The Advantages of Industry 4.0 Applications for Sustainability: Results from a Sample of Manufacturing Companies

Abstract

Far from being exclusively related to economic considerations, the advantages of Industry 4.0 applications also include environmental and social concerns. An increasing amount of scientific publications relate the implementation of the fourth industrial revolution paradigm to sustainability. Several studies reported opportunities of Industry 4.0 implementation particularly to the environmental dimension of sustainability, e.g., through improved logistics streams and lowered waste from production. The present research aims at providing evidence on whether manufacturing companies consider Industry 4.0 implementation as an advantage contributing to environmental and social sustainability in terms of lower environmental impact of production, as well as higher physical relief for workers and flexibility of work organisation. The results were an attempt to study such relations with company sizes, industry sectors, turnover and self-assessed levels of digitalization varying. The sample encompasses 65 companies located in the Marche region (Italy). The results show that overall the perception of economic opportunities prevail, while the association of a beneficial impact of Industry 4.0 on environmental sustainability is rather low across companies, regardless of their size, turnover and digital level. As for the statistically significant variables, the results suggest a strong association of the size and the digital level to specific Industry 4.0 related advantages, referring to the social and economic dimension of sustainability, respectively.

A Framework of Action for Implementation of Industry 4.0. an Empirically Based Research

“…Generally, I4.0 constraints and challenges can be classified in relation to different areas, e.g., economic, technological, organizational, ethical, political-legal, and social, and analyzed on a case-by-case basis [2,7]. Referring to the idea of sustainable development and adopting the Triple Bottom Line approach (TBL), the factors driving the development of I4.0 should be looked at from an economic, ecological, and social standpoint [36]. Each dimension represents a necessary, but not sufficient on its own, condition for achieving sustainability.…”

“…This perspective is currently used in many studies [8,12,36,37]. It also allows for adopting a multi-faceted, diverse view of companies of various sizes, industry sectors, and the role of the company as a supplier or user of Industry 4.0 [8,36]. The concepts of sustainability as well as I.4.0 have received increasing global attention from the public, academic, and business sectors.…”

“…On the one hand, business models are disappearing; on the other hand, new models are created as a result of database-based products and services [31]. From an economic point of view, an aspect of value optimization, due to the transparency of processes and networking [36,38], is also pointed out. Logistics costs can be reduced due to the transparency of processes [39].…”

“…When referring to the ecological aspects of I4.0, it is believed that the technologies associated with it have the unique potential to unlock environmentally sustainable manufacturing [36]. It means that I4.0 can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the energy consumption of the industrial value chain and by improving product life cycle management and recycling processes.…”

Comparison of Product Life Cycle Cost Estimating Models Based on Neural Networks and Parametric Techniques—A Case Study for Induction Motors

“…As it was indicated in [2], manufacturing firms should focus more on real-time learning from large data and contextual decision making, which will reduce the complexity of human decisions. Introducing elements of Industry 4.0 to a company can lead to, inter alia, improved sustainability and time savings, as well as a significant reduction in costs (over the entire product life cycle [3]) and physical stress [4]. Nowadays, unrestricted availability and high competitiveness between products on global markets create high expectations for product engineers.…”