Supply chain management and Industry 4.0: conducting research in the digital age

Abstract

Supply chain management and Industry 4.0: conducting research in the digital age Introduction In essence, Industry 4.0[1] enables an automated creation of goods and services as well as supply and delivery, which functions largely without human intervention. Industry 4.0 is happening now (Vogel-Heuser and Hess, 2016, Sprovieri, 2019) and describes the trend toward automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies and processes which include among others cyber-physical systems (CPS), industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), cloud computing, cognitive computing and artificial intelligence (AI). Decision making is predominantly decentralized, and system elements (e.g. production plants or transport vehicles) make autonomous, targeted decisions. A digital manufacturing enterprise is not only interconnected, but also communicates, analyzes and uses information to further drive intelligent actions back into the physical world. Industry 4.0 will change how supply chains are designed and operated, yet research on promises and impacts of Industry 4.0 on supply chain management (SCM) is still scarce (Holmström and Partanen, 2014; Hofmann and Rüsch, 2017). We refer to SCM in the new era of Industry 4.0 as "SCM 4.0." In SCM 4.0, the digital and autonomous linkages within and between companies become a focal point of SCM (Stölzle et al., 2017). SCM 4.0 represents a new stage of development in SCM, in which the coordination of materials, information and financial flows in corporate networks is largely automated and permeated with digital technologies. This Special Issue is thus dedicated to exploring the abundant research opportunities associated with SCM 4.0 and laying down a foundation for future research on this important emerging topic. The idea is to fill gaps in the existing supply chain theory and explore the areas that are likely to be impacted by the combination of knowledge, traditional and emerging technologies. SCM 4.0 will over time manifest substantially different from conventional SCM.

Manufacturing and service supply chain resilience to the COVID-19 outbreak: Lessons learned from the automobile and airline industries

“…This implies utilizing technologies to minimize dependence on human between firms. Ralston and Blackhurst (2020) , HYPERLINK \l "bib78" Tan et al., (2019); Hofmann et al., (2019) . Localization/ regionalization of sourcing Sourcing (and processing) are localized within the same region to meet the local demand and reduce supply chain integrations.…”

“…Proactive strategies are primarily technology-driven strategies that rely on developing technical infrastructures, such as digital connectivity and supply chain automation to avoid future disruptions ( Ralston and Blackhurst, 2020 ; Tan et al., 2019 ; Hofmann et al., 2019 ). Iakovou et al.…”

“…Reactive strategies mainly rely on a real-time information system, and are based on data-driven decision-making ( Kamble and Gunasekaran, 2020 ; Belhadi et al., 2019 ; Belhadi et al., 2018 ), creating virtual marketplaces ( Sharifi et al., 2006 ) and using supply chain simulation ( Hofmann et al., 2019 ). Besides, extant literature emphasized other concurrent strategies (first and swift responses during or in the instant aftermath of a disruption), such as transportation and lifeline maintenance ( Graveline and Grémont, 2017 ; Ivanov et al., 2016 ; Haraguchi and Lall, 2015 ), inventories and reserve capacity ( Lücker et al., 2019 ; Simchi-Levi et al., 2015 ), business continuity plans ( Hernantes et al., 2017 ; Zsidisin et al., 2005 ) along with decision-making proximity ( Zsidisin et al., 2005 ).…”

Local Extremes of Selected Industry 4.0 Indicators in the European Space—Structure for Autonomous Systems

“…In particular, cybersecurity is endangered in terms of loss of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data associated with networked manufacturing machines (Corallo et al 2020). Many experts anticipate significant impacts in the supply chain management segment (Dev et al 2020;Hofmann et al 2019), which can be identified as security risks associated with the interconnection cyber processes into international digital structures.…”

Digital Intellectual Capital of Russian Companies and its Impact on Financial and Innovation Performance

“…Many manufacturing and service companies are going through the stage of digital transformation, radical revision of the main business processes, increasing the flexibility of solutions, business transparency for stakeholders and improving reputation [3]. First, there is a rethinking of supply chains, using digital platforms that aims to support the transparency and velocity of material flows, promoting their decentralization and real time management [4], [5]. Second, digitalization improves the financial culture and financial performance of banks [6].…”