Gear Up for Development: The Automation Advantage for Sustainability in Manufacturing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Review Comments:

General Comments on the Manuscript:

1. The topic of the manuscript, "Gear Up for Development: The Automation Advantage in KSA Manufacturing," appears attractive. What novel ideas have the author recommended to enhance the development of KSA's manufacturing industries? It's crucial to clearly identify these novel ideas and illustrate how they have been established.

2. The stated goal of the study is to determine the impact of business process automation. Given the relevance to the industrial engineering domain, it is strongly suggested to provide a conceptual overview of "business process automation," along with process flows, a comprehensive overview of the research, methodology, anticipated outcomes, etc. utilizing colorful infographic diagrams and charts to enhance reader engagement.

3. The manuscript lacks any mention of the initiation of Industry 4.0 in KSA, which could be an important aspect to include.

4. There is a notable absence of potential analytical, conceptual, or mathematical models within the manuscript.

Manuscript Correction Related Comments:

1. Some sentences are excessively long; breaking them up would enhance clarity.

2. Review the similarity report and ensure that similarity is reduced to less than 1% in every section.

3. The author should include the names of researchers (e.g., Abcd et al., 20XY) in the manuscript to acknowledge their contributions and provide context for their work.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

English needs to be improved.

Author Response

I thank the reviewer for his/her efforts and valuable comments. I've attached a file with their notes and responses.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The paper is a research study about the impact of business process automation on the performance of manufacturing companies in Saudi Arabia.

The following comments should be specified:

1.      I recommended presenting the detailed structure of the methodology in the form of a flowchart.

2.      The selected criteria (gender, department, education, period worked in the company) are not clear. It needs a detailed justification for its selection.

3.      Please explain why 301 answers are an appropriate and sufficient number for data analysis.

4.      Please check the results (lines 350-355). It was mentioned in the text “50.8% in production”. However, Fig. 2 demonstrates 2% for production.

5.      Also, check Fig. 3. 21.9% of postgraduates were mentioned in the text and 32% in the diagram.

6.      It is unclear why the author chose the periods as less than 1 year, 1-3 years, 4-7 years, and more than 7 years. Please provide the appropriate justification. For example, in my country, the tenure is classified as up to 1 year, 1-3 years, 3-10 years, 10-20 years, and more than 20 years.

 

7.      I recommend using the consecutive numbers of literature sources [1, 2, 3, …, etc.].

Author Response

I thank the reviewer for his/her efforts and valuable comments. I've attached a file with their notes and responses.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The article aimes to examine the impact of business process automation on the performance of manufacturing companies in Saudi Arabia using a questionnaire survey of 301 employees in different departments.

It reviewed various types of automation, such as industrial, robotic, intelligent, and business process automation, and their benefits and costs for different sectors. It also discussed the operational performance objectives, such as efficiency, quality, speed, and flexibility, and how automation can enhance them.

The article found that the respondents agreed that automation is widely used and integral to their manufacturing processes, and that it has improved their efficiency, profitability, productivity, customer satisfaction, innovation, and market share. The study also found a moderately strong and positive correlation and a significant regression coefficient between automation and corporate performance.

The article concluded that automation has a positive impact on the performance of manufacturing companies in Saudi Arabia, and that it supports the vision 2030 of economic diversification and development. The article also provided some managerial and theoretical implications, such as encouraging more investment in automation, expanding the knowledge base on automation, and addressing the challenges of employment and competitiveness.

The main question addressed by the research is the impact of business process automation on the performance of manufacturing companies in Saudi Arabia.  The specific gap in the field that the paper addresses is the impact of business process automation on the performance of manufacturing companies in Saudi Arabia. The study provides valuable insights into the benefits of automation for Saudi manufacturing companies and its positive impact on their performance. There are limited empirical studies on the effectiveness of the automation processes and how they affect their operational performance. This research addresses this gap by examining the impact of business process automation on the operational performance of manufacturing firms in Saudi Arabia.

My other comments:

1. The authors could consider using a mixed-methods approach, combining both quantitative and qualitative data, to provide a more comprehensive outcome of the study.

2. The authors could consider increasing the sample size or using a stratified sampling technique to ensure that the sample is representative of the population.

3. The authors could consider using additional data collection methods, such as interviews or focus groups, to gather more in-depth information.

4. The authors could consider including additional control variables in their analysis, such as company size, industry, or location, to account for potential confounding factors.

The conclusions are consistent with the evidence and arguments presented in the document. The results showed that automation has an important role in improving the performance of manufacturing companies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Conclusions are supported by the statistical, regression, and correlation analyses conducted. The main questions posed in the study were addressed by the specific experiments and analyses.

 

 

 

 

Author Response

I thank the reviewer for his/her efforts and valuable comments. I've attached a file with their notes and responses.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Comments:

1. Follow the journal manuscript format and style: Results/findings, and Discussions could be combined into a single section, while the Conclusion should be a separate section. The Conclusion could be presented in bullet points for clarity.

2. "On the other 556 hand, the Saudi government can support automation trends in the country by enacting 557 legislation and laws that encourage automation and providing facilities for that. At the 558 same time, the government must think about employment and unemployment rates, as 559 automation is usually associated with reducing the number of workers in industrial com- 560 panies" - It is suggested that such suggestions to the Government be written in a passive voice for dignified acceptance.

-How can the degree of automation associated with the unemployment rate be optimized?

-What suggested ways are there to improve employment with the advancement of automation?

-Could you provide highlights [with proper references] of Saudi Arabia's industrial automation policy (Industry 4.0/4.1)?

3. From the present industrial scenario of KSA in the results and discussion part, what are your suggestions to "Gear Up for Development"? Can you plot the present scenario and your suggestions for sustainability in the diagram/figure??  

4. Limitations could be framed as potential areas for future research or as the future scope of work.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Many thanks for your useful comments. Please find the attached file.

Regards,

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf