Framework development and evaluation of Industry 4.0 technological aspects towards improving the circular economy-based supply chain

What is it about?

In the present era, industries are struggling with sustainable development goals. The aim of present study was to support sustainable practices by creating a decision management system in the manufacturing industry's supply chain network integrated with circular economy principles through industry 4.0 technologies. For that purpose, thirteen significant circular economy implementation challenges in supply chain design and eight important industry 4.0 technological aspects had been identified, which were further analyzed through IVIF-AHP and IVIF-CODAS to find their criticality. This research concludes that the technological aspect of industry 4.0 “Smarter equipment to empower flexibility and mass customization” had attained the highest priority among the rest of the identified aspects. On the other side, the challenge to the circular economy implementation in supply chain, “Information disruptions among the SC members due to multiple channels”, had attained the maximum normalized criteria weight - 0.093. Findings of the study assist the managers and policymakers identify the crucial advantages of industry 4.0 technologies in the CE implementation.

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