Industry 4.0 and the circular economy: Resource melioration in logistics

Abstract

Mining and mineral resources help provide the requirements of everyday life by contributing to essential products and services. In the era of fourth industrial revolution, the trend in logistics is toward a smart logistics system. Therefore, it becomes essential to understand how Industry 4.0 resources influence smart logistics, i.e., instrumented logistics, interconnected logistics, and intelligent logistics. This study investigates how Industry 4.0 resources impact smart logistics and further influence dynamic remanufacturing and green manufacturing capability and, the final effect on business logistics sustainability. Survey data were collected from 150 respondents using an online survey of South African executives in firms operating mines, quarries, and processing plants. Partial Least Squares based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the hypotheses. The findings indicate that Industry 4.0 resources have a strong effect on intelligent logistics compared to its impact on interconnected logistics and instrumented logistics. The impact of intelligent logistics is found to be very high compared to that of interconnected logistics and instrumented logistics on dynamic remanufacturing and green manufacturing capability. Finally, dynamic remanufacturing and green manufacturing capability are found to have a positive influence business logistics sustainability.