Adaptation of Industrial Revolution 4.0 in a Seaport System

Nurul Haqimin Mohd Salleh, Mahendrran Selvaduray, Jagan Jeevan, Abdul Hafaz Ngah and Suhaiza Zailani
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Nurul Haqimin Mohd Salleh: Faculty of Maritime Studies, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus 21030, Terengganu, Malaysia
Mahendrran Selvaduray: Faculty of Maritime Studies, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus 21030, Terengganu, Malaysia
Jagan Jeevan: Faculty of Maritime Studies, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus 21030, Terengganu, Malaysia
Abdul Hafaz Ngah: Economics and Social Development, Faculty of Business, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus 21030, Terengganu, Malaysia
Suhaiza Zailani: Faculty of Business and Accountancy, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 19, 1-13

Abstract: As pillars of logistics, supply chains, and transport networks, seaports have led to a substantial demand for countless economic advantages. The sustainability and competitive advantage of seaport businesses depend on their ability to adapt to changing business requirements, while Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0) is a current phenomenon that connects the global market through smart technologies involving cyber-physical systems to overcome global trade uncertainty. However, focusing only on growing economic benefits might lead to an ineffective sustainable implementation of IR 4.0 within a seaport system. Therefore, this paper compares the current status of IR 4.0 global implementation against the current Malaysian seaport system to ensure that the development of seaports in Malaysia is aligned with technological trends and global requirements. In addition, this paper investigates the critical sustainable factors (CSFs) for the implementation of IR 4.0 in Malaysian seaports. A Focus Group Discussion (FGD) is used to obtain the data from 13 domain experts, from various maritime stakeholders, which is further analysed by using Thematic Analysis. The result has shown that most seaports have started to initiate a fusion by focusing on IR 4.0 adaptation. In contrast, in Malaysia, the seaports in this country are still behind the global trend and are just starting to explore the concept of IR 4.0 instead of expanding to the next level (global benchmark). The current status and CSFs, for the implementation of IR 4.0 in Malaysian seaports, are presented in comparison to global requirements, and the marginal associations between them are shown. As a conclusion, by comparing a global seaport scenario with Malaysian seaports, the main considerations for sustaining the implementation of IR 4.0 in Malaysian seaports can be discovered.

Keywords: industrial revolution 4.0; Malaysian seaport; maritime industry; focus group discussion; thematic analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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