Smart factory management for innovative production performance in Malaysian manufacturing industries

A smart factory is a current trend and is an important concept in manufacturing industries that is a part of Industrial Revolution 4.0 in terms of the automation process. The purpose of this research project is to explore a possible and strategic practice for Malaysian manufacturing industries to move forward in smart factory management with the Fourth Industrial Revolution policy and to investigate to what extent the scholars have addressed the capability of the Malaysian manufacturing industry in terms of cost for an innovative production performance as a guide for the Malaysian manufacturing industry. The smart factory concept and its management are believed to be the fundamental aspect of Industrial Revolution 4.0 which can assist the manufacturers to provide benefits such as efficient manufacturing quality, and high production effectiveness. This study has selected managed approach, coordinated approach, market-driven approach and innovative production performance as the theoretical framework for this research project. To explore the strategic practice, this study has used a primary data approach by conducting semi-structured interviews with six respondents and the researcher also does document reviews of existing previous studies and government and non-government reports. This study used a triangulation method to integrate the data gathered from semistructured interviews and document reviews from external sources. By using the thematic analysis according to Braun and Clarke (2006), this study could successfully present the finding and discussion based on the research question and has achieved the purpose of this study. This research project also has presented the limitation and future work, in which area should emphasize more to give a better understanding of the Malaysian manufacturing industry to move toward smart factory management practices for innovative production performance.