Abstract
Today’s society is becoming aware that a new economic model of production and consumption must take into account its environmental and social impact. Industries are under increasing pressure from stakeholders to be transparent in reporting the environmental and social impacts of their operations. In this context, sustainable manufacturing must minimize negative environmental impacts and consumption of energy and natural resources, while also being socially responsible and economically viable. That is why the sustainable manufacturing concept is gaining increasing attention both in the research community and in organizations, especially in the industrial sector. However, even today, there is a great diversity of interpretations and ideas associated with this term. Accordingly, this article first presents an overview of the main concepts related to sustainable manufacturing, and metrics to evaluate organizations’ sustainability performance, and then an outlook of current trends. Our work highlights the consistencies and inconsistencies in the research community related to the interpretations of sustainable manufacturing and Industry 4.0, as well as the lack of consensus about the true social impact of Industry 4.0. However, the positive ecological and economic impacts of sustainable manufacturing seem fairly widespread. In this way, sustainable manufacturing practices seem to be reinforced by initiatives within the fourth stage of industrialization – the so-called Industry 4.0 – which offers great opportunities for sustainable manufacturing, thanks to digital transformation.
Highlights
Theoretical contextWithin the broad field of sustainability, the concept of sustainable manufacturing (SM) is gaining increasing attention in the research community and has moved beyond it to gain wide acceptance in business and especially in industry.even today, there is a great diversity of interpretations and ideas associated with this term
Taking into account the influence that technological advances have in the evolution of this framework, this review provides a temporary perspective of evolution of the concepts and theories shaping this field of knowledge
SM is a broad concept that is gaining increasing attention in the research community and has moved beyond academia to gain a wide acceptance in organizations, especially in the industrial sector
Summary
Within the broad field of sustainability, the concept of sustainable manufacturing (SM) is gaining increasing attention in the research community and has moved beyond it to gain wide acceptance in business and especially in industry. With respect to the ecological part, there are several authors who assure us that Industry 4.0 helps to reduce the generation of waste through its recycling and energy use.[33] For example, the incorporation of different types of sensors throughout the life cycle of products allows for greater transparency of operations and provides intelligence to the processes so that, in turn, they can develop specific performance criteria to mitigate the negative effects on the environment without damaging competitiveness through the possibility of simulation offered by new technologies.[110,111] In parallel, this type of system allows the losses generated throughout the entire process to be reduced (e.g. in the food industry), thanks to this greater transparency throughout the supply chain.[112] the design of new products directly benefits from the interconnection of data, favouring intelligent programming of tasks and processes, as well as efficient management of energy consumption for example.[112,113]. The use of virtual reality helps train workers at a low cost, and improves the safety of workers in the industry because it is done in completely safe environments
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