Abstract:

Seaports are nodal points in global supply chains. Industry 4.0 applications, which have entered our lives with the rapid technological developments, are also seen in the port sector. The use of Industry 4.0 technologies started in container ports first, and applications were predominantly encountered in this type of ports. The aim of the study was to investigate the nature of digital technologies in container ports and to reveal the major barriers to the adoption of Industry 4.0 in Turkish container ports. First, extant literature was reviewed, and the main obstacles to the adoption of Industry 4.0 were determined. Later, considering the literature findings, in-depth interviews were conducted with port managers. Then, content analysis was performed by examining transcripts and notes taken during the interviews using a professional computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software, MAXQDA-12. According to the findings, four main difficulties were identified as technological, operational, legal, and organizational difficulties. Operational barriers were revealed to be industry-related obstacles. Technological and operational challenges were the most frequently mentioned ones by the participants. Finally, the findings of the study were discussed, and suggestions were proposed to overcome those obstacles.

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