Fail no more in industrial automation investment! A novel technology success indicator model

The research question of this study is how company management can make better decisions when deciding on industrial automation investments. The objective of the study is to create a general, global and structured technology success indicator model for companies that evaluate investments in industrial automation. The model takes a comprehensive approach by analysing the company, the technology, and the social environment in question. The model entails a technology readiness index and combinations of success factors that decision makers can utilize. The emphasis is on discrete manufacturing operations. Only the very newest technologies are analysed, with the anticipation that the results will be applicable into the 2020s.

This study describes the needs for a novel technology success indicator model. The current rapidly changing production environment is analysed from the technological perspective in order to build a conceptual foundation for the technology success indicator model. The technology success indicator model is developed and hypotheses to be tested in the empirical stage of the research project are presented.