Consulting firm BCG and the German Society for Quality (DGQ) have surveyed 221 companies from manufacturing industries worldwide on their quality management . Nearly two thirds of the survey participants believe that the application of Industry 4.0 technologies to enhance quality will significantly affect their operations in the coming years. The greatest advantage cited was the reduction in defect rates, and consequently in costs. However, there are still many challenges to overcome. The biggest obstacle at the moment is the shortage of necessary skills, and in many companies a lack of willingness to implement the technologies and a reluctance to formulate clear quality goals. The consultants recommend , among other things, identifying and prioritizing the biggest obstacles in order to develop use cases based on them.

Consultancy firm A.T. Kearney has also looked at this issue. Its study revealed two further problems that companies have to contend with when it comes to Quality 4.0: On the one hand, they have difficulty maintaining their quality principles in the face of new challenges and, on the other hand, they have difficulty applying innovative quality management methods.