Innovation and technological advancement are crucial for the apparel industry, particularly in manufacturing, made-to-order items, and customer requirements. This industry has become one of the most critical aspects of Bangladeshs industrialization process. However, businesses now strategically drive a series of changes, both from an organizational productivity perspective and a technologically supportive one. Industry 4.0 has significant potential to swap the business and manufacturing processes. Although perceptible advancement has been made in the practice of Industry 4.0 technologies and innovation in the manufacturing industries in industrialized countries, there is hesitation about the readiness of competitive businesses and manufacturing industries in developing countries like Bangladesh to adopt Industry 4.0. This study investigates the Bangladeshi apparel Industrys preparedness to implement Industry 4.0. A mixed-methods strategy has been implemented to evaluate the Bangladesh garment sectors readiness. The quantitative information was gathered through an online survey backed by a questionnaire instrument and quantitative methods of the Impulse Foundation of the Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau-VDMA). Furthermore, the qualitative data was taken through key informant interviews (KIIs). This exploratory research focused on how companies use technological tools and methodologies and how prepared to adopt the massive changes brought forward by IR 4.0. Based on this studys findings, apparel companies should use technologies such as ERP, Big Data, Cloud, M2M Communication to boost Bangladeshs global competitiveness. In addition, respondents believed that digital transformation could create a smart factory to optimize the manufacturing system, which has a very substantial impact on industry 4.0. Moreover, this exploratory study revealed that Bangladeshs garment companies face significant difficulties in IR 4.0 strategy design and equipment organization to meet IR 4.0 expectations. It is also revealed in this research that skills related to Industry 4.0 exist in hands in Bangladesh. Therefore, further research is needed to discover more features of Industry 4.0 adoption and skilled employee prerequisites.
Bangladeshs readymade garments (RMG) sector, a $38.52 billion industry (Export Promotion Bureau, July-May 2021-2022), and the countrys top export earner have begun green manufacturing by construct-ing 135 eco-friendly green buildings, the highest num-ber in the world. In response to the rapid technology advancements, the garment and fashion sector is on the verge of a massive transformation. Various transfor-mations and technological progress are brushing the apparel industry, specifically in manufacturing, E-tailing, customer-oriented and individualized mass production, and consumer demands (business-to-con-sumer retailing). In addition, businesses must now strategically pursue a series of changes, both from an organizational productivity perspective and a techno-logically supportive one. Consequently, it has now become pertinent for apparel factories to adopt new technologies related to IR 4.0 to sustain in an inter-nationally competitive market. Recent research indi-cates that technology propels certain nations into the fourth industrial revolution. According to experts, the potential for the fourth industrial revolution may include maximizing wealth through the ongoing improvement of inclusive GDP growth and enhancing social development indicators such as education, health, and the environment.
This fourth industrial revolution intends to restructure industrial production through information and tech-nology and capitalize on newly discovered technolo-gies and concepts. Thus, the production system of Industry 4.0 is more adaptable and intelligent, enabling industries to generate more customized products more efficiently. Since the term "Industry 4.0" is often used to designate the developing progression in managing production and manufacturing as well as chain pro-duction, it takes substantial importance for developing industrial countries, which largely depend on pro-duction and export (Benayoune et al., 2021).
Most developing countries, for example, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Philippines, and Nigeria, rely on man-ufacturing products to be delivered to foreign count-ries. Consequently, if these nations can adapt to man-aging production and manufacturing as well as chain production, the present rate of unit output relative to unit input will increase significantly, and it will be a crucial criterion of Industry 4.0 for these nations to be considered for advancement.
Objectives of the Study
This researchs main objective is to investigate the Bangladeshi RMG/apparel Industrys readiness to imp-lement Industry 4.0. Specific objectives: To achieve the main objective, the following specific objectives are formulated –
a) To examine the level of apparel/RMG factories (big, medium, and small) in Bangladesh regar-ding IR 4.0 readiness.
b) To inspect and determine whether the size of the factories is the critical determinant for the IR 4.0 readiness.
c) To explore where apparel industries in Bangla-desh need to prepare to adopt and implement IR.4.0.
Research Questions
1) What is the readiness level of Bangladeshs appa-rel/RMG factories (large, medium, & small) for IR 4.0?
a. Readiness with regard to organization strategy
b. Readiness with regard to organization infras-tructure
c. Readiness with regard to intelligent operations
d. Readiness with regard to intelligent products
e. Readiness with regard to data-driven services
f. Employment/talent/skill match strategy pre-paredness
2) Is the size of the factory the most important factor in determining IR 4.0 readiness?
3) In what ways must Bangladeshs apparel Indus-tries prepare to adopt and implement IR.4.0?
Basis of the Study
The world is transforming towards Industry 4.0, and Bangladesh needs to immediately adopt new tech-nologies and build an operational structure for its business. Lately, IR 4.0, with its extensive industrial automation, is interrupting almost every industry, start-ing from Readymade Garments (RMG) and Textile to Furniture, from Agro-processing to Leather and Foot-wear, and even the Tourism and Hospitality sectors of Bangladesh. The nations RMG and Textile industries comprise a massive 14.07% share of GDP, are res-ponsible for 85% of the aggregate export earnings, and employ around 4 million labors. Despite the threats of unemployment, the apparel industry/RMG is slowly adapting automation technologies to stay on par with efficiency, growth, and international competition (Farhana et al., 2022). International competitiveness is perhaps fiercely faced by the apparel sector, and to maintain an edge over the competitors, BGMEA needs to formulate policies inclusive of the latest techno-logies and innovations. Industry 4.0 can play a signi-ficant role in this regard, as it is entirely operated with IoT, thereby presenting the opportunity to reduce lead time and increase customer responsiveness with opti-mum cost (Alam and Dhamija, 2022). The study pro-posed three frameworks that will be effective, feasible, and significant for implementing Industry 4.0 in the apparel industry of Bangladesh. To overcome the tra-ditional supply chain challenges, Bangladesh Govern-ment and BGMEA should work collaboratively in changing infrastructure and building a digital ecosys-tem for a better future. Industries should also adopt these new revolutionary frameworks as soon as possi-ble to compete in the global market (Rahman and Maniam, 2022). As an emerging developing nation, Bangladesh is adopting innovative technologies in many sectors for socio-economic growth despite obstacles such as a lack of awareness, a lack of fin-ance, the availability of cheap labour, and the need for digital infrastructure and skills. Nevertheless, public and commercial entities are presently undertaking steps to expand infrastructure and human, technical, and financial capacity, enhance education and training systems, and reap the full benefits of IR 4.0. Thus, the study examines the outcomes of assessing IR 4.0 preparation in Bangladeshs garment industry, the difficulties and possibilities of the Industry 4.0 revo-lution, and the recommended strategic solutions.
Literature Review
According to (Souza et al., 2022) the four enablers of a Smart Factory are Smart operators, Smart goods, Smart machines, and Smart planners. Since Industry 4.0 is still a relatively novel idea, there are no scholarly publications related to Industry 4.0 in Bangladesh now. However, there are several publications and reports on the applicability of Industry 4.0 concepts in industry-alized nations. A report by Deloitte identifies the benefits of Industry 4.0 for the Swiss manufacturing sector, which may be applied to any other country, including Bangladesh, despite our status as a develop-ing nation. This study examines the extent to which Swiss manufacturing enterprises have already position-ed themselves for this digital transition and the benefits of adhering to Industry 4.0. Some recommended bene-fits are increasing competitiveness, utilizing chances and decreasing risks, adapting people and IT resources, expanding the potential for unique business segments, and leveraging impetus from exponential technologies (Deloitte, 2015).
The adoption of Industry 4.0 needs
1) The horizontal integration of the value chain.
2) A networked production system and vertical integration.
3) The end-to-end digitalization of engineering design along the complete value chain.
They believe that new technologies such as IoT, wire-less sensor networks, big data, cloud-based services, embedded systems, and mobile Internet meet these requirements (Jiang et al., 2022). Hermann, Pentek, and Bucker and their co-authors, in their analysis of 50 studies, identified four basic tools needed to implement Industry 4.0 within the company (Bücker et al., 2016).
These are CPS, IoT, the Internet of Services, and the Smart Factory. These are, in themselves, comprehend-sive categories, and do not specify the technical tools needed to operate the CPS (e.g., sensors). Adopting modern technologies of the fourth industrial revolution (IR 4.0), such as automation, robotics, and artificial intelligence is crucial for Bangladeshs ready-made garments (RMG) industry. In a private environment, IR 4.0 will prompt comprehensive automation and digitalization operations and widespread use of electro-nics and information technology (Sommer, 2015). The internet, big data, cloud computing, artificial intelli-gence, autonomous vehicles, advanced robotics, new additive manufacturing technologies including 3D print-ing, hybrid manufacturing, machines, new materials, and synthetic and generic microbiology are the drivers of the fourth industrial revolution (Hofmann and Rüsch, 2017; Schwab and Davis, 2018). Big data is one of the leading technologies of Industry 4.0, allow-ing businesses to collect, process, and analyze data for decision-making purposes utilizing intelligent algori-thms. One of the most indispensable features of IR 4.0 is the ability to monitor a large volume of data on open systems and enable a real-time connection with the production system. Cloud computing would be helpful for this purpose because it would enable access to data regardless of time or location, fostering flexibility in business operations (Anderl, 2015; Ghoreishi et al., 2020). In the garment industry, roles and response-bilities include accepting customer orders, planning production, acquiring the necessary fabrics and mater-ials, obtaining customer approval, and managing com-pany resources. Industry 4.0 requires end-to-end digital integration, real-time production planning, and order tracking (Shabur et al., 2021). Additive manufacturing and 3D printing are two technologies that have been made to meet customers many different and quickly changing needs (Gokalp et al., 2016). However, the new industrial revolution will shorten the time it takes to launch new products even more, thanks to more flexible product lines, higher productivity, and a better way to use resources (Wijewardhana et al., 2020). This will allow more companies to join the global value chains. To get the most out of Industry 4.0, public and private organizations need to help with policy and investment support, infrastructure development, edu-cation and training, and upgrading and upskilling. Without these things, IR 4.0 cannot be customized and used in the manufacturing and service industries (Ahmad et al., 2020). Bangladesh has many problems putting Industry 4.0 into place as a developing country. For example, they do not have enough awareness, workers with the right skills, factory infrastructure, technology applications, and money. Bangladesh has been criticized for the skills of its workers, the way it uses technology in production and the way its factories are set up (Bhuiyan et al., 2020).
Ideas of IR 4.0 Preparedness Evaluation of the Apparel Industry
This study investigates the various dimensions of a preparedness/readiness model that may be most applicable for measuring the preparedness of the Apparel/RMG sector in its pursuit of IR 4.0. There-fore, it discusses the perspectives of various academics regarding organizational readiness. Following the discussion is a brief explanation of the studys guiding framework and the variables and framework utilized for the study.
Measurement of IR 4.0 preparedness
Preparedness models of Industry 4.0 care for having two distinct dimensions; one tries to identify means of implementation, and the other locates the users for those respective models. Through a readiness model, an organization can find out whether it has the capacity or not to facilitate changes and can act upon the exist-ing shortcomings (Hizam et al., 2020; Şener et al., 2018) identified some core characteristics of the fourth industrial revolution: Interoperability, Virtualization, Autonomous Management, Real-Time Management, Internet of Services, and Modular Structure. A read-iness model pays regard to recent organisational inno-vations to attain sustainability and perform with com-parative advantages in its current setup. The manu-facturers must initially accept the advanced technology and then instill it in production, marketing, design, and to reap the benefits of Industry 4.0 (Susanto, 2008). For fear of job security, employees might feel bothered and cause problems during the transition phase to IR 4.0 since it will involve numerous automation changes in workflow. Sasanto, (2008) argues that there are six triggering factors behind an organisational readiness change: "observation towards changes, efforts, vision, shared faith, plans offered, and management support. "Many vital aspects fall under the umbrella of sustain-ability, including finance, environment, and social wellbeing; hence, (Almandeel et al., 2021) emphasize building an enhanced body of knowledge that can find ways to blend the intervention of Industry 4.0 with naturally sustainable production processes and argues the need for quantitative studies on organisational readiness. On the other hand, (Alayón et al., 2017) recommend "optimum utilisation of resources", coupl-ed with a natural control over-discharge, to accomplish sustainability. According to them, the "reducing, reus-ing, recycling (3Rs)" approach can expand the life-cycle of products, and technological processes can be utilised positively for the environment. Organisations can study and understand diverse Industry 4.0 models to find benchmarks and take a leaf out of leaders books who have effectively achieved digital trans-formation. In terms of planning, strategies, and exe-cution, what works and what do not work is of sheer importance to an organisation that is willing to move forward with IR 4.0, as well as to policymakers for designing the most appropriate blueprint, and therein lays the significance of learning. Lack of attention to the readiness models will only create a digital divide among organisations. Those who hastily, ignorantly, and without any preparation try to capitalise on IR 4.0 will eventually crash out of the market (Canetta et al., 2018). Most Industry 4.0 readiness models tend to prioritise technological aspects; for instance, a study titled Industry 4.0 readiness models: a systematic liter-ature review of model dimensions states that "70 (44%) out of a total of 158 unique dimensions on Industry 4.0 pertain to the assessment of technology alone," which indicate that organisations must be technologically sound first before jumping into IR 4.0 (Hizam et al., 2020). Industrial excellence is chara-cterised by the level of sophistication in production processes, the extent of automation, the preparedness of the workforce, and the intensity of innovation; to add additional value, there are the likes of industry receptiveness, innovation network, and internet sop-histication. In Europe, industries are segregated in four ways in terms of IR 4.0; they are known as "the frontrunners, the traditionalists, the hesitators, and the potentials (Götz et al., 2020). Then there are measure-ment tools even to evaluate the readiness of cities; one such example is the Smart Collaboration Index, which encompasses "performance indicators versus enable-ment indicators" and the contribution of different stakeholders, such as the industry itself, the regulatory bodies of the economic environment, and academy (Nick and Pongrácz, 2016). Each group should be examined in terms of "prerequisites, management, smarter systems and outcomes".
Research Design
Choosing an appropriate research method mainly depends on the nature and context of the study, such as descriptive or action research (Nilsson et al., 2018). Qualitative and quantitative approaches are used in this research, constituting a hybrid method. The quantita-tive method collects data in numerical form, while the qualitative method collects data in literary form. The following formula was used for determining the sample size n is
n = N*X / (X + N – 1)
Where,
X = Zα/22 ¬*p*(1-p) / MOE2, and
Zα/2 is the critical value of the Normal distribution at α/2 (e.g. for a confidence level of 95%, α is 0.05 and the critical value is 1.96), MOE is the margin of error, p is the sample proportion, and N is the population size (So, 1987)
Sampling Design
Population size
This is the total number of distinct factories in Bangla-desh. The sample size doesnt change much for popul-ations larger than 100,000.
Sample proportion
The sample proportion is the expected results to be. This can often be determined by using the results from a previous survey or running a small pilot study.
Sample size
Using the formula given above putting MOE 5%, confidence level 95% and population size 4000 and sample proportion 90%, the sample size is 134.
Target Population
Using the formula given above putting MOE 5%, confidence level 95% and populationsize 4000 and sample proportion 90%, the sample size is 134. The sample proportion is taken from previous studies where it was found that data get saturated in the case of more than 120 Bangladesh apparel industry factories.
Calculation,
N = 4000, Zα/2 = 1.96, p = 0.9, MOE = 0.05
A total of 200 factories were reached randomly from the list through email using the sampling. Upon which 138 responses were received. However, during the data cleaning process, 3 responses could not be used for analysis due to a lack of adequate responses. In the end, the analysis was made using the responses from 135 factories.
Sampling Frame
A sampling frame is a list of all the items in the population. Its a complete list of everyone or every-thing that needs to study. In this case, the member list of BGMEA and BKMEA has been used as a sampling frame for the survey.
The study explores the various dimensions of a read-iness model that could be best suited for measuring the preparedness of the apparel sector in its pursuit of IR 4.0. Therefore, it discusses the opinions of different scholars on organisational readiness. Followed by the discussion is a brief understanding of the guiding framework of the study, and the chosen variables and framework implemented for the study.
The present research investigated 134 sampled apparel industries in Bangladesh regarding IR4.0 readiness. In this regard, the research assessed IR 4.0 readiness of apparel industries in Bangladesh in various categories. The result and discussion are described below cate-gorically.
Dimensions explained in the VDMA model for Industry 4.0 assessment are -
Industry 4.0 readiness assessment by various cate-gories
Category 1: Organisational Strategy
According to Table 1, more than half of the sampled factories are at an intermediate level in terms of organizational strategy readiness that is required to adopt Industry 4.0. Only 1 factory is deemed as an expert in this category, and 43.7% of factories are exp-erienced enough to incorporate IR 4.0.
Table 1: Industry 4.0 readiness assessment- Organi-zational Strategy.
Category 2: Organizational Infrastructure
Table 2 reveals that factories are lagging more behind in infrastructural readiness than strategical ones. Once again, more than half of the factories are at an inter-mediate level, but the number of experienced factories is lower than that found in the measurement of organ-izational strategy. In addition, no organization has become an infrastructural expert yet to adopt Industry 4.0.
Category 3: Smart Operation
From Table 3, it can be easily concluded that the majority of factories (81.48%) have a long way to go to execute smart operations of IR 4.0 as they are all at an intermediate level. Only a handful of factories
(8.89%) are experienced in this category, and the rest stand at the beginner level.
Table 2: Readiness assessment of Industry 4.0- Orga-nizational Infrastructure.
Table 3: Industry 4.0 readiness assessment - Smart Operation.
Category 4: Smart Products
According to Table 4, more than one-third (35.56%) of factories are at an experienced level of readiness to reap the benefits of IR 4.0s smart products. 12.59% of factories have an expert level of readiness, & a little over that figure, 14.07% of factories are at infant stage.
Table 4: Industry 4.0 readiness assessment - Smart Products.
Category 5: Data-driven services
Table 5 reveals that the preparedness for utilizing data-driven services is quite low among the sampled factories, with 76.3% of them at an intermediate level, and only 14.81% of factories are at an experienced level. No factory has become an expert yet to practice data-driven services.
Table 5: Industry 4.0 readiness assessment: Data-dri-ven services.
Category 6: Employees
According to Table 6, more than half of the factories (55.56%) have a workforce with an experienced level of preparedness to embrace Industry 4.0. 20.74% of factories have expert-level employees to operate the highly complex systems and processes of the industrial revolution 4.0.
Table 6: Readiness assessment of Industry 4.0: Em-ployees.
Industry 4.0 readiness assessment by factory size (using weights)
Small factories
Table 7 shows that majority of the small factories are at an intermediate level of readiness to adopt Industry 4.0. What is more striking is that none of the small factories has displayed experienced readiness, and in
fact, nearly one-third of them are at a beginner level of preparedness for implementing IR 4.0.
Table 7: Industry 4.0 readiness assessment: Small fac-tories.
Medium factories
Although it is generally presumed that medium factories will be more prepared to implement Industry 4.0, Table 8 shows that it is not the case. Their stance on IR 4.0 is the same as that of small factories; nearly one-third of medium factories are at a beginner level, and the rest are at an intermediate level of readiness.
Table 8: Industry 4.0 readiness assessment: Medium factories.
Large factories
According to Table 9, more than half of large factories (57.89%) are at an intermediate level of readiness for the installation and practice of IR 4.0, and the remain-ing ones are merely at the beginner level.
Table 9: Industry 4.0 readiness assessment: Large fac-tories.
Potential areas for industry 4.0 adoption
According to the survey results, Production/ Manu-facturing, Marketing, and IT are the main business segments within the company where there is great potential for industry 4.0. These segments will likely benefit from the digital trans-formation to IR 4.0. On the contrary, the other areas like Sales, Services, Ware-housing/logistics, and Procurement/purchasing have also possibilities of reaping the fruits of the revolution.
Industry 4.0 readiness for sampled factories
Based on the overall weighted score, more than half of the 134 sampled factories are at an intermediate level of readiness for IR 4.0. This means that Bangladeshs apparel industry is still unprepared for the highly complex and sophisticated phenomenon of the fourth industrial revolution.
The survey results from this study were put into the VDMA (the Mechanical Engineering Industry Asso-ciation) model, which shows that RMG factories in Bangladesh are currently at the intermediate level of adapting to Industry 4.0, which means that most fact-ories are currently making plans for how to use industry 4.0 technologies. The factories are investing in the newer automated technologies or investing very recently, like within two years. The current employees are relatively skilled in the new steps towards 4.0 upgradation. Data collected from the production level are at a minimal scale, and the use of the data is limited. The infrastructure available at the factories is unsuitable for future technologies. Most importantly, the score arrived from the model is 52, which is only a bit higher than the beginner level. It implies that a good number of factories are at a transition phase from beginner to intermediate in terms of industry 4.0 adaptation. There must be other parameters and chal-lenges present within the sector that must be addressed before undertaking a transition to IR 4.0. This also calls for more research in this field and attention from the policymakers to establish a sustainable support system that enables the apparel sector to adopt auto-mation and keep up with the growing international competitiveness. On the other hand, there must be other parameters and other challenges present within the sector that needs to be addressed before under-taking a transition to IR 4.0. This also calls for more research in this field and attention from the policy-makers to establish a sustainable support system that enables the RMG sector to adopt automation & keep up with growing international competitiveness
Major Findings of the Study
• More than fifty-two per cent of the sampled fac-tories (52.59%) are at an intermediate level of organizational strategy readiness required to adopt Industry 4.0. 43.7 per cent of factories have suffi-cient experience to implement IR 4.0.
• Infrastructure readiness lags further behind stra-tegic readiness among factories. Again, more than fifty-three per cent of factories (53.33 per cent) are at an intermediate level. However, the number of experienced factories is lower than that found in the organizational strategy measurement (37%). Moreover, no organization has yet become an infrastructure expert by adopting IR 4.0.
• Most factories (81.48%) have a long way to go before executing IR 4.0s intelligent operations, as they are all at an intermediate level. Only a few factories (8.89%) have experience in this category, while the remainder is novices (8.89%)
• More than one-third (35.56%) of factories are prepared to reap the benefits of IR 4.0s intelligent products. 12.59% of factories are at an expert level of readiness, while slightly more than 14% are in the infant stage.
• 76.3 % per cent of the sampled factories are at an intermediate level of readiness for utilizing data-driven services, while only 14.81 per cent are at a professional level. No factory has yet achieved mastery of data-driven services.
• More than fifty-five per cent (55.56%) of factories have a workforce prepared to adopt Industry 4.0. To operate the highly complex systems and pro-cedures of the fourth industrial revolution, 20.74 per cent of factories have employees with expert-level knowledge.
• More than half of large factories (57.89%) are at an intermediate level of readiness for the install-ation and implementation of IR 4.0, while the rest are at the beginner level. Most small factories are prepared to adopt Industry 4.0 at an intermediate level. Surprisingly, none of the small factories has demonstrated an advanced level of readiness for IR 4.0 implementation, and nearly one-third of them are at the novice level. Table demonstrates that contrary to the common assumption that medium-sized factories will be better prepared to imple-ment Industry 4.0, this is not the case. Their posi-tion on IR 4.0 is identical to that of small factories; nearly one-third of medium factories are at the beginner level, while the remainder is at the inter-mediate level.
• The result indicates that the overall weighted score for IR 4.0 readiness in the apparel industry is 52, which corresponds to the Intermediate level. Ac-cording to the overall weighted score, slightly more than fifty per cent of factories are at an inter-mediate level of preparedness for IR 4.0, indi-cating that the Bangladeshi apparel industry is not yet adequately prepared to embrace the highly sophisticated and complex phenomenon of the fourth industrial revolution. However, production/ manufacturing, marketing, and IT of apparel in-dustries/ RMG are the companys primary business segments and potential areas where IR 4.0 adop-tion is required most.
Recommendations
The implementation of 4IR requires considerable changes in Knowledge Skills and Attitudes (KSAs) in hiring, and training, both for Employers and emplo-yees, and adopting new technologies into their Indus-tries. For successful adoption of IR 4.0 technology and implementation of it in the apparel industries, the following measures can be recommended:
Developing New Leadership Capabilities for 4IR
Have to develop positive and modern thinking leader-ship capabilities of people in the apparel sector con-sidering technology and innovation. The industries have to come out of the old-traditional manufacturing process. They should adopt the right technology and build new innovative people strategies for future work.
Skill Disruption
The demand for skillful workers in IT technologies will rise for extensive use of software, robotics, and data analytics. There is no room for the traditional workforce or low-skilled people. The risk of losing old-aged peoples jobs will also increase. Hence, in-dustry owners should create training facilities for their existing workforce within the IR4.0 technology adop-tion purview.
Managing Integration of Technology in the Work-place
The latest technology could alter job responsibilities between humans and robots and algorithms, which can create consequences of job displacement. The human resource, may introduce concepts of reskilling, redep-loyment, and job reinvention.
Reskilling
Refers to the search for employees with "adjacent skills," It gives workers a lateral learning opportunity.
Redeployment
Is when employees are re-positioned within the com-pany to avoid redundancy?
Reinvention
Its vital to remember that automation affects tasks rather than jobs. Therefore, it is necessary to rethink and restructured or redefined the job.
Enhancing the Employee Experience
The core of the employee experience is employee engagement. Without having the right set of skills and knowledge (KSAs), it is hard for employees to engage in work as they did before the fourth industrial revo-lution. As technology is altering how employees work in various ways, and as a result, it has an increasingly created positive or negative impact on employee ex-perience. It has to ensure that all the employees con-tinuously engage in work through technology.
Building an Agile & Personalized Learning Culture
The concept of agile learningis a method of training and development that emphasizes speed, collaboration, and flexibility of employee learning. By implementing agile and personalized learning culture, organizations can ensure that employees have enough time and facilities for training as needed.
Reforming TVET (Technical and Vocational Edu-cation Training)
In the Technical and Vocational Education Training institutes of Bangladesh the total courseware-Compe-tency Standard (CS), Competency-based learning material (CBLM), and Assessment tool should be re-designed based on the concept of automation and new technology related to the fourth industrial revolution.
Funding for Human resource development and new technology adoption
To have a skilled workforce for accelerated growth in Bangladesh National Human Resource Development Fund (NHRDF) has been established in 2017. It is time to activate NHRDF for helping the youth prepare themselves for market-responsive demand for work in the manufacturing sectors. At the same time, the government should give some financial support to the manufacturing industries especially the apparel Indus-tries to adopt new technology in supply chain man-agement and logistics, machine maintenance, tech-nician development for implementing automation and industry four. More specifically in the department of accounts and financing, store, cutting, sewing and finishing, designing, real-time data collection, research and development financial support might be extended from the government side.
The fourth industrial revolution, called Industry 4.0 or IR 4.0, is here to stay. Even though it is a relatively new movement, many countries have started to join it. Bangladesh is also considering joining the revolution, which I think is a good idea. In Bangladesh, the spot-light is on the apparel sector, also known as the RMG industry. This is because the apparel sector contributes considerably to the economy and IR 4.0 has much potential in the manufacturing sector. The thesis sheds light on the different parts of the revolution and how they affected the global apparel market. It also breaks down the theories and ideas behind IR 4.0 and how they can be used or realized in the garments sector. However, I think the thesis stands out because it is the first evaluation of how ready Bangladeshs RMG sector is to adopt IR 4.0. This assessment is essential because IR 4.0 is not just a move towards more automation. However, it is made up of very compli-cated technologies and ideas that cannot be used well until we answer the question "Are we ready for it?" Before joining the revolution, other countries similarly did things. Taking a page from their books and their readiness index, these thesis shows where the RMG factories of Bangladesh are now. That finding alone is essential for policymakers, the business world, and academics. After a thorough evaluation, however, the thesis finds that most RMG factories are at an inter-mediate level of readiness for IR 4.0. In every part of Industry 4.0, there is still much work to be done before our RMG industry can use it, let alone enjoy the facilities. In this way, the thesis gives suggestions and, more importantly, shows the strengths and weaknesses of our mighty apparel sector. We will have to adopt IR 4.0 eventually if we want to stay strong and do well internationally in the future. Given that, though, more readiness assessments need to be done to ensure that our slow progress goes in the right direction.
Limitations
The main limitation of the research was the lack of research or study conducted about implementing IR 4.0 in the apparel industries in Bangladesh. There are only a few write-ups related to IR 4.0 and the impact of IR 4.0 on cheap labour engagement in the Bang-ladeshi apparel industry, which made it difficult to review the literature. Therefore, literature of studies similar to our research conducted in other countries is mainly used in the literature review process. Besides, IR.4.0 is a new concept for Bangladesh, so many misconceptions are prevalent. The result of this rese-arch will reveal whether the apparel industry in Bang-ladesh is ready to adopt IR 4.0 technology, and by introducing Industry 4.0, the apparel industry in Bang-ladesh would be benefitted or not. Nevertheless, a life-cycle reengineering and new technology adoption across the entire value chain are required to properly implement Industry 4.0 in the local context, which is not exposed in this research. From this study, several important facts can be highlighted in terms of oppor-tunities; for instance, both the IT and the apparel sectors consisted of a skilled and knowledgeable work-force which would be the most significant advantage of adopting the novel and innovative concepts in Industry 4.0. This study will convey that the apparel sector needs to rethink the fourth industrial revolution as a new business model rather than just limiting its vision to introducing information and communication technology. The study suggests additional research needs to be conducted on implementing Industry 4.0 in the apparel industry. The government should also take an important initiative by using industry 4.0 tech-nology to assist the apparel sector. There should be a collective mechanism between the government and the industry to be sustainable in adopting Industry 4.0.
Scope for Future Research
There are plenty of areas where more research could be conducted in the future with regard to IR 4.0 in the RMG sector of Bangladesh. A list of such areas of research is given below –
a) There is a need for productivity analysis of the RMG sector comparing the various level such as beginner, intermediate and experience levels of industry 4.0.
b) Finding appropriate policy measures to support small-level factories to adapt industry 4.0 will be an important research scope for the near future.
c) Factories will require improving the organisa-tional strategy of the factories through research in order to accelerate their industry 4.0 goals.
d) It will be essential to identify the skill gaps of the future RMG workers with regard to experiencing industry 4.0.
e) A comprehensive exercise is required for identi-fying the needs and steps forcreating enabling environment for industry 4.0.
f) Comparative studies are required to assess a countrys status in view of the competitive coun-tries such as Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, India etc.
g) There could be a well-developed comprehensive tool for assessing level of industry 4.0 for the factories. This will help the buyers to assess factories and their capacities.
I am heavily indebted to my thesis advisor, Prof. Ali Akkas, Department of Management at the University of Dhaka for his continuous support, valuable guid-ance, and inspiration to accomplish my research under DBA (Doctor of Business Administration) program. I would like to thank the RMG expert Dr. Kazi Mahmudur Rahman, and Kishore Kumer Basak, and the industry experts Engr. Azim Mohammad, and Engr. Rupali Biswas for their whole-hearted support and co-operation in writing this article. Finally, I must express my profound gratefulness to my husband Sheikh Muhammad Muzibul Alam for his continuous support and encouragement.
The author(s) declaring that there are no potential conflicts of interest concerning the research, author-ship, and/or publication of this article.
Academic Editor
Dr. Antonio Russo, Professor, Dept. of Moral Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities, University of Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy.
Assistant Executive & Project Director, Skills for Employment Investment Program (SEIP), Finance Division, Ministry of Finance, Peoples Republic of Bangladesh.
Sharmin S. (2022). IR 4.0 readiness of apparel industry in Bangladesh, Asian J. Soc. Sci. Leg. Stud., 4(4), 148-159. https://doi.org/10.34104/ajssls.022.01480159