Mobile supply chain management in the Industry 4.0 era

Supply chain quality management 4.0: conceptual and maturity frameworks

Purpose

The research objective is rooted in the principle of providing new insights and a collective perspective regarded as Supply Chain Quality Management 4.0 (SCQM4.0), an integration of all three concepts – Industrie 4.0, quality management and supply chain management.

Design/methodology/approach

A thorough review of historical developments and existing integration trends among Industrie 4.0, quality and supply chain approaches along with future research directions outlined in the main literature, was conducted. This work establishes a knowledge base on research topics, issues of integration and synergies with a concentration on the potential for deeper integration with supply chain operations.

Findings

This article not only introduced the term SCQM4.0 and proposed a definition for it, but also contributed a novel conceptual SCQM4.0 framework and evolutionary perspective through the SCQM4.0 maturation model. Stemming from the gaps, opportunities and benefits identified in the literature, the conceptual SCQM4.0 framework builds on the high potential of the SCQM4.0 constructs to achieve successful governance and implementation. Under the SCQM4.0 maturity framework, it provides a clear evolutionary path underpinned by the SCQM4.0 constructs.

Research limitations/implications

In the effort toward a successful SCQM4.0 implementation, the proposed SCQM4.0 maturity frameworks will be a “road map” for businesses to develop fully and actively in supply chain operations, bringing quality products and services for the company. Industry practitioners are encouraged to perform gap analysis and direct the implementation of the strategy to establish an excellent SCQM4.0.

Originality/value

This is one of the pioneering studies integrating all three concepts (Industrie 4.0, quality management and supply chain management), connecting the link and discovering more synergies to support the future development of more holistic management models. SCQM4.0 is expected to expand on the strengths, synergies and established relationships between technologies 4.0, quality and supply chain, contributing toward a pioneering and quality supply chain.

COVID-19 Pandemic Waves: 4IR Technology Utilisation in Multi-Sector Economy

In this paper, we reviewed the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies applied to waves of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). COVID-19 is an existential threat that has resulted in an unprecedented loss of lives, disruption of flight schedules, shutdown of businesses and much more. Though several researchers have highlighted the enormous benefits of 4IR technologies in containing the COVID-19 pandemic, the recent waves of the pandemic call for a thorough review of these technological interventions. The cyber-physical space has had its share of the COVID-19 pandemic effect, and through this review, we highlight the salient issues to help policy formulation towards managing the impact of subsequent COVID-19 waves within such environments. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to review the application of 4IR technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic waves and to highlight their shortcomings. Recent research articles were sourced from an online repository and thoroughly reviewed to highlight 4IR technology applications, innovations, shortcomings and multi-sector challenges. The outcome of this review indicates that the second wave of the pandemic resulted in a lower proportion of patients requiring invasive mechanical ventilation and a lower rate of thrombotic events. In addition, it was revealed that the delay between ICU admissions and tracheal intubation was longer in the second wave in the health care sector. Again, the review suggests that 4IR technologies have been utilized across all the sectors including education, businesses, society, manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture and mining. Businesses have revised their service delivery models to include 4IR technologies and avoid physical contacts. In society, digital certificates, among other digital platforms, have been utilized to assist with the movements of persons who have been vaccinated. Manufacturing concerns have also utilized robots in manufacturing to reduce human-to-human physical contact. The mining sector has automated their work processes, utilising smart boots to prevent infection, smart health bands and smart disinfection tunnels or walkthrough sanitization gates in the mining work environment. However, the identified challenges of implementing 4IR technologies include low-skilled workers, data privacy issues, data analysis poverty, data management issues and many more. The boom in 4IR technologies calls for intense legislation on sweeping data privacy for regulated tech companies. These findings hold salient implications for policy formulation towards tackling future pandemic outbreaks.

The role of digital economy in China's sustainable development in a post-pandemic environment

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic is still raging, which calls for an exploration of how to prevent and control pandemics to promote sustainable development. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of the digital economy in sustainable development, the relationship between the two, the impacts of the outbreak on economic and social development, and changes in China's digital economy.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used the time-series data from 2002 to 2019 and an unconstrained VAR model to examine the relationship between the digital economy and sustainable development before the pandemic.

Findings

China's digital economy has promoted the country's sustainable economic and social development; it has advanced rapid economic growth, improved people's living standards, increased efficient utilization of resources, and strengthened environmental protection.

Research limitations/implications

Amid the pandemic, China's digital economy developed effectively; it showed strong resilience because of its unique advantages. The digital economy in China has helped the country to control the pandemic in a short period, reduced the risk of supply chain disruption, promoted China's economic growth, and ensured the orderly operation of society. Therefore, countries worldwide are encouraged to prioritize their digital economies.

Originality/value

Compared with the extant literature, this study explores the sustainable supply chain in a broader sense in the context of a pandemic, and how the supply chain is influenced by the digital economy. It not only includes the stability, resilience, and viability of the supply chain in economic development but also involves aspects of people's life, resource utilization, and environmental protection.

Industry 4.0: technology spillover impact on digital manufacturing industry

Purpose

Under the guidance of the concept of openness and development, the paper grasps the mechanism of technology spillover in developed countries and analyzes how to better absorb advanced manufacturing technology based on empirical analysis so as to point out the path for the transformation and development of China’s digital manufacturing industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper constructs the panel data model and further analyzes the impact of international technology spillovers on the transformation and development of the digital manufacturing industry.

Findings

This paper measures the level of technology spillover in the Yangtze River Delta region and finds that foreign direct investment (FDI) technology spillover and import trade technology spillover among four provinces and cities show a growth trend from 2010 to 2017. But after 2017, there is a certain degree of decline.

Originality/value

With the advent of industry 4.0, the digital manufacturing industry of all countries in the world is developing with a new attitude, the global technology spillover methods are diverse and the spillover channels have changed greatly, which will affect the transformation and upgrading of China's digital manufacturing industry.

Smart Learning Technologization in the Economy 5.0—The Polish Perspective

Contemporary higher education is gradually transforming. Meetings of teachers and students from lecture halls are increasingly moving into the digital space of the Internet, adopting the formula of distance learning. The advent of Society 5.0 and Economy 5.0 will imply further changes. The necessity to integrate the real and virtual world, increased demand for information, limited time resources, and the need to combine professional work with education will cause higher education, in order to prepare future citizens to function in the area of sharing resources, to be forced to further adaptive transformations. The subject of this article is the analysis of the impact of technology on changes in higher education with an indication of the model of future paths of education in the Economy 5.0 trend. The source of the article was exploratory research of secondary sources, including books, articles, and reports, which were subjected to a critical analysis of the content. The obtained results made it possible to design and implement an explanatory study among students based on the CAWI methodology. The collected material became the basis for the authors to prepare a proposal for a model of future educational paths in accordance with the Economy 5.0 trend in which the flexibility of place and time, customization of the offer, cooperation, adaptability of teaching methods and instruments, and the proactive role of the teacher as a mentor and trainer constitute a set of set guidelines in the teaching model of the future. This model will be able to be used by universities and training institutions in the field of professionalization of the management of teaching and organizational processes.

Applying Industry 4.0 technologies in the COVID–19 sustainable chains

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is 1) to investigate the effects on the crucial Industry 4.0 technological innovations that interact between the real and virtual worlds and that are applied in the sustainable supply chain process; 2) to contribute to the identification of the opportunities, the challenges and the gaps that will support the new research study developments and 3) to analyze the impact of the Industry 4.0 technologies as facilitators of the sustainable supply chain performance in the midst of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Design/methodology/approach

This research is performed through a bibliographic review in the electronic databases of the Emerald Insight, the Scopus and the Web of Science, considering the main scientific publications on the subject.

Findings

The bibliographic search results in 526 articles, followed by two sequential filters for deleting the duplicate articles (resulting in 487 articles) and for selecting the most relevant articles (resulting in 150 articles).

Practical implications

This article identifies the opportunities and the challenges focused on the emerging Industry 4.0 theme. The opportunities can contribute to the sustainable performance of the supply chains and their territories. The Industry 4.0 can also generate challenges like the social inequalities related to the position of the man in the labor market by replacing the human workforce with the machines. Therefore, the man-machine relationship in the Industry 4.0 era is analyzed as a gap in the literature. Therefore, as a way to fill this gap, the authors of this article suggest the exploration of the research focused on the Society 5.0. Also known as “super-smart society,” this recent theme appeared in Japan in April 2016. According to Fukuda (2020), in addition to the focus on the technological development, the Society 5.0 also aims at the quality of life and the social challenge resolutions.

Originality/value

This article contributes to the analysis of the Industry 4.0 technologies as facilitators in the sustainable supply chain performance. It addresses the impacts of the Industry 4.0 technologies applied to the supply chains in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it analyzes the research gaps and limitations found in the literature. The result of this study can add value and stimulate new research studies related to the application of the Industry 4.0 technologies as facilitators in the supply chain sustainable performance. It can encourage the studies related to the COVID-19 impacts on the sustainable supply chains, and it can promote the research development on the relationship among the man, the machine and the labor in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The Role of Open Innovation and Value Co-creation in the Challenging Transition from Industry 4.0 to Society 5.0: Toward a Theoretical Framework

Advanced manufacturing solutions, augmented reality, and cloud and big data are technologies pertaining to Industry 4.0. These technologies improve working conditions, create new business models, and increase both productivity and firm quality production. However, they can also improve life and society as a whole. This new perspective, oriented toward social and global well-being, is called Society 5.0. As has happened for all past industrial revolutions, Industry 4.0 will support the transition to a different society, i.e., Society 5.0. In this transition, open innovation and value co-creation can play an important role. The aim of the study was twofold: to examine how Industry 4.0 features and enabling technologies can support the transition to Society 5.0 and to investigate the roles of both open innovation and value co-creation within this transition. A conceptual framework was developed to jointly consider for the first time Industry 4.0, Society 5.0, open innovation, and value co-creation, which are all challenging issues that firms must cope with nowadays. Managers could profit from these insights to design ad hoc strategies in order to benefit from the opportunities emerging from this transition and overcome the main related challenges.

Taxonomy of organizational alignment: implications for data-driven sustainable performance of firms and supply chains

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify, characterize, classify and conceptualize different perspectives on strategic alignment still in use, propose a taxonomy and definitions that allow understanding the various coexisting concepts, as well as investigate the implications of strategic alignment for data-driven sustainable performance of firms and supply chains.

Design/methodology/approach

Bibliographic review was used.

Findings

The taxonomy proposes two classes of strategic alignment: (1) Align – more rigorous types of alignment: structure alignment, strategic congruence and strategy alignment; (2) Fit – less rigorous types of alignment: contingency strategic adjustment, strategic coalignment and strategic consistency. Companies are accumulating large amounts of data, which relevance varies widely. The strategic alignment can define criteria to select only the data that have strategic value, which restricts the amount of data to be analyzed. Each of the six types of strategic alignment is appropriate for a given situation in companies and/or supply chains.

Research limitations/implications

The limitations stem from the exclusive use of the taxonomy of strategic alignment, without considering the most diverse perspectives of strategy.

Practical implications

Decision makers will be able to identify more objectively which classes of data should be explored in each situation.

Social implications

Theoretical implications – The taxonomy proposal and the definition of each of the strategic alignment perspectives solve generalized misunderstandings resulting from the lack of a clear delimitation between the perspectives and the conceptual divergence between authors, who use them as equivalent or synonymous.

Originality/value

From 1961 to 2019, no paper was found proposing taxonomy, typology, systematization, ranking, distribution or classification of strategic alignment. The strategic alignment can define criteria to select, within the large amount of data accumulated by the company, only those that have strategic value, what restricts the quantity of data to be analyzed and facilitates the decision of the leaders.

A proposed sustainable and digital collection and classification center model to manage e-waste in emerging economies

Purpose

This study aims to propose an electronic waste collection and classification system to enhance social, environmental and economic sustainability by integrating data-driven technologies in emerging economies.

Design/methodology/approach

GM (1, 1) model under grey prediction is used in this study in order to estimate the trend of the amount of collected electronic waste in emerging economies.

Findings

It is revealed that the amount of collected electronic waste is increasing day by day, and within the framework of sustainability in the process of collecting and classification of electronic waste, digital technologies were found to be lacking. It has been determined that this deficiency, together with the increasing amount of electronic waste, has caused environmental, social and economic damage to emerging economies.

Originality/value

The main originality of this study is integrating electronic waste collection and classification processes with data-driven technologies and sustainability, which is a relatively new subject.

Fit to Work in the Business Models of the Industry 4.0 Age

Global competition, the requirements of sustainable development, building an innovative economy or Industry 4.0 develop the need for changing or creating new legacy business models. Competencies adequate to new working possibilities play a significant role in these changes. The key role played here is the assessment of fit to work in the Industry 4.0. The purpose of the paper is to analyze fit to work in business models using the features and elements of Industry 4.0. There are specific antecedences identified for creating and changing business models in the aspect of implementing Industry 4.0, with particular attention paid to the meaning of competencies and their adaptation for the 4.0 requirements. Quantitative studies have been performed on a sample of 472 employees of Industry 4.0 in three countries: Germany, Poland and Slovakia. Theoretical and empirical considerations use the four-factor model differentiating the supplementary and complementary fit, organizational identification and satisfaction from work.

Influences of the Industry 4.0 Revolution on the Human Capital Development and Consumer Behavior: A Systematic Review

Automation and digitalization, as long-term evolutionary processes, cause significant effects, such as the transformation of occupations and job profiles, changes to employment forms, and a more significant role for the platform economy, generating challenges for social policy. This systematic literature review aims to provide an overview of the research to date related to influences of the Industry 4.0 Revolution on human capital development and consumer behavior. A search on the Web of Science identified 160 papers that met the inclusion criteria. The major objectives aimed to identify: the main types of influences of the Industry 4.0 Revolution on human capital development and consumer behavior; the main opportunities and challenges for new directions in education associated with shifting the work environment; and the drivers for human capital development and consumer behavior through the lenses of the Industry 4.0 Revolution. The results revealed some key aspects for the development of human capital: information, new jobs, the Internet, technology, training, education, new skills, automation, communication, innovativeness, professionals, productivity, artificial intelligence, digitalization, e-recruitment, and the Internet of Things, as well as the main drivers of consumer behavior: information, e-commerce, digitalization, the Internet of Things, e-distribution, technology, digitalization, automation, personalized, performance, artificial intelligence, behavior intention, e-shopping, and data mining.

Quantifying the sustainability of Bitcoin and Blockchain

Purpose

The authors develop new quantitative methods to estimate the level of speculation and long-term sustainability of Bitcoin and Blockchain.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors explore the practical application of speculative bubble models to cryptocurrencies. They then show how the approach can be extended to provide estimated brand values using data from Google Trends.

Findings

The authors confirm previous findings of speculative bubbles in cryptocurrency markets. Relatedly, Google searches for cryptocurrencies seem to be primarily driven by recent price rises. Overall results are sufficient to question the long-term sustainability of Bitcoin with the suggestion that Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Ripple may all enjoy technical advantages relative to Bitcoin. Our results also demonstrate that Blockchain has a distinct value and identity beyond cryptocurrencies – providing foundational support for the second generation of academic work on Blockchain. However, a relatively low estimated long-term growth rate suggests that the benefits of Blockchain may take a long time to be fully realised.

Originality/value

The authors contribute to an emerging academic literature on Blockchain and to a more established literature exploring the use of Google data within business analytics. Their original contribution is to quantify the business value of Blockchain and related technologies using Google Trends

Cassandra-based data repository design for food supply chain traceability

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to design a supply chain database schema for Cassandra to store real-time data generated by Radio Frequency IDentification technology in a traceability system.

Design/methodology/approach

The real-time data generated in such traceability systems are of high frequency and volume, making it difficult to handle by traditional relational database technologies. To overcome this difficulty, a NoSQL database repository based on Casandra is proposed. The efficacy of the proposed schema is compared with two such databases, document-based MongoDB and column family-based Cassandra, which are suitable for storing traceability data.

Findings

The proposed Cassandra-based data repository outperforms the traditional Structured Query Language-based and MongoDB system from the literature in terms of concurrent reading, and works at par with respect to writing and updating of tracing queries.

Originality/value

The proposed schema is able to store the real-time data generated in a supply chain with low latency. To test the performance of the Cassandra-based data repository, a test-bed is designed in the lab and supply chain operations of Indian Public Distribution System are simulated to generate data.

Additive Manufacturing Applications in Industry 4.0: A Review

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a set of technologies and are vital to fulfilling different requirements of Industry 4.0. So, there is a need to study different additive manufacturing applications toward its achievement. From the Scopus database, different research articles on “Industry 4.0” and “additive manufacturing applications in Industry 4.0” are identified and studied through a bibliometric analysis. It shows that there is an increasing trend of publications in this new area. Industry 4.0 has entered new markets which focus on customer delight by adding values in product and services. It supports automation, interoperability, actionable insights and information transparency. There are different components vital to implement Industry 4.0 requirements. Through this extensive literature review based work, we identified different components of Industry 4.0 and explained the critical ones briefly. Finally, 13 important AM applications in Industry 4.0 are identified. The main limitation of the AM manufactured part is of comparable low strength and associated quality, coupled with a high cost of the printing machine system. In this upcoming industrial revolution, AM is a crucial technology which has become the main component of product innovation and development. This disruptive technology can fulfil different challenges in the future manufacturing system and help the industry to produce innovative products. For this futuristic manufacturing system, additive manufacturing is an upcoming paradigm, and Industry 4.0 will use its potential to achieve required goals.

Industry 4.0 in Management Studies: A Systematic Literature Review

Recent developments in production processes and their automation have led to the definition of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, commonly known as “Industry 4.0”. Industry 4.0 is a very broad domain that includes: production processes, efficiency, data management, relationship with consumers, competitiveness, and much more. At the same time, obviously, Industry 4.0 has become a new theme for management scholars and business economics disciplines and a number of contributions covering various issues and aspects have been published. However, a systematic formulation of all these contributions is still lacking in management literature. Therefore, the aim of the paper is to analyze and classify the main contributions published on the topic of Industry 4.0 in management literature, seeking to give it a unique definition, discover the gaps still remaining in literature and outline future avenues of research in this domain. A systematic review of the literature of the major academic and research databases has been used as methodology to achieve the aim of the paper. This work contributes theoretically to the development of literature on Industry 4.0 and from a managerial perspective it could support entrepreneurs in better understanding the implications and fields of application of the Fourth Industrial Revolution as well as the interplay among them.