Abstract
Industry 4.0 is currently a hot topic for practitioners, scholars and policy-makers. Although the phenomenon has been broadly discussed, an agreed-upon definition is still missing. The idea is in fact no longerstrictly associated with its initial German conceptualization and, over the years, it has been complemented with different, sometimes contradictory points of view. Moreover, the term Industry 4.0 has been increasingly used in connection, or even as a synonym with other expressions used to label similar clusters of technologies, such as “Smart manufacturing”, “Cloud manufacturing” or “Fourth industrial revolution”. Against the lack of sound conceptual and terminological foundations, the aim of this work is to provide an analytical perspective to navigate the current definitional ambiguity. Based on a systematic literature review on academic and non-academic sources, the study analysed more than 80 different definitions of Industry 4.0 and related terms. Each contribution has been broken down in its underlying definitional dimensions by means of six coding categories: label of the phenomenon, key enabling technologies, other enablers, scope, distinctive characteristics and expected outcomes. Results have been assessed and compared in order to identify commonalities and differences among the various definitions as well as the areas where there is the stronger need for focused research. The contribution of this study is to shed light on the concept of Industry 4.0, considering its genesis, early developments and its possible evolution with respect to the perspectives of the different stakeholders involved in the debate. We conclude by questioning the need for a precise and strict definition of the phenomenon for the time being, as the scenario is rapidly evolving and many context-specific approaches are emerging.