Use of industry 4.0 and organisational innovation concepts in the Serbian textile and apparel industry

Abstract

© 2019, Institute of Biopolymers and Chemical Fibres. All rights reserved. Technological and non-technological innovations represent one of the most important and sustainable sources of competitive advantages for businesses. Industry 4.0, a new fundamental paradigm shift in industrial production and organisational innovation, as new management practices, are important issues for companies as they seek to upgrade their productivity, improve the quality of supply and retain competitiveness. Analysis of technological and non-technological innovations of the textile and apparel industry in Serbia became particularly important in the situation where the Serbian transitional economy opted to alter its growth model. This paper analyses the results of the European Manufacturing Survey conducted in manufacturing industries in a transitional economy – the Republic of Serbia. The current Serbian dataset of 2015 includes 280 observations of Serbian firms of all manufacturing industries. The empirical results indicate that textile and apparel manufacturing companies in Serbia utilise industry 4.0 and organisational innovation concepts on a very low level.