The Fourth Industrial Revolution is changing the world. IT-based technologies start to have an increasing impact on the chemical industry. Incumbents need to smart-up in order to stay competitive. Especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are facing a tough challenge as they lack resources and expertise in implementing Industry 4.0. In this paper, the smart-up ecosystem is introduced: a conceptual model that offers SMEs guidance on how they can move, step by step, from an uninformed situation into smart business. Based on initial experiences using the model in practice, some critical points along this smartification journey are highlighted.