In May 1989, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Governing Council asked UNEP to promote the establishment of a network to “allow the transfer of an environmental protection strategy”. This was prompted by a growing realization that the cost of dealing with pollution resulting from human activities, particularly in industry and agriculture, after it has been generated (the so-called end-of-pipe approach) has been increasing dramatically over the years since the Stockholm Conference of 1972. A new approach now emphasized that, rather than wait until pollution is generated, it would be more sensible to attempt to prevent it in the first place. As thinking moved along these lines, the investigation extended to consider other issues not looked into so far. These covered product design, the materials used to produce it, the production processes, and even the very social environment that created demand for such a product or service. It also became clear that we must continue along this path, always doing better than before, up to the theoretical ideal of zero pollution. The strategy of cleaner production (note the ‘er’ in cleaner, and the use of production rather than technology or product) formulated by UNEP to articulate this new approach was launched in a conference in Canterbury in 1990. The strategy is now adopted worldwide and applied in different ways, having shown a remarkable ability to interface and/or assimilate many of the ideas that developed over the last decade or so in environmental management.

「Cleaner Production国際会議」に参加して

In order to meet the increasingly complex expectations of customers, many companies must increase efficiency and agility. In this sense, Industry 4.0 technologies offer significant opportunities for improving both operational and decision-making processes. These developments make it possible to consider an increase in the level of operational systems and teams’ autonomy. However, the potential for strengthening the decision-making process by means of these new technologies remains unclear in the current literature. To fill this gap, a Delphi study using the Régnier Abacus technique was conducted with a representative panel of 24 experts. The novelty of this study was to identify and characterize the potential for enhancing the overall decision-making process with the main Industry 4.0 groups of technologies. Our results show that cloud computing appears as a backbone to enhance the entire decision-making process. However, certain technologies, such as IoT and simulation, have a strong potential for only specific steps within the decision-making process. This research also provides a first vision of the manager’s perspectives, expectations, and risks associated with implementing new modes of decision-making and cyber-autonomy supported by Industry 4.0 technologies. 

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Enhancing the Decision-Making Process through Industry 4.0 Technologies

The industrial impacts on the environment need to be minimized to reduce climate change, which will benefit human beings. Industry 4.0, the new production paradigm, promises productivity gains for companies that manage to implement it, but it is also dependent on natural resources, impacting the environment. The aim of this study is to identify and analyze possible cleaner production strategies associated with Industry 4.0 to optimize manufacturing systems in Industry 4.0 implementation projects, in addition to reducing the environmental impacts of these companies. Through a literature search, cleaner production strategies associated with Industry 4.0 were identified and classified into ten dimensions (strategy, waste, recycling, life cycle, resources, energy, production, work, performance and environment) contributing to the theory. The possibilities of using Industry 4.0 technologies were analyzed to meet each dimension. The relevance of this study lies in presenting possibilities for using and developing technologies and applications to meet these dimensions of cleaner production and helping those involved in Industry 4.0 projects to implement it more stably, contributing to the theory and practice.

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Industry 4.0 Implementation Projects: The Cleaner Production Strategy—A Literature Review


Purpose
Construction industry (CI) has great prominence for the world economy, and it is expected that, with the use of the innovative technologies and approaches of Industry 4.0 (I4.0), the new industrial paradigm, construction can reach higher levels of productivity. This study aims to develop a model (readiness model) to assess the level of use of I4.0 technologies by the construction sector in Brazil and its most relevant applications.


Design/methodology/approach
The methodology used was bibliographic research, design-science research and a survey to validate the model, carried out with 162 companies, considered among the main ones in the sector in Brazil. The literature review revealed 13 technologies of I4.0 applied to construction; hence, the views of industry experts were based on these technologies.


Findings
The Digital Advancement Within CoNstruction (DAWN) readiness model was proposed, showing that among the 13 evaluated technologies of I4.0 and their applications, the Brazilian construction companies had a low level of utilization; both high and middle-income companies presented this low level of use; some technologies with a greater number of scientific publications were less used in practice in the Brazilian construction.


Originality/value
The originality and theoretical contribution are to present a readiness model to assess the level of use of I4.0 technologies and their most relevant applications in the CI in countries with an economy similar to Brazil’s, making it possible to measure the level of adoption of these technologies.


The DAWN readiness model to assess the level of use of Industry 4.0 technologies in the construction industry in Brazil

Vantagens econômicas e ambientais resultantes da aplicação do projeto para o meio ambiente (DfE)

Although Industry 4.0 has received much attention in recent years due to the possibility of increasing companies’ productivity, the implementation process is complex. The aim of this study is to present a holistic model for implementing Industry 4.0 based on cleaner production as a fundamental tool for the development of production systems that meet the Sustainable Development 04026-002Goals (SDGs), and social stakeholders that cooperate with this implementation process, helping to develop sustainable infrastructure, processes and technologies to increase the sustainable transformation of these companies towards Industry 4.0. The method used was literature research, and the Delphi technique was used to ask specialists to contribute with their experience to evaluate and propose improvements to the model, in the form of a consensus. The model contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals 9, 12 and 15. This holistic and sustainable model is a contribution to theory and practice, helping executives, technicians, entrepreneurs and those involved with Industry 4.0 to base the implementation process in the needs and specificities of each company, avoiding the “one fits all” models, considering the peculiarities of each company and the complexity of the implementation process in a more efficient and collaborative digital production ecosystems base, seeking to reduce inequalities, through the joint effort of social stakeholders to find ways to restore and/or improve social harmony, impacted by Industry 4.0.

Josiane Lima de Araújo

Papers

Implementing Industry 4.0 through Cleaner Production and Social Stakeholders: Holistic and Sustainable Model

Industry 4.0 Implementation Projects: The Cleaner Production Strategy—A Literature Review