In recent years, there has been dynamic changes in the industrial environment as a result of further innovations called Industry 4.0 (I.4.0), especially in the field of digital technology and ...manufacturing. Despite numerous examples of the implementation of Industry 4.0 in enterprises, there is no general framework for the implementation of Industry 4.0 with a detailed schedule. Researching the ways of implementing Industry 4.0 is still a current and unexplored area of research. The main aim of the paper is to present the concept of the theoretical framework for Industry 4.0 implementation based on selected schedules of the Industry 4.0 implementation. The paper was based on information from literature review and analysis of pilot enterprise projects to Industry 4.0 (case study) that were conducted in selected enterprises. The paper presents the key components of the framework of Industry 4.0 and the basic stage of implementing the concept in the enterprises, paying attention to their sequence and time frames. The proposed approach is dedicated to researchers and practitioners who implement the concept of Industry 4.0 in enterprises.
The Industry 4.0 wave is built on technological advancement that is bringing about significant change. The impact of Industry 4.0 is being felt across all industries, including the education sector. ...During the 2019 State of the Nation address, the President of South Africa pointed out that the government was seeking to respond to the change in skills requirements. In this paper, a systematic literature review will be performed to investigate Industry 4.0 skills requirements in the engineering profession and the role of capability development in meeting Industry 4.0 requirements. An exploration of the impact of Industry 4.0 on technical institutions as opposed to academic institutions will also be discussed. This paper incorporates this exploratory investigation into detailed research on developing a skills development framework that seeks to bridge the gap between Industry 4.0 skills requirements and development in South Africa.
•Novel framework to align activities across information systems and the circular economy.•Digital circular economy research agenda and implications for practitioners.•Guidance for aligning digital ...and sustainable strategies.•Knowledge base of 100 theorized and real-world smart circular strategies.•Digital circular economy as a cornerstone of a sustainable society.
Digital technologies (DTs), such as the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, and data analytics, are considered essential enablers of the circular economy (CE). However, as both CE and DTs are emerging fields, there exists little systematic guidance on how DTs can be applied to capture the full potential of circular strategies for improving resource efficiency and productivity. Furthermore, there is little insight into the supporting business analytics (BA) capabilities required to accomplish this. To address this gap, this paper conducts a theory- and practice-based review, resulting in the Smart CE framework that supports translating the circular strategies central to the goals of manufacturing companies in contributing the United Nation’s (UN) 12th Sustainable Development Goal, that is, “sustainable consumption and production,” into the BA requirements of DTs. Both scholars and practitioners may find the framework useful to (1) create a common language for aligning activities across the boundaries of disciplines such as information systems and the CE body of knowledge, and (2) identify the gap between the current and entailed BA requirements and identify the strategic initiatives needed to close it. Additionally, the framework is used to organize a database of case examples to identify some best practices related to specific smart circular strategies.
Increasing environmental concerns have prompted a worldwide emphasis on the implementation of novel or revitalised technologies that allow manufacturing companies to produce in an environmentally ...sustainable way while reducing resource, global warning, and waste generation. Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies play a pivotal and revolutionary role in this particular industrial landscape. These new technologies are increasingly permeating industrial realities as they offer numerous advantages not only from an economic standpoint but also incorporate several potential sustainability benefits (e.g., reduced energy consumption and CO2 emissions, minimized waste production, lightweight product manufacturing through technological optimization, the possibility of using biodegradable and recycled materials, shorter supply chains through localized production, and reduced environmental impact). This study proposes a literature review on the topic of sustainable AM, focusing on the three aspects of sustainability (environmental, economic, and social). In particular, the analysis has revealed that AM positively influences the economic aspect of companies, as it allows for the reduction of processing waste, effectively transforming this into positive monetary value. Another relevant aspect is that these technologies enable the decentralization of manufacturing sites, meaning that production can be moved closer to the customer, thus reducing or eliminating transportation-related costs. While AM offers positive opportunities in these first two aspects, there is still limited research exploring its impact on social sustainability. Although AM has yet to radically transform industrial systems, there are early signs indicating that the characteristics of this advanced production process will lead to advancements in industrial sustainability.
The integration of Industry 4.0 and the circular economy has gained significant attention to achieve sustainable and innovative practices in the manufacturing industry. This paper presents a ...conceptual framework for integrating Industry 4.0 and the circular economy, based on a systematic literature review. The review synthesizes and critically analyzes existing research to identify key elements of a circular and sustainable production system and demonstrates how Industry 4.0 technologies can be leveraged to support these elements. The framework encompasses four essential components: Desired Environmental Performance, Circular Economy Strategies, Technology Enablers, and Organizational Factors. These components provide guidance for manufacturing firms in adopting Industry 4.0 technologies to promote circular economy principles and achieve environmental sustainability. The findings of this study contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the interactions between Industry 4.0 and the circular economy, paving the way for future research and practical implementation in the manufacturing industry.
Vincular a Indústria 4.0 com Lean pode promover resultados econômicos, sociais e ambientais em muitos setores industriais. Mas para que isto ocorra, há necessidade de promover a colaboração entre ...empresas e entre pessoas. O pensamento lean engloba: qualidade, cooperação e comunicação, ou seja, está diretamente relacionado às pessoas que atuam no processo produtivo e kata de melhoria promove, através da mudança comportamental, cooperação e o envolvimento das pessoas para atingir os objetivos organizacionais. Assim, o objetivo deste estudo foi desenvolver um estudo teórico a fim de encontrar e quantificar os documentos existentes, denominados trabalhos relacionados ao tema em estudo e que evidenciam as relações entre Indústria 4.0 e lean kata. Para esta revisão foi realizada uma busca na base de dados Scopus a partir dos termos de busca “Industry 4.0”, “lean” e “kata”. Dos principais resultados encontrados destacam-se os 10 documentos. A pesquisa também indicou um campo de pesquisa ainda não explorado, abrindo oportunidades para novos estudos, assim como destaca a importância da integração entre as diversas áreas da organização quanto a implementação de ambos os programas.
•A measurement model for Industry 4.0 implementation is built upon a mixed-methods approach.•Constructs: IT strategy and cybersecurity, enablers, smart factory, value proposition and customer ...experience.•Industry 4.0 implementation measured in a sample of Portuguese companies from several economic sectors.•A maturity index is derived through a four-step methodology.•Firms are adapting to the 4th IR by developing the respective value chain upon technological resources and capabilities.
The present study presents an Industry 4.0 measurement model that is applied to a sample of Portuguese companies from several economic sectors beyond manufacturing. An Industry 4.0 measurement scale is developed through a three-step methodology that relies on a mixed-methods approach. Five constructs are identified from literature, together with respective measurement indicators: IT strategy and cybersecurity, enablers, smart factory, value proposition and customer experience. These constructs are subsequently deepened in a qualitative study where second order dimensions are identified and the measurement scale is extended and validated. The model is applied in a quantitative study, the conclusions of which suggest some realignment in the initial constructs. Finally, an Industry 4.0 maturity index is derived. Industry 4.0 maturity is measured from the firms' ability to deploy capabilities and resources to impact on the value chain.
Sustainability is a pressing need, as well as an engineering challenge, in the modern world. Developing smart technologies is a critical way to ensure that future manufacturing systems are ...sustainable. Blockchain is a next-generation development of information technology for realizing sustainability in businesses and industries. Much research on blockchain-empowered sustainable manufacturing in Industry 4.0 has been conducted from technical, commercial, organizational, and operational perspectives. This paper surveys how blockchain can overcome potential barriers to achieving sustainability from two perspectives, namely, the manufacturing system perspective and the product lifecycle management perspective. The survey first examines literature on these two perspectives, following which the state of research in blockchain-empowered sustainable manufacturing is presented, which sheds new light on urgent issues as part of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. We found that blockchain-empowered transformation of a sustainable manufacturing paradigm is still in an early stage of the hype phase, proceeding toward full adoption. The survey ends with a discussion of challenges regarding techniques, social barriers, standards, and regulations with respect to blockchain-empowered manufacturing applications. The paper concludes with a discussion of challenges and social barriers that blockchain technology must overcome to demonstrate its sustainability in industrial and business spheres.
•The transparency characteristics enabled by blockchain shows promising for enhancing the sustainability of manufacturing networks.•Twelve metrics of adopting blockchain in the manufacturing sector have been concluded corresponding to nine blocks of the Business Model Canvas.•An overview of social barriers and the challenges of achieving sustainability goal in blockchain-empowered manufacturing applications have been presented.
The interest towards Industry 4.0 is growing since its introduction. The available literature highlights the impacts of Industry 4.0 on the whole supply chain and stress that companies must rethink ...the way they manage their supply chain. Even if the benefits of Industry 4.0 are generally recognized, the latest pandemic Covid-19 has caused disturbances in supply chains. The objective of this paper is to investigate the topic of Industry 4.0 in the pandemic context, highlighting, by means of a case study, its benefits on the supply chain notwithstanding the pandemic. The paper also provides suggestions for future research related to the fields.
•A deep literature review on DT applications in manufacturing is performed.•Rarely a DT environment offers a large set of services to the real system.•Almost never a DT share the elaborated analysis ...to the real counterpart.•A DT application is proposed in a Simulink environment to overcome these gaps.•The illustrated DT poses the basis for further improvements.
In the Industry 4.0 era, the Digital Twin (DT), virtual copies of the system that are able to interact with the physical counterparts in a bi-directional way, seem to be promising enablers to replicate production systems in real time and analyse them. A DT should be capable to guarantee well-defined services to support various activities such as monitoring, maintenance, management, optimization and safety. Through an analysis of the current picture of manufacturing and a literature review about the already existing DT environment, this paper identifies what is still missing in the implemented DT to be compliant to their description in literature. Particular focuses of this paper are the degree of integration of the proposed DT with the control of the physical system, in particular with the Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) when the production system is based on the Automation Pyramid, and the services offered from these environments, comparing them to the reference ones.
This paper proposes also a practical implementation of a DT in a MES equipped assembly laboratory line of the School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano. The application has been created to pose the basis to overcome the missing implementation aspects found in literature. In such a way, the developed DT paves the way for future research to close the loop between the MES and the DT taking into consideration the number of services that a DT could offer in a single environment.
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