Industry 4.0 represents a significant transformation in industrial systems through digital integration, presenting both opportunities and challenges for aligning the workforce, especially in emerging economies like Thailand. This study adopts a sequential exploratory mixed-method approach to investigate how strategic human resource development (HRD) contributes to sustainable transformation, defined as the enduring alignment between workforce capabilities and technological advancement. The qualitative phase involved case studies of five Thai manufacturing firms at varying levels of Industry 4.0 adoption, utilizing semi-structured interviews with executives and HR leaders. Thematic findings informed the development of a structured survey, distributed to 144 firms. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS SEM) was used to test the hypothesized relationships among business pressures, leadership support, HRD preparedness, and technological readiness. The analysis reveals that business pressures significantly influence leadership and HRD, which in turn facilitate technological readiness. However, business pressures alone do not directly enhance readiness without the support of intermediaries. These results underscore the critical role of integrated HRD and leadership frameworks in enabling sustainable digital transformation. This study contributes to theoretical perspectives by integrating HRD, leadership, and technological readiness, offering practical guidance for firms aiming to navigate the complexities of Industry 4.0.

Adopting Industry 4.0 (I4.0) is inevitable for Thailand’s manufacturing sector to remain competitive because global markets increasingly demand higher quality, faster delivery, and greater customization. While firms need to enhance productivity and optimize resource utilization, they also need to reduce operation costs, which require advanced technologies and data-driven operations. However, successful adoption requires skilled human resources, which is challenging for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This research explores factors driving and facilitating the implementation of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) in Thai manufacturing firms among SMEs and large firms. We employed qualitative analysis using semi-structured interviews with SMEs and large manufacturing firms in Thailand. Five key factors emerged as crucial for I4.0 adoption: awareness of I4.0, strong and proactive support from top management, self-funding capabilities, and effective human resource development strategies. While large multinational enterprises (MNEs) possess more significant resources and capabilities to adopt I4.0 technologies, SMEs face considerable challenges. They require a strategic approach tailored to their unique needs and resources to develop a feasible I4.0 roadmap. Additionally, governments and industry associations can play a significant role by providing training, funding, and other resources to empower SMEs to embrace I4.0.

This study examines the relationship among engineers’ basic skills, problem-finding and -solving capabilities, and innovation outcomes, using questionnaire survey data for Lao P.D.R., Thailand and Vietnam for the period 2016 to 2017. We perform two-stage least squares (2S.L.S.) estimations, which use the variables for engineers’ basic skills and capabilities for finding and solving problems within the firm as instruments, and the indicators for capabilities for finding and solving problems of suppliers and customers as endogenous variables. The estimation results reveal the relationship between problem-finding and -solving capabilities and process innovation. The findings from the empirical analyses suggest a possible upgrading strategy for firms to transform quality control management into innovative abilities. The estimation results also support the necessity of policy support for nurturing both engineers’ basic technological and managerial skills and capabilities for problem-finding and -solving.