Abstract
This study draws attention to the upcoming changes within sustainable value chains and manufacturing environments caused by the digital transformation. With a special focus on Industry 4.0 (I4.0), the presented study explores the scientific progress within this research field. A systematic literature review approach using a set of predefined keywords and with several exclusion criteria was adopted in order to identify the literature that is related to sustainability in I4.0 and its impact in the area of production and operations management (P&OM). A total of 89 papers from the period 2010–2020 were identified, which were then examined along the lines of the most influential journals, key topics of the selected literature, geographical distribution, and sustainability dimensions. The analysis was executed via bibliometric and text mapping tools, namely NVivo and BibExcel. Furthermore, a focus group discussion with experts from European semiconductor manufacturing companies and researchers from several academic institutions was conducted to derive practical insights. The results of this study will contribute to the evaluation of sustainable I4.0 innovations from the past 10 years. The key issues and research gaps identified in this article will provide a reference point to encourage and guide interested researchers for future studies, thus supporting both theoretical and practical progress in this research area.
Highlights
The trend towards an increasingly digitally transformed manufacturing environment is an emerging topic for researchers and practitioners of different fields [1,2]
Digital technological development can be considered as a resource, but I4.0 is more than just a development in technology; it is a value-creating strategy, which enhances and sustains a firm’s competitive advantage [5,9]
We considered different indexes such as the Science Citation Index—Expanded (SCIE), Social Science Citation Index (SSCI), Arts & Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), and the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), and we investigated journals that are listed in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR)-ranking list, which resulted in a total of 150 articles
Summary
The trend towards an increasingly digitally transformed manufacturing environment is an emerging topic for researchers and practitioners of different fields [1,2]. I4.0 is intended to contribute to the redirection of resources into the core competencies of a company in order to sustain competitive advantages [5,6,7]. Digital technological development can be considered as a resource, but I4.0 is more than just a development in technology; it is a value-creating strategy, which enhances and sustains a firm’s competitive advantage [5,9]. This is achieved by transforming existing resources and skills into core capabilities and by simultaneously introducing new ones that are rare, inimitable, and not substitutable [5]. Kagermann [10] outlined that I4.0 follows a fusion of the virtual and the physical world in order to ensure energy and resource efficiency, improvement, and innovation in productivity as well enhancement of the frequency of the time-to-market cycle [10]
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