Industry 4.0 within the framework of Supply Chain: a literature review and future research directions

Abstract

Since its introduction on 2013, Industry 4.0 concept has been applied towards the digitalization of the business environment and has been increasingly a favorite topic for academic research. Moreover, the current needs of an out most efficient supply chain within this global and highly competitive world, has set the incorporation of the Industry 4.0 into its structure as a crucial element. The aim of the authors is to examine the progress and identify any research gaps with relevance to scholarly outcomes on Industry 4.0 within the framework of the supply chain. Thus, the authors have systematically reviewed the articles regarding the topic that were published from 2013 and onwards. In this paper, the obtained results from both the generic analysis (e.g. year of publication, subject areas) and the specific one corresponding to four subject areas and the three levels of Industry 4.0 are presented, which can be used as a base for future research agenda in related topics.