Industry 4.0 technologies: Implementation patterns in manufacturing companies

A comparative literature analysis of definitions for green and sustainable supply chain management

The purpose of this paper is to conduct a state-of-the-art review of the ongoing research on the Industry 4.0 phenomenon, highlight its key design principles and technology trends, identify its architectural design and offer a strategic roadmap that can serve manufacturers as a simple guide for the process of Industry 4.0 transition.,The study performs a systematic and content-centric review of literature based on a six-stage approach to identify key design principles and technology trends of Industry 4.0. The study further benefits from a comprehensive content analysis of the 178 documents identified, both manually and via IBM Watson’s natural language processing for advanced text analysis.,Industry 4.0 is an integrative system of value creation that is comprised of 12 design principles and 14 technology trends. Industry 4.0 is no longer a hype and manufacturers need to get on board sooner rather than later.,The strategic roadmap presented in this study can serve academicians and practitioners as a stepping stone for development of a detailed strategic roadmap for successful transition from traditional manufacturing into the Industry 4.0. However, there is no one-size-fits-all strategy that suits all businesses or industries, meaning that the Industry 4.0 roadmap for each company is idiosyncratic, and should be devised based on company’s core competencies, motivations, capabilities, intent, goals, priorities and budgets.,The first step for transitioning into the Industry 4.0 is the development of a comprehensive strategic roadmap that carefully identifies and plans every single step a manufacturing company needs to take, as well as the timeline, and the costs and benefits associated with each step. The strategic roadmap presented in this study can offer as a holistic view of common steps that manufacturers need to undertake in their transition toward the Industry 4.0.,The study is among the first to identify, cluster and describe design principles and technology trends that are building blocks of the Industry 4.0. The strategic roadmap for Industry 4.0 transition presented in this study is expected to assist contemporary manufacturers to understand what implementing the Industry 4.0 really requires of them and what challenges they might face during the transition process.

https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JMTM-02-2018-0057/full/pdf

The future of manufacturing industry: a strategic roadmap toward Industry 4.0

How do scholars approach the circular economy? A systematic literature review

This work makes a case for the integration of the increasingly popular and largely separate topics of Industry 4.0 and the circular economy (CE). The paper extends the state-of-the-art literature by proposing a pioneering roadmap to enhance the application of CE principles in organisations by means of Industry 4.0 approaches. Advanced and digital manufacturing technologies are able to unlock the circularity of resources within supply chains; however, the connection between CE and Industry 4.0 has not so far been explored. This article therefore contributes to the literature by unveiling how different Industry 4.0 technologies could underpin CE strategies, and to organisations by addressing those technologies as a basis for sustainable operations management decision-making. The main results of this work are: (a) a discussion on the mutually beneficial relationship between Industry 4.0 and the CE; (b) an in-depth understanding of the potential contributions of smart production technologies to the ReSOLVE model of CE business models; (c) a research agenda for future studies on the integration between Industry 4.0 and CE principles based on the most relevant management theories.

Industry 4.0 and the circular economy: a proposed research agenda and original roadmap for sustainable operations

This chapter aims to reveal the geographies of E-waste flows at global and national levels based on waste statistics data and thematic cartography. Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) management practices are examined for each major geographical area respectively: Europe, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, South America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Pollution and public health threats associated with improper E-waste management practices is a crucial environmental issue, particularly in emerging economies. Generation, collection, treatment, recycling, and recovery activities of WEEE are analyzed within each geographical area. The formal and informal sectors are further investigated, discussing the gaps and different prospects in development of sustainable E-waste management systems across developing and developed countries.

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02276468/document

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE): Flows, Quantities, and Management—A Global Scenario

In recent years, increasing attention from both industries and research has been focused on carbon capture and, subsequently, storage technologies. These technologies will contribute to companies’ strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from fossils fuels. However, less effort has been spent on evaluating another interesting option after carbon capture: carbon utilisation or reuse. A feasibility study regarding an Italian industrial district is discussed: the district is characterised by the nearby locations of a CO2 producer (i.e. an natural gas combined cycle power plant) and a CO2 user (i.e. a sugar factory). The annual average CO2 emission by the power plant is about 1.7 million tonnes. Under current conditions the sugar factory ‘produces’ CO2 to use it in the sugar refining process; thus, the idea is to evaluate the feasibility of capturing CO2 emitted from the power plant and reusing it in the sugar factory process from both a technological and an economic point of view. The results indicated a cost saving of about 42% in the operational costs of the sugar factory due to the introduction of the carbon reuse technology.

Carbon capture and reuse in an industrial district: A technical and economic feasibility study

Using a sample of 29 virtual clusters, the paper examines new sources of clustering in the digital economy. The “virtual cluster” phenomenon highlights the most significant effect of the development of the information and communication technologies in the business environment. A virtual cluster is conceived as an e‐business community, made up of customers, suppliers, distributors and commerce providers sharing digital and knowledge networks for collaboration and competition. The purpose of this paper is to set out the characteristics of a new competitive space, in which a strategic role is played by virtual processes among partners, and to review the traditional sources of clustering in the digital economy environment (Romano et al., 1999). More specifically, this paper attempts to show the emerging overlap between digital and knowledge networks, which generates a new competitive space within a new global‐virtual learning environment. Finally, assuming that traditional sources of clustering are generally identified in specialisation (based on a sophisticated division of labour) and geographic proximity, the paper discusses how the role of organisational proximity acts as a substitute for geographic proximity in supporting coordination and tacit knowledge exchange. As it emerges from the analysis of our cases, from a managerial point of view, organisational proximity may be achieved through the implementation of supply chain management (SCM) and customer relationship management (CRM) strategies. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 23rd Institute of Small Business Affairs Annual Resource and Policy Conference in November 1999 in Leeds, UK.

Valerio Elia

Papers

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE): Flows, Quantities, and Management—A Global Scenario

Carbon capture and reuse in an industrial district: A technical and economic feasibility study

New sources of clustering in the digital economy

Evaluating the adoption of circular economy practices in industrial supply chains: An empirical analysis

Improving logistic efficiency of WEEE collection through dynamic scheduling using simulation modeling