Table A1

Interview protocol

TopicMain questionPossible follow-up question
I4.0 investmentHow much did you invest in Industry 4.0 technologies? How much do you plan to invest in the future?What is the rationale behind that choice?
Did you exploit some government incentives? If yes, which ones?What are the achieved benefits?
What was the role of incentives in investment decisions?Have incentives led to investments that you would not have made otherwise? Have incentives moved up investments?
What is the expected PBT of the investment?How was it evaluated?
What is the expected return of the investment?How was it evaluated?
What is the investment focus? What is its allocation (hardware, software, people…)?What are the reasons behind that allocation?
I4.0 technologiesOn which technologies have you already invested? On which one have you planned to invest in the future?Why did you choose that technology over the others?
What is the usage or application for the introduced technologies? 
In which sequence were the technologies introduced?Why? How that sequence will continue in the future?
I.4.0 in the companyWhich is/are the area(s) targeted by the investments (E.g. logistics, processing, assembly, product development, procurement …)?Does the investment involve other entities such as customers and suppliers?
What is the reason behind the investment decision?How did you identify the need for introducing I4.0 technologies?
Which were the aimed results/benefits of the investment?How has the initial plan evolved? Other benefits emerged? Are advantages higher or lower than expected?
How has the implementation phase been managed? Have some external consultants been involved?Which are the main complexities/criticalities of the project?
What was the investment impact on people? How did the work tasks change? Did you introduce a training program?How do you judge the impact of industry 4.0 on the employment level?
Lean and I4.0What is the role played by Lean Production practices in this transformation?What results would you have achieved with a lower Lean maturity level?
How are you managing Lean and 4.0 transformations?Are they sequential or simultaneous? Do they have interactions?
Do Lean and Industry 4.0 transformations follow the same logic or not?Are they dependent or independent phenomena?
How will Lean practices implementation evolve in the future?Why?

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