Industry 4.0: How it is defined from a sociotechnical perspective and how much sustainability it includes – A literature review

Beier, Grischa; Ullrich, André; Niehoff, Silke; Reißig, Malte; Habich, Matthias

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120856

Cited by 333 publications

(201 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Junior et al [48] investigated the relationship between environmental protection and process safety variables within Industry 4.0 by exploring the existence of the common keyword in previous literature and found that there is more research linked to environmental protection and Industry 4.0 than literature relating to Industry 4.0 and process safety [49]. In other studies, Junior et al [48], Carrillo et al [50], and Lingam [29] have found that value creation contributes positively to sustainable development through new processes and the creation of a life cycle perspective [51] and new business models. In a study by Kumar and Luthra [52], the authors identified 18 challenges that Industry 4.0 can face when developing the sustainability of the supply chain.…”

Section: Sustainable Environment and Industry 40mentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Industry 4.0 on Environmental Sustainability

et al. 2020

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Industry 4.0 is a concept that originated from the German industry, and whose essence is the use of technology for efficient production. In business today, the emergence of Industry 4.0 for production, and its related technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and cyber-physical systems, amongst others, have, however, a negative impact on environmental sustainability as a result of air pollution, the poor discharge of waste, and the intensive use of raw materials, information, and energy. The method used in this study is an analysis of a literature review of manuscripts discussing topics related to Industry 4.0 and environmental sustainability published between 2000 and 2020. There is currently a gap existing between the actual and the desired situation, in that production occurs in a weak sustainability model, and, therefore, this research debates the effects on environmental sustainability and the challenges facing Industry 4.0. Four scenarios are discussed: a deployment scenario, an operation scenario, integration and compliance with sustainable development goals, and a long-run scenario. The results indicate that there is a negative relationship related to the flow of the production process from the inputs to the final product, including raw materials, energy requirements, information, and waste disposal, and their impacts on the environment. However, the integration of Industry 4.0 and the sustainable development goals enhance environmental sustainability to create ecological support that guarantees high environmental performance with a more positive impact than before. This paper will help stakeholders and companies to provide solutions to the existing environmental challenges that can be mediated through adopting new technologies. The novelty of this study is its depiction of Industry 4.0 and its technologies integrated with sustainable development goals to create a sustainable Industry 4.0 combining environmental protection and sustainability.

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Section: Sustainable Environment and Industry 40mentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Industry 4.0 on Environmental Sustainability

et al. 2020

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“…The main challenges related to COVID-19 shutdown that were experienced by sustainability researchers were the lack of personal interaction and dialogue with colleagues or research stakeholders (37%), the lack of materials or resources (20%), and the lack of interest or motivation (18%). The shutdown has increased the use of communication technologies; academic and scientific staff members have become more familiar with these tech-tools, and these digital technologies have a significant influence on the alignment with the objectives of sustainable development (Beier et al 2020 ). However, these results perhaps highlight the need for face-to-face interaction in sustainability research, which is often transdisciplinary and collaborative (Heaphy and Dutton 2008 ; Nie and Hillygus, 2002 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The literature reports some alternatives with potential in sustainability research in times of epidemic outbreaks; digital technologies such as data analysis, artificial intelligence, machine learning or digital twins (Ivanov 2020 ), Big Data technologies in geographic information systems (Zhou et al 2020a ), or drones, 5G and robotics (Show et al 2020 ) are some of them. Beier et al ( 2020 ) explain that these technologies have a significant influence on the alignment of the objectives of sustainable development.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19: the impact of a global crisis on sustainable development research

et al. 2020

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“…I4.0 affects the sustainability aspect of manufacturing, but not only the ecological aspect (i.e. renewable energy, resource efficiency), but also technical, social, and organizational aspect of sustainability [35]. The central paradigm within the technical aspect of I4.0 is the Internet of Things which is evolving together with the Internet of Space in the Internet of Everything.…”

Section: Research Theme From Scientific Journals Articlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…implementing technologies that enable cleaner production, use of renewable energy and reduction of pollution from changing polluting raw materials with alternative environmentally friendly materials (ecological) [44,45], and a safer working environment and less intensive workload, job enrichment and social equality (social) [46]. It can be concluded that due to sustainable production, I4.0 prove its benefit for societal development [35]. For example, I4.0 can improve social welfare with corporate sustainability activities [47].…”

Section: Research Theme From Scientific Journals Articlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Sustainability Practices: A Comparative Automated Content Analysis Approach of Theory and Practice

Roblek¹,

Thorpe²,

Meško³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background (1) In the time of the 4th Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0, a conglomerate of technical and social inventions, political contexts, socio-cultural circumstances, environmental policies, business models, and economic policies has emerged. Sustainability policy in theory and practice aims to deal with the effects of all these factors and to try to make decisions that ensure both social and economic development sustainably. The question is how to familiarize oneself with the current knowledge about the relationship between Industry 4.0 and sustainability?; (2) Methods: This research utilizes an automated content analysis method to analyses scientific journals, newspapers and magazines. The comparison of results of both research group shows that the scientific literature focuses more on changes in business models, production processes and technologies that enable sustainable development; (3) We found that the scientific literature focuses more on changes in business models, production processes and technologies that enable sustainable development. Newspapers and magazines articles write more about sustainable or green investment, sustainable standards and sustainable reporting. Newspapers and magazines articles write more about sustainable or green investment, sustainable standards and sustainable reporting. Newspapers, as well as some latest research journals, include articles of the COVID-19 outbreak and its effect on the economy and the environment. Indeed, the outbreak of the virus brings a new thought to the reorganization of the complex relationships between consumers, businesses and the state; (4) Conclusions: According to the comparison of the analyses of the results, it can is that the analyses of both types of literature, both scientific and professional, shows that there are common topics they write about, which are related to the field of clean production, emissions, renewable energy, climate change, sustainable investments and corporate sustainability. An urgent global issue that extends all over the world is the promotion of energy-saving technologies and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.

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Industry 4.0: How it is defined from a sociotechnical perspective and how much sustainability it includes – A literature review

Cited by 333 publications

References 32 publications

Impact of Industry 4.0 on Environmental Sustainability

Impact of Industry 4.0 on Environmental Sustainability

COVID-19: the impact of a global crisis on sustainable development research

The Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Sustainability Practices: A Comparative Automated Content Analysis Approach of Theory and Practice

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