Towards a Conceptual Development of Industry 4.0, Servitisation, and Circular Economy: A Systematic Literature Review

Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies have been highlighted in recent literature as enablers of servitisation. Simultaneously, businesses are advised to implement a circular economy (CE) to bring new opportunities. However, it is pertinent to mention that little attention has been given to assess the rol...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSustainability Vol. 13; no. 11; p. 6501
Main Authors Atif, Sehrish, Ahmed, Shehzad, Wasim, Muhammad, Zeb, Bassam, Pervez, Zeeshan, Quinn, Lorraine
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.06.2021
Subjects
Circular economy
Economics
Industrial development
Industry 4.0
Internet of Things
Keywords
Literature reviews
Manufacturing
Software
Sustainability
Systematic review
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Summary:Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies have been highlighted in recent literature as enablers of servitisation. Simultaneously, businesses are advised to implement a circular economy (CE) to bring new opportunities. However, it is pertinent to mention that little attention has been given to assess the role of I4.0 in adopting the CE and servitisation in a fully integrated manner. This research fills this gap by developing a conceptual framework through a systematic literature review of 139 studies investigating the relationship between the I4.0, CE, and servitisation. This study identifies the impact of these variables on a firm’s operational and financial performance (revenue stream, growth, and profitability). Our research findings advocate that adopting I4.0 technologies to the business and manufacturing model enables sustainability, energy and resource efficiency while enhancing performance and offering innovative products through smart services. Thus, firms must systematically adopt I4.0 technologies to support a CE model that creates value through servitisation. This study identifies the research gaps that are unexplored for practitioners and future researchers while providing insight into the role of I4.0 in implementing CE in the servitisation business model.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su13116501