Smart Machine Business Models for the Industry 4.0 Era

"With Industry 4.0 buzz all over the media by all OT and IT experts, today, a few key concepts seem to unveil the potential that the industry believes is behind Industry 4.0. These include: smart machines, smart factory, cyber physical systems, everything-as-a-service and a few technologies like OPC UA, cloud and data analytics.

Clearly they are the innovation drivers and must-haves for every vendor of automation products that want to be recognized as leaders or challengers, but sooner or later they will become standards and used by followers and niche players. The key question for the market of automation suppliers is not who is first in developing and providing all the nice concepts and technologies, but who is creating and combining them in the right way so that they can be turned into new revenue streams.

This paper explores the revenue streams that can be realized via an integration of technologies and the right business models."