**3. Sustainability within the supply chain**

As stated in the Introduction, sustainability is not a new concept, and it is a term that is used quite broadly. It therefore tends to take different forms depending on

#### *Enabling Sustainable Supply Chains in the Industrial 4.0 Era DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102040*

the respective disciplines. For example, a systematic literature review [10] revealed rather divergent areas of sustainability that include Ecological Sustainability, Economic Sustainability and Social Sustainability. Literature commonly presents these as independent concepts. According to the authors, definitions of sustainability in supply chains are disjointed across the literature which makes frameworks for research and practice challenging. In many instances, the concept of sustainability has been narrowed down to very specific areas such as sustainable procurement, production, packaging, and transportation, among others, leading to fragmentation. Generally, sustainability in supply chains has been viewed as attaining a balance between economic, environmental, and social objectives, a concept commonly referred to as the triple bottom line (TBL), and sometimes referred to as Profit, Planet, and People (3Ps). This is reflected and expanded in Searcy's [11] idea of focal firm, supply chain, and sustainability context within which the firm operates. Critically, Searcy emphasises the need for the focal firm and its supply chain partners to consider broader social and environmental boundaries at local, regional, and global levels. This is motivated by the understanding that economic advancement is inherently linked to long-term stability of the environment. To date, the definition of sustainability [12] that posits that sustainability is achieved when current needs are met without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their needs, remains pivotal both in practice and academia. Incorporating this ideology into SCM to create sustainable supply chain management (SSCM), the authors propose the following definition.

*Sustainable supply chain management is the attainment of efficiency, visibility, and security of supply chain member interactions for profit by harnessing technological capabilities in a way that the current and future economic, ecological, and societal interests are integrated and not compromised.*

This definition brings two new aspects to the definition of SSCM. First, the belief that technology will be a critical driving force given the desired and realistic SCM future. Second, given the need for urgent action to reverse and slow climate change, the ability to meet the needs of the identified stakeholders is already compromised. To put this into perspective, Brundtland made this assertion more than three decades ago.
