Industry 4.0 adoption for sustainability in multi-tier manufacturing supply chain in emerging economies

Abstract

Achieving sustainable supply chain performance in a multi-tier manufacturing supply chain to curtail the non-environmental-friendly practices is one of the most significant challenges. Industry 4.0 advancements in technology not only fosters sustainable supply chain initiatives that can maximize economic gains but also reduce environmental impacts and contribute to social development. The present study perused a systematic way to deal with this problem by evaluation of drivers and barriers for implementation of Industry 4.0 in multi-tier manufacturing supply chains. Based on practitioner’s opinion, a total of 37 drivers and 21 barriers were identified under five dimensions viz., technological, organizational, economic, environmental, and social, and their inter-relationships were also established in a multi-tier supply chain. The results show that the sustainable aspects, that includes the environmental and social factors, were the highest-ranked drivers and identified as the causal variables. At the same time, organizational and environmental dimensions were identified as the highly ranked barriers and causal factors. The study highlights drivers and barriers to industry 4.0 adoption with the sustainability context in multi-tier manufacturing supply chain. The implications identify the need for developing ethical code and standards between the stakeholders in multi-tier manufacturing supply chain. Theoretical and practical implications are provided for the managers and policymakers