**3. Industry 4.0 technologies enabling supply chain sustainability**

Industry 4.0 technologies are intended to play a key role in guiding industrial and social organisations toward long-term sustainability [46]. I4T makes it easier to achieve a high level of process integration, which improves organisational performance across three aspects of sustainability [15]. Braccini and Margherita [62] explored the impact of I40 adoption in a case study of a ceramics manufacturing firm and found that product quality and productivity improvement, energy monitoring and consumption reduction, safe work environment and job satisfaction for workers. Birkel and Muller [63] provided a literature review on potential of I40 on SC triple bottom line of sustainability in planning, sourcing, logistics and recycling logistics. Digital and smart manufacturing processes, machines and devices are likely to offer advantages of manufacturing productivity, resource efficiency, and waste reduction [64].

#### **3.1 Economic sustainability**

On the economic front, I4T makes a significant contribution to value creation, production flexibility, and product customization, which lead to higher consumer satisfaction [3]. Automation and digitisation capabilities of I40 help manufacturers achieve shorter lead times, cheaper manufacturing costs, and higher quality [11, 65]. I4T helps in raw material inventory reduction and efficient capacity utilisation [66]. The data offered by cloud manufacturing and IoT may be used to alter the design, production, and logistics choices of sustainable operations management [46]. IoT applications enable the reuse of resources in a remanufacturing process. The data generated by IoT sensors is evaluated using a mathematical model in order to lower expenses and dynamically manage limited resources [67]. Blockchain capabilities can support sustainable supply chains, which can help reduce the product recall and rework, and trace actual footprint of products; and reduce fraud [68]. Dev et al. [69] adopted agent-based modelling and decision trees to facilitate inventory and supply chain reconfiguration issues of a mobile phone supply chain. The information gathered by I40 may be used to improve product life cycle and industry's economic performance. Using Additive manufacturing (AM) and IoT together can help create a more sustainable manufacturing process by increasing resource efficiency and reducing recovery procedures [70]. Big data technology can influence the SC methods in terms of eco-efficiency and longterm performance. Esmaeilian et al. [71] reviewed capabilities of Blockchain as enabler for the successful implementation of sustainability and circular economy concepts under four main categories of (i) promoting green behaviour through designing specialised tokens, (ii) enhancing the visibility of product lifecycle, (iii) increasing systems efficiency and decreasing development and operational costs, and (iv) enhancing corporate performance reporting and sustainability monitoring capabilities. Digital supply chain may offer benefits of higher operational efficiency, ad-hoc dynamic planning, collaborative planning, collaborative product design, marketing effectiveness, financial flow, and deeper customer integration [72]. CPS, IoT, and big data analytics, enable a flexible supply chain planning and effective decision making, which may help to achieve high quality with low cost and risk in sustainable purchasing [19].

#### **3.2 Environmental sustainability**

In terms of the environment, real-time data acquired from various value chain partners assists organisations in effectively allocating industrial resources such as materials, energy, water, and products [3, 46]. I4T also support reduced greenhouse gas emissions [73], energy consumption [74], reduced fuel consumption as a result of improved transportation and logistics planning; and the use of advanced tracking and monitoring systems [75]. The Big data offers predictive analytics that improve environmental and social sustainability [76, 77]. The inclusion of sensors in goods enables performance monitoring such as tracking maintenance requirements-allowing businesses to deliver high-quality service to clients on a proactive basis. Further, organisations may invest in extending product life spans by using the 3Rs (reduce, re-use, and recycle) and monitoring items throughout customer usage. Cloud manufacturing and IoT can gather data from processes and things, such as machinery, allowing for the faults detection that might result in waste. Managers may also monitor and regulate the performance of operations based on production and resource consumption criteria, such as energy usage; the use of sensors would allow them to intervene in processes, even during component/product manufacturing. Machine

#### *Industry 4.0 Technologies Impact on Supply Chain Sustainability DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102978*

efficiency might also be monitored in real time in order to schedule maintenance and avoid wasting resources [46]. Blockchain offers visibility, transparency, relationship management, and smart contracting which in turn offers environmental as well as economic benefits and plays a positive role in circular economy [78]. Abdella et al. [79] proposed machine learning using a set of environmental, social and governance criteria to predict sustainability performance across the supply chain. The revolution of autonomous vehicles can provide several benefits particularly in transportation part of the supply chain to reduce the damaged products. Automated guided vehicles (AGV) help in efficient materials handling operations improving the environmental and social sustainability. Krueger et al., [80] analysed possibilities of shared autonomous vehicles implementation implemented in a logistic cluster in public transport industry to improve utilisation of assets and reduce environment effect. Additive manufacturing result in less material being used and requires recycling of tiny amounts of trash due to mobility of 3D printers [70]. The usage of AM also helps to improve the sustainability of a manufacturing process by lowering the materials use and energy consumption. I40 help in energy monitoring that will result into increased energy efficiency and lower CO2 emissions [81]. AM and IoT can aid in improving reverse logistics operations, such as tracking and tracing end of use and end of life items and monitoring recycling activities to pave the way for a long-term route toward circular manufacturing [82]. Cloud technology allows for the capture, exchange, and sharing of dynamic life-cycle data, as well as SC partnerships for environmental footprint assessment [83]. Cloud-based service platform can help in improved decision-making and thereby minimise greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation and logistics industries [84]. Big data analytics in process control, for example, might help in pollution control and natural resource management [85]. Cyber-physical systems aid in production without generating waste or consuming unnecessary resources; the IoT enables mass customization and production that meets demand without producing excess inventory; cloud manufacturing enables controlled resource consumption (e.g., raw materials, energy, water); and additive manufacturing proactively maintains products, saves energy, and reduces waste from defective products [2, 20, 86]. By designing goods based on precise consumption data, cyberphysical systems improve customer satisfaction. As a result, using the 5Rs technique (reduce, repair, re-use, recycle, and remanufacture) [86, 87], it is feasible to develop goods with longer life spans. CPS and IoT aid in the planning of energy and carbonefficient logistics routes, as well as assisting suppliers in managing their own performance in terms of production planning, delivery quality and reliability, and environmental compliance via remote monitoring [88]. In smart factory, communication efficiency, transparency, surveillance, and control will minimise downtime, waste, defect, and risk across production processes [89].

#### **3.3 Social sustainability**

On the social front, I4T provides a plethora of options for employees to learn new technology, boosting morale and motivation [73, 74]. I4T provides employees with a better and safe working environment [15]. AI and data analytics can help in personalised career development programs based on the behaviour, experience, skills, personality, and learning patterns of each employee [90]. I4T will create new jobs in area of informatics, mechatronics, process engineering, and system integration [91]. Industry 4.0 technologies impact on supply chain sustainability is summarised in **Table 1**. Industry 4.0 sustainability benefits are shown in **Table 2**.


**Table 1.**

*Industry 4.0 technologies impact on supply chain sustainability.*

## **4. Discussion on Industry 4.0 sustainability**

Industry 4.0 technologies such as AI, ML, IoT, Big data, Block chain technology, VR, AR, CPS, Industrial Autonomous Robotics, Cloud computing etc. are being adopted in manufacturing and supply chain throughout the world but slowly. Researchers and professional managers believe that I40 offers integration, interoperability, real-time capability, quality data, modularity, decentralisation, product customisation, servitisation, collaboration, transparency and virtualisation, which may positively impact sustainability. On economic dimension, I4T adoption in supply chain will improve supply chain efficiency, quality, resilience, customer specific planning, production and logistics alignment, on-time delivery, order accuracy, downtime prediction, and repair and maintenance, supplier selection and procurement, and reduce lead time. Economic sustainability will reduce cost and improve profitability. I40 acts environment friendly as its adoption will lead to reduction of raw materials and resources, energy consumption, GHG emission, scrap and waste, physical prototyping, transparency, tracking and traceability. It will enhance sustainability processes and transportation and environmental monitoring. Regarding social sustainability dimension, I4T can offer safe working environment and flexibility, reduce stress and hazardous tasks, and improve learning and development. It is not free from challenges. Human activities such as inventory tracking, quality control, and even product distribution may be performed by Industrial robots, automated vehicles, and intelligent machines and there would be loss of jobs [96]. At the same time, it will provide opportunity for new jobs in I4T. Most of the studies are theoretical. Hence, it needs to be supported by qualitative and case studies.
