Leveraging Capabilities of Technology into a Circular Supply Chain to Build Circular Business Models: A State-of-the-Art Systematic Review

Abstract

The recent technological inclusions in supply chains are encouraging practitioners to continuously rethink and redesign these supply chains. Organizations are trying to implement sustainable manufacturing and supply chain practices to utilize their resources to the full extent in order to gain a competitive advantage. Circular supply chain management acts as the main pathway to achieve optimal circular business models; however, research in this area is still in its infancy and there is a need to study and analyze how the benefits of technology can be leveraged in conventional models to impact circular supply chains and build smart, sustainable, circular business models. To gain better familiarity with the future research paradigms, a detailed systematic literature review was conducted on this topic to identify the dynamics of this field and domains deserving further academic attention. A holistic and unique review technique was used by the authors to capture maximal insights. A total of 96 publications from 2010 to 2021 were selected from the Web of Science core collection database through strict keyword search codes and exclusion criteria, with neat integration of systematic and bibliometric analyses. The findings of this study highlight the knowledge gaps and future research directions, which are presented at the end of this paper.

A framework of digital technologies for the circular economy: Digital functions and mechanisms

“…Track and trace collects information on the status of items through their lifecycle, specifying their previous paths and the changes which they undergo such as the real‐time movements and location, usage information, and remanufacturing stages (Abideen et al, 2021; Garrido‐Hidalgo et al, 2020; Modgil et al, 2020; Zhang et al, 2019). Compared with monitoring, this function emphasises the changes relating to a specific item, enabling its traceability in the value chain.…”

“…In comparison, external information from outside the organisation shows an even more vital link to the CE paradigm. Such information exchange requires high‐level trust and close collaboration among the stakeholders, based on a shared understanding of the whole system and all related practices (Abideen et al, 2021; Gupta et al, 2019; Mishra et al, 2019; Yang et al, 2021). For instance, sharing information among the supply chain stakeholders can support their end‐of‐life activities, collaborative cradle‐to‐cradle design approach, and industrial symbiosis (Birat et al, 2021; Getor et al, 2020; Huynh, 2021; Massaro et al, 2021).…”

“…they undergo such as the real-time movements and location, usage information, and remanufacturing stages(Abideen et al, 2021;Garrido-Hidalgo et al, 2020;Modgil et al, 2020;Zhang et al, 2019).…”

Digital Twin Integrated Reinforced Learning in Supply Chain and Logistics

“…Modular simulations provide general templated modules that may be reused to simulate the behavior of a given domain element using specialized simulation structures, which are often controlled using a Graphical User Interface (GUI). However, research is being conducted to simplify this to particular functions incorporating parameters related to reverse logistics and lean production [4].…”

“…Furthermore, the fourth industrial revolution is centered on vertical and horizontal integration of the value chain. Businesses can only sustain their market position in an increasingly Logistics 2021, 5, 84 2 of 22 competitive market by leveraging the benefits of synergy between production management and logistics [4]. The benefits are realized through logistically integrated production management, including the design of the information system required for planning and execution [5].…”