Emerging ICT concepts for smart, safe and sustainable industrial systems

Can "new infrastructure" reverse the "growth with pollution" profit growth pattern? An empirical analysis based on listed companies in China

With the increasing severity of environmental regulations, Chinese enterprises are gradually transforming from the profit growth pattern of "growth with pollution" to green development. However, this paper finds that this transformation is not complete. While catering to the national environmental protection governance requirements, some enterprises still persist the profit growth pattern of "growth with pollution." How to solve this problem? By attracting government subsidies, reducing tax burdens, and increasing the proportion of technical personnel employed, we theoretically and empirically demonstrate that the positive effect of "new infrastructure" in accelerating enterprises' transformation away from the profit growth pattern of "growth with pollution" to sustainable development. In the heterogeneity analysis section, we found that in enterprises with higher political correlation, more technical personnel, and lower labor cost, the "new infrastructure" has a stronger restraining effect on the "growth with pollution" pattern.

Industry 4.0 and digital supply chain capabilities

Purpose

The Industry 4.0 phenomenon is bringing unprecedented disruptions for all traditional business models and hastening the need for a redesign and digitisation of activities. In this context, the literature concerning the digital supply chain (DSC) and its capabilities are in the early stages. To bridge this gap, the purpose of this paper is to propose a framework for digital supply chain capabilities (DSCCs).

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses a narrative literature approach, based on the main Industry 4.0 elements, supply chain and the emerging literature concerning DSC disruptions, to build an integrative framework to shed light on DSCCs.

Findings

The study identifies seven basic capabilities that shape the DSCC framework and six main enabler technologies, derived from 13 propositions.

Research limitations/implications

The proposed framework can bring valuable insights for future research development, although it has not been tested yet.

Practical implications

Managers, practitioners and all involved in the digitalisation phenomenon can utilise the framework as a starting point for other business digitalisation projects.

Originality/value

This study contributes to advancing the DSC literature, providing a well-articulated discussion and a framework regarding the capabilities, as well as 13 propositions that can generate valuable insights for other studies.

Industry 4.0 to Accelerate the Circular Economy: A Case Study of Electric Scooter Sharing

To achieve sustainability, the circular economy (CE) concept is challenging traditional linear enterprise models due to the need to manage geographically distributed product life cycle and value chains. Concurrently, Industry 4.0 is being used to bring productivity to higher levels by reducing waste and improving the efficiency of production processes via more precise real-time planning. There is significant potential to combine these two frameworks to enhance the sustainability of manufacturing sectors. This paper discusses the fundamental concepts of Industry 4.0 and explores the influential factors of Industry 4.0 that accelerate the sharing economy in the CE context via a case of electric scooters in Taiwan. The result shows Industry 4.0 can provide an enabling framework for the sharing economy in CE implementation.

A SAP-LAP linkages framework for integrating Industry 4.0 and circular economy

Purpose

In the recent years, the two increasingly popular topics, namely, Industry 4.0 and circular economy (CE) have attracted the attention of many academicians and practitioners. However, the connection between CE and Industry 4.0 has not been much investigated in the literature. Motivated by this gap, the purpose of this paper is to integrate these two streams and attempt to understand the new paradigm of Industry 4.0 for resolving the issues pertaining to CE principles.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses situation, actor, process, learning, action, performance (SAP-LAP) linkages framework to analyze the applications of Industry 4.0 mechanisms in realizing the issues of current CE business models. This is done through the interpretation of the cross-interaction and self-interaction relationships among the different interfaces/elements of SAP-LAP.

Findings

The results suggest that top managers are the most essential actors for integrating the use of Industry 4.0 to achieve sustainability, in the light of CE. In addition, advanced technologies such as Internet of Things and cyber-physical systems are the most important Industry 4.0 actions that help in improving the CE performance parameters.

Research limitations/implications

This qualitative study is an attempt to analyze and assess the strategic issues pertaining to Industry 4.0 standards in CE. The study identifies learnings (challenges/opportunities) and the corrective actions which are imperative toward achieving CE principles. This study will guide managers and policymakers to understand the importance of implementing Industry 4.0 for accomplishing CE principles.

Originality/value

This study integrates two important streams of literature – Industry 4.0 and CE. Thus, this paper offers insights about the importance of Industry 4.0 standards in achieving CE principles.

Contextual Impacts on Industrial Processes Brought by the Digital Transformation of Manufacturing: A Systematic Review

The digital transformation of manufacturing (a phenomenon also known as “Industry 4.0” or “Smart Manufacturing”) is finding a growing interest both at practitioner and academic levels, but is still in its infancy and needs deeper investigation. Even though current and potential advantages of digital manufacturing are remarkable, in terms of improved efficiency, sustainability, customization, and flexibility, only a limited number of companies has already developed ad hoc strategies necessary to achieve a superior performance. Through a systematic review, this study aims at assessing the current state of the art of the academic literature regarding the paradigm shift occurring in the manufacturing settings, in order to provide definitions as well as point out recurring patterns and gaps to be addressed by future research. For the literature search, the most representative keywords, strict criteria, and classification schemes based on authoritative reference studies were used. The final sample of 156 primary publications was analyzed through a systematic coding process to identify theoretical and methodological approaches, together with other significant elements. This analysis allowed a mapping of the literature based on clusters of critical themes to synthesize the developments of different research streams and provide the most representative picture of its current state. Research areas, insights, and gaps resulting from this analysis contributed to create a schematic research agenda, which clearly indicates the space for future evolutions of the state of knowledge in this field.