Digital Production Systems and Global Supply Chain Sustainability

Dear Colleagues,

Industry 4.0 represents a new industrial paradigm ignited by disruptive technologies that can transform manufacturing into a cyber-physical system that integrates products, people and processes. It is the first time in industrial history that such a paradigm shift is occurring to an unprecedented degree and pace, creating the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Schwab 2016). Technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT) can transform a physical space, such as a factory or warehouse, into a cyber-physical system that integrates technologies, people and processes (Wang et al. 2016; Seyedghorban et al. 2020). The decreasing cost of autonomous vehicles and their ability to communicate with the IoT, compared to industrial trucks and lifts, has enabled most manufacturing companies (79.9%) and logistics companies (85.5%) to consider, positively, a digital transformation (Schwab 2016).

In order to harness the value of Industry 4.0 systems and technologies in manufacturing, companies need business plans and operational guidance to integrate these automation systems within existing manufacturing production operations and global supply chains (Buer, Strandhagen, and Chan 2018). However, despite the Industry 4.0 hype evangelised by leading companies such as Amazon and Ocado robots, Tabrizi et al. (2019) estimate that companies spent $1.3 trillion on Digital Transformation in 2018, yet $900 billion went to waste.

Scant empirical guidance exists concerning how to implement and integrate Industry 4.0 systems within sustainable supply chains.

This Special Issue calls for papers that examine the following research questions:

1. How Industry 4.0 technologies can improve the sustainability of global supply chains?
2. How existing production systems should be redesigned to become both digital and sustainable?

Topics may include:

• Applications of Industry of Things (IoT), AGVs, big data, machine learning, artificial intelligent and more to make global supply chains more sustainable
• Sector studies such as Pharma 4.0, Food 4.0 and more to address current sustainability challenges
• Advantages, barriers, facilitators, and inhibitors of adopting Industry 4.0 technological innovations in sustainable supply chains
• How COVID pandemic impacted the digital transformation of sustainable supply chains

This Special Issue invites empirical-based papers including surveys, case studies, sectoral studies as well as systematic literature reviews with special attention to small farms and enterprises.

Prof. Dr. Ilias Vlachos
Dr. Konstantina Spanaki
Prof. Dr. Rajesh Kumar Singh
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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.

supply chain sustainability;
global supply chains;
digital production systems;
supply chain transformation;
supply chain digitalisation;
industry 4.0 systems;
pharma 4.0;
food 4.0;
covid pandemic;
surveys;
case study;
sectoral studies; 
systematic literature review;