5 SME’s Innovation Strategies in Preparation to Industry 4.0

Asst. Prof. Ahmet Coşkun

The competition is getting denser for SMEs as the world is being more global, speed of technologic advancements is increasing and fluidity of money, information and even people is day by day. This pressure of fast change in all areas of economy occurs as a revolution; humankind is experiencing the fourth industrial revolution (i.e. Industry 4.0). Different from the previous ones, this particular revolution overwhelmingly impacts the world economies in a rapid way. Thus, emerging originally from Germany, Industry 4.0 is contagiously spreading to the rest of the world and many countries are trying to be well prepared by defining new strategies. Industry 4.0 includes both opportunities and threats. Just as in all economies, SMEs represent the predominant majority of the business world in Turkey, thus, it is important to evaluate these opportunities and threats from the SME perspective. Further, it is essential to take local dynamics of development into account especially in big countries such as Turkey with relatively large population and geography.