► Almost half of companies plan to significantly change their current business model over the next 3 years, under the influence of Industry 4.0, which is 7 percentage points higher compared with last year results 
► Two thirds of companies assess their Industry 4.0 maturity as comparable or higher than maturity of their competitors 
► As in the last year’s survey, 57% of companies considered lack of qualified staff the biggest obstacle to implementing Industry 4.0. 

Future of production, increased efficiency, digitization and technological development. Industry 4.0 covers it all. Czech companies associate the benefit of the new industrial revolution most often with productivity gains (51%), efficiency gains (47%), or the provision of data for production control (40%). These are results of the second EY survey "Industry 4.0 from the point of view of Czech practice". A total of 102 major Czech manufacturing companies took part in the survey. 8 out of 10 companies surveyed consider Industry 4.0 to be an opportunity to develop their business, and one-third wants to allocate more than a tenth of its total investment spending over the next three years in Industry 4.0 technologies and tools. 

Read more details in Czech. 

Read also OECD's related publication on digitalisation of production The Next Production Revolution. An excerpt on the automotive industry follows: ...Some observers have noted that automobile manufacturers may be pushed towards the lower end of the value chain if they lack competencies in software and AI-enabled services. "The main risk for car makers is probably not so much that an Apple car would destroy Mercedes-Benz or BMW the way iPhone gutted Nokia, the Finnish company that was once the world's largest maker of mobile phones. Rather, the risk is that Apple and Google would turn the car makers into mere hardware makers - and hog the profit, " the publication quotes an expert.

That said, traditional carmakers' big advantage is still their capacity to manage the complexity of manufacturing reliable, comfortable vehicles including management of the supply chain. And these companies still possess very strong brands. To what extent a newcomer will be able to outsource the manufacturing process, like Apple outsources the production of the hardware for iPhone, or to partner with manufacturing firms, as Google does with Android, is hard to tell. In any case, it will be crucial for all stakeholders to clearly identify their core business areas and the activities in the value chain where they can best lever their competitive advantage.

Read also Government supported development of new technologies in automotive industry.

View also EY Investment Attractiveness Survey results (issued May 2017), saying that investors vote 'remain' in Europe. Details in Czech.

OECD FDI Statistics: Data, Analysis and Forecasts (issued July 2017).

Image/Credit: EY Czech Republic