**5. Conclusion and future work**

This study presented a conceptual model for the deployment of digitalization in SMEs, built on the development of four managerial capabilities of a production process. Through real industry cases, a conceptual model was developed, testing the applicability at early stages.

The model suggests a deployment sequence that connects directly to the elements of I4.0 and provides a practical vision on digitalization supporting performance improvement at the factory level by using OEE as the initial metric for the measurement of performance objectives. The industry cases allowed the model validation and the definition of future research to improve the model. This study exemplifies how SMEs with restricted resources can initiate their digital transformation process.

Our research has some limitations. First, given the early stage of the case companies' digitalization journey, only two practical capabilities have been tested. Second, the validation only included two case studies, where the results are described with a qualitative approach and quantitative results are not included. It can be hard to evaluate the real benefits achieved by SMEs developing the capabilities. Therefore, future work will be dedicated to following the evolution of the case companies in achieving the model's higher capabilities (specifically third and forth), where the priority is to focus on KPIs integration and data-hierarchy. As discussed previously, the resilience and robustness characteristics should be further investigated with a practical approach. It is imperative to build new knowledge that shows I4.0 real advantages for SMEs and ensure the small player's progress on their digitalization journey based on good theoretical foundations.
