Supply Chain 4.0 challenges

Abstract

The Supply Chain has undergone major transformations due to the need to implement new Industry 4.0 technologies, such as Internet of Things, Big Data, Cyber-Physical Systems and Cloud Computing. Thanks to these technologies, as well as to their subsystems and components, full integration of the supply chain is becoming possible. However, it is observed that the real impacts of Industry 4.0 technologies, rather positive or negative, are not yet totally clear and identified. This paper aims to identify and present an analysis of the challenges and obstacles that Industry 4.0 technologies may cause in the Supply Chain. For this, the most relevant papers on the topic were selected and analyzed through a systematic literature review. Twenty challenges grouped into four macrogroups were identified: (1) technical challenges, (2) financial, environmental and legal challenges, (3) technological challenges, and (4) sociocultural challenges. It should be noted that these challenges require greater attention and more in-depth studies on the part of the academy to support industry in order to mitigate them and thus allow better use of the available technological resources and optimize the performance of Supply Chain operations.

Investigating cause-and-effect relationships between supply chain 4.0 technologies

“…Supply Chain 4.0 is defined as a set of related activities linked to each other through the coordination, planning, and control of products and services to suppliers and consumers. It aims to find new ways to create added value for customers and suppliers and generate more revenue through the integration and coordination of forecasting, ownership, production, distribution, sales, and marketing processes (Martins, Simon & Campos, 2020). Supply chain 4.0 is the integration of communication and production technologies that enhance the production of traditional supply chain systems through location-independent actions, routine integration, various automated services, and its ability to respond to customer needs and requirements.…”

“…In addition, these technologies allow organisations to increase flexibility, productivity, reliability, and accountability in their operations. Also, by allowing real-time reorganisation of entire processes, organisations can reduce the effect of Bullwhip and the costs associated with supply chain operations (Martins, Simon & Campos, 2020).…”

“…Cyber-physical systems are characterised by decentralisation, adaptation, and autonomous behaviour. Cyber-physical systems also offer supply chain opportunities for real-time monitoring of production conditions and logistics activities while enabling prognosis, diagnosis, and remote control (Martins, Simon & Campos, 2020). Cyber-physical systems are often combined with data collection and monitoring control systems.…”

“…The virtual reality user is fully involved in an artificial environment and has no interaction with the surrounding real world. However, augmented reality allows the user to see and interact with the real world and virtual Cañas et al, 2020;Kaya et al, 2020;Mostafa et al, 2019;Ramirez-Peña et al, 2020;Rueda-Rueda & Portocarrero, 2021;Sharma et al, 2020;Sobb et al, 2020;Frederico, 2021b Connecting any physical object to the world wide web and identifying it in the virtual world Internet of Things (IoT) Cañas, Mula & Campuzano-Bolarín, 2020;Chen, Dui & Zhang, 2020;Kaya, Paksoy & Garza-Reyes, 2020;Martins, Simon & Campos, 2020;Ramirez-Peña et al, 2020;Sobb, Turnbull & Moustafa, 2020;Wang & Zhang, 2020;Frederico, 2021a Integrating all systems and subsystems and their monitoring and control Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) Singh et al, 2015;Schniederjans, Ozpolat & Chen, 2016;Suherman & Simatupang, 2017;Li, Sun & Wu, 2019;Alam, 2020;Kaya, Paksoy & Garza-Reyes, 2020;Martins, Simon & Campos, 2020;Ramirez-Peña et al, 2020;Sobb, Turnbull & Moustafa, 2020;Lu et al, 2021 Calculating data and analysing, connecting and storing it in the network Cloud Computing Hofmann, 2017;Lamba & Singh, 2017;Raman et al, 2018;Cañas, Mula & Campuzano-Bolarín, 2020;Kamble & Gunasekaran, 2020;Kaya, Paksoy & Garza-Reyes, 2020;Martins, Simon & Campos, 2020;…”

“…Engineering Management in Production and Services Ramirez-Peña et al, 2020;Sobb, Turnbull & Moustafa, 2020;Belhadi, Mani, et al, 2021;Modgil, Singh & Claire, 2021;Sestino & De Mauro, 2021;Thiebes, Lins & Sunyaev, 2021 Replicating some aspects of technology-based human intelligence Artificial intelligence Martins, Simon & Campos, 2020;Frederico, 2021a A mechanism for obtaining preembedded information in the object label via radio frequency Radio-frequency identification (RFID) Cañas, Mula & Campuzano-Bolarín, 2020;Martins, Simon & Campos, 2020;Bhatia, 2021;Liu & Chiu, 2021;Venkatesan et al, 2021 Adding a new layer of information to the real human environment Augmented Reality Demir, Yilmaz & Paksoy, 2020;Kaya, Paksoy & Garza-Reyes, 2020;Scavarelli, Arya & Teather, 2021 A three-dimensional environment generated to be able to produce real-world works and experiences with a high degree of precision Virtual Reality Kaya, Paksoy & Garza-Reyes, 2020;Martins, Simon & Campos, 2020;Ramirez-Peña et al, 2020;Frederico, 2021a An approximate imitation of an operation, process, or system that represents its performance over time Simulation…”