Readiness for Industry 4.0 in a Medical Device Manufacturer as an Enabler for Sustainability, a Case Study

Olivia McDermott (), Dudley Luke Stam, Susana Duarte and Michael Sony
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Olivia McDermott: College of Science & Engineering, University of Galway, H91 TK33 Galway, Ireland
Dudley Luke Stam: College of Science & Engineering, University of Galway, H91 TK33 Galway, Ireland
Susana Duarte: Unidade de Investigação e Desenvolvimento em Engenharia Mecânica e Industrial Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, NOVA School of Science and Technology, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
Michael Sony: Oxford Brookes Business School, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 1, 1-20

Abstract: This research aims to determine the state of Industry 4.0 readiness and to identify the best practices, challenges, and barriers to implementing Industry 4.0 technology in a medical device manufacturer, thus aiding in improving sustainability. Semi-structured interviews were completed with 12 senior executives representing a wide array of functions in a single large medical device manufacturer. Convenience sampling was used to analyse the interview transcripts to draw out themes that were then discussed and analysed with findings from the literature review. This research determined the state of Industry 4.0 readiness in the case study of medical device manufacturers. This research identified several best practices, challenges, and barriers to implementing Industry 4.0 technology. Currently, there are few case studies in the literature that have a medical device manufacturer as the case study for Industry 4.0 readiness. There are even fewer articles that tackle Industry 4.0 implementation across the entire medical device industry. There is currently no published literature that analyses the best practices for implementing Industry 4.0 in a medical device manufacturer. The best practices for Industry 4.0 implementation identified in this study can be beneficial to stakeholders in the medical device industry and within the healthcare sector, help them plan current and future Industry 4.0 programmes, improve sustainability in their companies, as well as optimise patient treatment and approaches.

Keywords: medical device; Medtech; Industry 4.0; digitilisation; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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