Industry 4.0 technology provision: the moderating role of supply chain partners to support technology providers

Purpose The provision of Industry 4.0 solutions demands a vast range of technology domains. To provide these solutions, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may need the support of different supply chain actors through an inbound open innovation strategy. The authors study the contribution of four types of supply chain actors for inbound open innovation: suppliers, competitors with complementary technologies, R horizontal technology collaboration; vertical technology collaboration; and technology sourcing.