Development of a Risk Framework for Industry 4.0 in the Context of Sustainability for Established Manufacturers

By Hendrik Birkel, Johannes W. Veile, Julian Marius Müller, Evi Hartmann, Kai-Ingo Voigt. Sustainability, 2019

355 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The concept of “Industry 4.0” is expected to bring a multitude of benefits for industrial value creation. However, the associated risks hamper its implementation and lack a comprehensive overview. In response, the paper proposes a framework of risks in the context of Industry 4.0 that is related to the Triple Bottom Line of sustainability. The framework is developed from a literature review, as well as from 14 in-depth expert interviews. With respect to economic risks, the risks that are associated with high or false investments are outlined, as well as the threatened business models and increased competition from new market entrants. From an ecological perspective, the increased waste and energy consumption, as well as possible ecological risks related to the concept “lot size one”, are described. From a social perspective, the job losses, risks associated with organizational transformation, and employee requalification, as well as internal resistance, are among the aspects that are considered. Additionally, risks can be associated with technical risks, e.g., technical integration, information technology (IT)-related risks such as data security, and legal and political risks, such as for instance unsolved legal clarity in terms of data possession. Conclusively, the paper discusses the framework with the extant literature, proposes managerial and theoretical implications, and suggests avenues for future research.

Subfields: Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Strategy and Management

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/480a41c446310bdea0befd9f98a684723481ba83

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Citations in the corpus

Synergy between Circular Economy and Industry 4.0: A Literature Review (2021, background): “[30] X X [31] X X X [32] X X [33] X X X [34] X X [35] X X [36] X X X X [37] X X X [38] X X X [39] X X X X [40] X ”
The adoption of digital technologies in supply chains: Drivers, process and impact (2021, background): “A number of studies have suggested that digital technologies could be used to improve supply chain sustainability (Bag et al., 2018; Birkel et al., 2019; Melo et al., 2019; Dubey et al., 2016).”
The Healthcare Sustainable Supply Chain 4.0: The Circular Economy Transition Conceptual Framework with the Corporate Social Responsibility Mirror (2019, background): “0 is a concept that encompasses automation and information technology, besides some of the main technological innovations of these fields [16].”
Influences of the Industry 4.0 Revolution on the Human Capital Development and Consumer Behavior: A Systematic Review (2020, background): “All these types of risks require a new kind of management, namely, an intelligent, synergistic, and predictive management, which is able to anticipate and manage all threats [112].”
Economic Business Sustainability and Strengthening Human Resource Capacity Based on Increasing the Productivity of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Makassar City, Indonesia (2021, background): “In particular, SMEs will need access to technology that is easy to implement and fits the characteristics of the SMEs but compatible with the overall approach [151].”