(Effects of Industry 4.0 Process on Garment Businesses: The Case Study of Hugo Boss Turkey)

Abstract

Purpose – To set an example for other garment enterprises by explaining how digitalization efforts developed and implemented in labor intensive garment sector accelerated by industry 4.0 process. Design/methodology/approach – Since the Industry 4.0 process is a new concept, there are few enterprises that can be studied. For this reason, the business selected in the study was selected by choosing criterion case sampling among purposeful sampling methods. As a criterion, the criterion of being or having been working in the field of industry 4.0 was determined. Findings – It has been seen that employees in the business industry process have established an information management system which they call “intelligent data management”. Within the scope of this information management system, the performances of the operators, capacity information, machine malfunctions, machine temperature and vibration information, machine usability status, information of which product is located etc. uncovered. At the same time, it is easy to determine which job is given to which employee by classifying the jobs taken by the enterprise according to the employees' abilities. Discussion – Changes in the Industry 4.0 process lead businesses to a production model based on data and knowledge. The basis of this model is an information management system, including employees. The auxiliary elements of this model are the technologies used in the industry 4.0 process. The difference of the study from other studies is that it demonstrates how the industry 4.0 process applications in the garment industry are performed in a real production environment.