Innovative Digital Supply Chain 4.0 Transformation

Dear Colleagues,

Industry 4.0 (the fourth industrial revolution) has garnered significant attention from academia, organisations, and governments in recent years, particularly in the realms of manufacturing, supply chain, and logistics. This emerging field encompasses a range of topics, including frequent demand changes, complex processes, cost reduction, resource optimisation, skilled labour scarcity, digital transformation, information system integration, and cybersecurity. With companies perceiving certain technologies—such as AI, big data, IoT, blockchain, and tracking systems—as mature, the focus now shifts toward their implementation and the value they can bring, as well as their application in the processes of the supply chain (Raji et al., 2021).

According to Zekhnini et al. (2020), the business landscape and that of industries are changing rapidly. It is no longer feasible for supply chains to quickly readjust their strategies to efficiently procure, produce, transport, and sell the appropriate products in the right quantities and locations (Wu et al., 2016). Today's market is characterised by fierce competition, cost pressures, fluctuating market demands, and volatile demand patterns (Gilaninia et al., 2011). Consequently, it becomes imperative to envision a flexible supply chain that can quickly adapt its goods, processes, and structures to accommodate changing circumstances. Therefore, to effectively address these mounting challenges, supply chains must evolve into intelligent systems (Wu et al., 2016). This can be made possible through the various technologies characterising Industry 4.0. Thus, Supply Chain 4.0 emerges within the context of the modern digital era brought about by the fourth industrial revolution (Makris et al., 2019).

This Special Issue seeks contributions that shed light on recent trends and practical insights about the innovative digital transformation of supply chains. We invite researchers to contribute to the existing literature in this field by exploring the value derived from technologies like AI, big data, IoT, and blockchain, as well as tracking systems focused on a supply chain. Moreover, we encourage investigations into the necessary organisational skills, digital competencies, and knowledge toolkits required to embrace innovation in digital supply chains. We aim to foster a comprehensive understanding of: the technologies included into SCM 4.0 and how they impact operational performance of future supply chains; and the challenges the today’s companies face in the process of the digitalization of supply chains.

The foci of this Special Issue will be as follows: i. understanding how the various technologies of Industry 4.0. drive supply chain processes; ii. understanding the main processes of supply chains to be digitally transformed to Supply Chain 4.0., Procurement 4.0., and Logistics 4.0; and iii. investigating the best practices and challenges related to the Supply Chain 4.0 transformation. While addressing the focus of the SI, submission topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Case studies highlighting successful digital transformation in supply chain management;
• Strategies for implementing AI, big data, IoT, blockchain, and tracking systems in supply chains;
• Organizational skills and capabilities crucial for digital supply chain optimization;
• The challenges and obstacles in digital supply chain implementation;
• Innovations and best practices in digital supply chain governance;
• Assessing the impact of digital transformation on supply chain performance;
• Ethical and cybersecurity considerations in Supply Chain 4.0. transformation;
• Frameworks for evaluating the maturity and readiness of supply chains for digital transformation.

We invite researchers, practitioners, and industry experts to submit their original contributions to this Special Issue, which will serve as a platform for advancing the knowledge and understanding in the field of Innovative Digital Supply Chain 4.0 Transformation. We invite submissions from both developed and developing economies, and manuscripts should adhere to the journal's guidelines as they will undergo a rigorous peer-review process.

References

Gilaninia, S., Mousavian, S.J., Tayebi, F., Panah, M.P., Ashouri, S., Touhidi, R. and Seighalani, F.Z. (2011), “The impact of information technology application on supply chain performance”, Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, Vol. 3 No. 8, pp. 489-496.

Makris, D., Hansen, Z.N.L. and Khan, O. (2019), “Adapting to supply chain 4.0: an explorative study of multinational companies”, Supply Chain Forum: An International Journal, Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 116-131.

Raji, I. O., Shevtshenko, E., Rossi, T., & Strozzi, F. (2021), Industry 4.0 technologies as enablers of lean and agile supply chain strategies: an exploratory investigation. The International Journal of Logistics Management, 32(4), 1150-1189.

Wu, L., Yue, X., Jin, A. and Yen, D.C. (2016), “Smart supply chain management: a review and implications for future research”, The International Journal of Logistics Management, Vol. 27 No. 2, pp. 395-417.

Zekhnini, K. et al. (2020), ‘Supply Chain Management 4.0: A literature review and research framework’, Benchmarking: An International Journal, 28(2), 465-501. doi:10.1108/bij-04-2020-0156.

Prof. Dr. Eduard Sevtsenko
Dr. Ibrahim Raji
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Logistics is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• industry 4.0
• supply chain management 4.0
• logistics 4.0
• procurement 4.0
• SCM 4.0
• SCM 4.0 framework
• digital supply chain
• novel technologies