Applying user stories for a customer-driven industry 4.0 transformation

Abstract

This paper provides a procedure to support organizations transforming towards Industry 4.0. We suggest that current models do not put sufficient emphasis on avoiding the development of redundant solutions and the focus on customer needs. The presented procedure therefore enables organizations to address the customer requirements with digital solutions without creating redundancy. A database of requirements an organization already fulfills and wants to see fulfilled in the future is set up by applying the user story method. These stories are tagged with attributes derived from literature. A clustering algorithm then analyses the stories in terms of similarity. This analysis reveals, first, redundant functions within the solutions and, second, suggestions about how to address unfulfilled requirements. The paper provides a case study in which the procedure is applied. The results show that large organizations already roll out redundant Industry 4.0 solutions and that the procedure can help avoiding them.