Sustainable Process and Product Innovation in the Eyewear Sector: The Role of Industry 4.0 Enabling Technologies

Federica Murmura,Gilberto Santos,Laura Bravi

doi:10.3390/su13010365

Federica Murmura, Gilberto Santos + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010365

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Abstract

This paper aims to provide the reader with an organic view of the eyewear sector considering both market and quality aspects and evaluating the role of Industry 4.0 in process and product innovation for managing consumer health, analyzing a case study of a leading multinational company in the eyewear and ophthalmic lenses sector. The research has been developed with a qualitative approach. The study is a conceptual development and it uses an exploratory interview to create a single case study. The case study was developed with the realization by the researcher of a semi-structured interview. The selected interlocutor was the Innovation Manager of Alpha Optics. It has been decided to focus the attention on this figure, as it was responsible for the realization and introduction into the company of Industry 4.0 enabling technologies for developing health innovations. From this case study it was possible to observe how the connection with the trends that influence the demand for eyeglasses is a driving factor for product innovation. Products increasingly adapted to the needs of young people and the use of digital devices seem to be the ones on which the greatest number of innovations are concentrated.

Highlights

The constant technological innovations, their rapid diffusion and application in various fields are radically changing the global economic scenario
This paper aims to provide the reader with an organic view of the eyewear market considering both market and quality aspects in the eyewear sector, evaluating the role of Industry 4.0 in process and product innovation for managing consumer health, analyzing a case study of a leading multinational company in the eyewear and ophthalmic lenses sector, that for privacy reasons will be called Alpha Optics
The case study allowed for examining in depth the role of Industry 4.0 technologies in product and process innovations, considering among the identified enabling technologies, which and how many are used by a company active in the eyewear sector, what role they play in product and processes innovation and how they change the physiognomy of a company [33]

Summary

Introduction

The constant technological innovations, their rapid diffusion and application in various fields are radically changing the global economic scenario. Argue that the digitalization of the manufacturing system represents the third industrial revolution, others, on the other hand, claim that changes in manufacturing have gone further and that for speed and impact they represent a new revolution, contributing to the birth of a fourth industrial revolution [1] National governments embraced this last perspective and have taken steps to launch special plans that could support the so-called Industry 4.0 [2]. This term indicates a process generated by technological transformations in the design, production and distribution of manufacturing systems and products, aimed at automated and interconnected industrial production. From this definition it can be understood how the physiognomy of companies is changing considerably, gradually abandoning their Fordist character, and moving towards a new business configuration: that of a Smart Industry [3]

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