Success in Industry-Academia Collaboration: A Design Science Approach for Industry 4.0 Research Projects

Collaborations between Industry partners and University researchers are common to address Industry 4.0 research projects. Such collaboration facilitate access to expertise across domains. However, there is often a mismatch of expectations around language, processes and deliverables. One of the reasons is that academics treat these type of research projects as traditional Knowledge Seeking Research. Treating the research as Solution Seeking Research is a better approach, which ensures that the needs of all participants in the project are met. Solution Seeking Research can be implemented using a Design Science approach. Collaboration must be encouraged, which requires effort around communication, coordination and cooperation. Using a Framework for Evaluation ensures that all guidelines of Design Science are achieved. In this paper, we outline how we managed successful Industry 4.0 collaboration projects. We extend the framework for evaluation by recommending suitable research methods for ex-ante and ex-post evaluation. In doing so, we provide a model for future researchers to deliver collaborative research projects to the satisfaction of all partners involved.