for Industry 4.0 for integration-activities to internalize or externalize-and scale advantages. Using an extensive literature review of academic and industry studies, complemented with insights gathered through expert workshops with managers and entrepreneurs, we present a set of five possible future trajectories supported by some practical examples.