Purpose Construction 4.0 technology is a novel innovative technology that has been proved to enhance project performance. However, information on the concept's awareness, adoption readiness and challenges in developing economies is still scanty. The purpose of the study is to appraise awareness, adoption readiness and challenges of Construction 4.0 technologies in Nigeria to bring to the fore the state of art of these innovative technologies in the study area. Design/methodology/approach The study used a convenient sampling technique to select 129 construction professionals (architects, engineers and quantity surveyors) in Osun State, Nigeria, who provided data for the study through a closed-ended structure questionnaire survey. The quantitative data supplied were analysed using frequency, percentile, Cronbach's alpha, mean score (MS) analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Findings The overall awareness level of construction professionals in the study area about Construction 4.0 technologies is at a moderate level (MS = 3.03). The analysis of each component of the Construction 4.0 technologies shows that BIM (MS = 3.69) has the highest level of awareness, while augmented reality (MS = 2.51) has the least awareness level. More results show a significant difference in the opinion of the respondents, a significant difference in the respondents on 36% of the components of Construction 4.0 technologies. The adoption readiness of the Nigerian construction industry (NCI) to Construction 4.0 technologies is at an initial level (MS = 2.86). However, the 3D printing (MS = 3.36) and augmented reality (MS = 2.49) have the highest and lowest adoption readiness ratings, respectively. There is no significant difference in how respondents ranked the NCI adoption readiness on 73% of the components of Construction 4.0 technologies. The main challenges of Construction 4.0 technologies in the study area are lack of standardisation (MS = 4.02), lack of investment in research and development and cost of implementation (MS = 3.87) each. The result shows that there is perfect unanimity in the way respondents ranked the challenges of Construction 4.0. Practical implications The study provided information on the status quo of Construction 4.0 technologies in the NCI to enhance improvement in practice and the attendant project delivery. Originality/value The study attempted to bring to the fore the state of the art on awareness, adoption readiness and challenges of Construction 4.0 technologies in Nigeria. The study's information will be valuable to improve project delivery.

The railway industry has witnessed increasing adoption of digital technologies, known as Railway 4.0, that is revolutionizing operations, infrastructure, and transportation systems. However, developing countries face challenges in keeping pace with these technological advancements. With limited research on Railway 4.0 adoption in developing countries, this study was motivated to investigate the awareness, readiness, and challenges faced by railway professionals towards implementing Railway 4.0 technologies. The aim was to assess the level of awareness and preparedness and identify the key challenges influencing Railway 4.0 adoption in Nigeria's railway construction industry. A questionnaire survey (was distributed to professionals in the railway construction sector to gather their perspectives on awareness of, preparation for, and challenges associated with the use of Railway 4.0 technologies. The results revealed that awareness of Railway 4.0 technologies was moderate, while readiness was low among the professionals. Using exploratory factor analysis, 10 underlying challenge constructs were identified including lack of technical know-how, resistance to change, infrastructure limitations, and uncertainty about benefits, amongst others. Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) confirmed these constructs, with reliability and availability, lack of technical know-how, lack of training and resources, and uncertainties in benefit and gains having significant influence on awareness and readiness. The study concludes that focused efforts in training, infrastructure improvement, supportive policies, and communicating the advantages of Railway 4.0 are critical to drive adoption in Nigeria and other developing economies. The findings provide insights into tailoring Railway 4.0 implementation strategies for developing contexts.

The healthcare sector, as a complex industrial system, faces significant challenges in delivering quality care amid resource constraints, driving the increased adoption of discrete event simulation (DES) as a tool for enhancing operational efficiency. While DES has proven valuable in healthcare operations, there is limited understanding of the statistical distributions employed in its implementation and its technological evolution. This study conducts an innovative review examining the diffusion of DES in health services, analyzing both the statistical distributions used in medical services simulation and the advancement of DES technologies. Through a comprehensive analysis of 616 publications from 2010 to 2022, we investigated DES utilization patterns and technological evolution and conducted a comparative analysis between pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic periods, evaluating publication trends by country. The results reveal a significant increase in DES publications, an expansion of journals publishing DES-related articles, and notable technological advancements in simulation capabilities, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings demonstrate the growing relevance of DES in healthcare research and its crucial role in process automation and decision-making within the industrial healthcare environment.

In the recent past, a vibrant debate emerged about talent management and the set of skills and competencies the future employees must possess to meet current and future market needs. Moreover, the lack of engineering students’ professional competencies and their inability to correlate and apply the theoretical knowledge they acquire during their studies in practical contexts, when they enter the labour market, lead to an investment in action-oriented learning and experiential learning. In this context, the learning factory concept is being put into practice by universities and companies to equip students and employees with the demanded needs. In this paper, an Industry-University collaboration between Renault company and the University of Valladolid is presented, centred in the development of a learning factory devoted to the learning and practicing of lean manufacturing through a set of training courses offered to engineering students and professionals. The lean factory characteristics as well as the learning process and learning results achieved are presented.

Many works highlight the importance and added value of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in companies, as well as the role of Knowledge Management (KM) for their revitalization, but even more important is to ensure that all efforts and resources are aligned with the organization’s strategic objectives (Balanced Scorecard, BSC). The aim of this work is to integrate BSC, CSR and KM based on the results of two previous researches: one on BSC–CSR and the other on KM, both of a projective nature (description-action-contrast). The research carried out has made it possible to identify 45 KM indicators, 102 CSR indicators and their corresponding correlations with the strategic objectives and perspectives of the BSC. In addition, an Excel tool was designed and developed for SMEs that is customizable, intuitive and useful for decision-making, which allowed us to contrast the obtained results.