Satya Shah

The objective of this research paper is to assess and produce a synthesis of peer and research findings towards a better understanding on the impacts of technology developments such as that of Internet of Things (IoT) in global supply chains. It examines on how they begin to converge as one integrated concept. The basis of the paper will revolve around (IoT) areas impact the Supply chain and in turn the management of the supply chain, it will also look at the growing innovation within (IoT) and large investments being made in the supply chain sector. It could further be argued that (IoT) is merely a repeatable exercise and merely an investment that any competitive market could undertake thus nullifying any genuine competitive advantage. Furthermore, it provides future researchers to explore the criteria that can be assessed by organisations towards the adoption and implementation of IoT services and its readiness.

This paper aims to summarize the current and potential capabilities of the Internet of Things (IoT) and how it contributes to Logistics Management and how it might contribute more in the digital age of the year 2050. It will be discussing the new technologies that could one day reshape logistics management and supply chain environment from what it is today into something totally different in the future. Logistics management is an evolving function that has been created, adapted and implemented into the supply chain environment. The diversification of this phenomenon the Internet of Things (IoT) with its emerging attributes are all since it is constantly in motion. The innovative solutions that have been created and can be built upon further are excessively compulsive and are non-compellable. There is the foresight that the internet of things (IoT) will take over the way logistical operations are managed today and in so doing it will reduce the staff numbers of many organisations worldwide.

Sustainable food manufacturing and logistics is becoming popular in the face of maintaining food security and keeping a good track with the sustainable development goal. Continuous transformation within most manufacturing sectors could be very useful in maintaining a good sustainability and competitive business environment of which the food manufacturing supply chain environment is not an exception. Sustainable food manufacturing could help reduce the negative environmental and social impact to the barest minimum as the economic situation is improved thereby contributing to the success of the set Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study presents an overview of sustainable food manufacturing supply chain environment, Continuous Transformation of Food Manufacturing and Supply Chain, Sustainability Drivers within Food Manufacturing and Supply Chain Environment. The other part shows a methodology that proposes a conceptual framework from the literatures. This conceptual framework design comprises of steps that include Orientation and Commitment, Environmental and lifecycle impact assessment, Definition and implementation and, Measurement and communication. This proposed framework is expected to help in the continuous transformation within food manufacturing supply chain environment.

Fourth Industrial revolution, Industry 4.0– A rapidly growing world of digitization that opens the doorway for new era of automation plays a crucial role within the industry which requires a constant research and improvements to achieve and sustain themselves in current world of competitive market. Implementation of industry 4.0 technologies pioneer for a profit maximization with cost reduction and has even realized to show a significant refinement in improved sustainability. Global Market leading organisations are positioning themselves with world of digitisation to their end consumers utilising the digital marketing, e-commerce and customer experience virtually driving towards a completely new era of digital ecosystem. Supply chain management (SCM) within the small and medium enterprises (SME’s) plays an important role in supporting the global manufacturing economies. SME’s lacks the understanding and significance of transforming themselves with the extremely complex digital supply chain systems that may leads to losses if they don’t embrace now for innovations and implement the latest technological advancements. This paper aims to examine the current trends and impacts of latest technologies within the SME’s with the view of key factors of Industry 4.0.

The applicability of trends in industries' production, logistics and supply chain management has increased productivity, efficiency and less adverse environmental impact. Sustainability is one of the trends identified and precept by various researches as what every industry could consider ensuring a better future for the environment and prosperity in most sectors. Meanwhile, the application of different new technologies and the current digitalization is helping in achieving the said sustainability trends within the manufacturing industry. This study, therefore, aims to investigate through literature and a case study how well integration of advanced technology has impacted sustainability and growth within food manufacturing environment. Integration of advanced technology to aid sustainability within food manufacturing and supply chain environment will be investigated through a case study in an agricultural-livestock cooperative company in Andalusia, Spain. Meanwhile, with the combination of the literature review carried out and the explorative research through case study where specialists and experts in sustainability, food manufacturing and supply chain management were interviewed. The research was able to highlight the impacts of the innovations and integration of advanced technology within food manufacturing and supply chain environment with a brief sustainability evaluation using the analysis of the company’s KPI.

Sustainability and sustainable practices has been the focus of importance for both manufacturers and customers within the global markets. Every manufacturer and supplier within the Supply Chain environments now strive hard to ensure they are part of this sustainable development goal to achieve better results and fulfill their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) principles. This is done mostly by business owners to meet up with customers’ expectation of sustainable society, including that of the food manufacturers and other small suppliers. They need to work hard and think of innovative strategies that could be employed to meet up with this popular challenge of sustainable society. This paper reviews current literature studies to analyse food processing suppliers who have adopted new technological advances and that of Industry 4.0 practices to achieve and fulfill better sustainable practices within their production and logistics activities in their supply chains. Through this research study we aim to bridge the interconnection between Industry 4.0 and that of sustainability practices within food manufacturing environments.

Research studies highlights that Industry 4.0 plays a vital role in different areas of manufacturing industries and requires constant research and improvements due to high demand to meet the global competitive markets in an efficient and economical method. The current industrialisation is facing great challenges in ensuring the sustainability balance of its social, economic and environmental dimensions while they strive to achieve the product demands in competitive market space. As part of achieving these high demands, different studies focus towards developing the understanding of industry 4.0 implementation practices to attain a sustainable manufacturing process that incorporates advanced technological tools for increasing efficiency, financial gains and competitiveness in the market. This paper aims to examine the interrelationship of sustainability practices, the key factors affecting sustainability within manufacturing, and finally the advancements of industry 4.0 and different technologies to achieve sustainable manufacturing that focuses on KPI’s of environmental and social dimensions.

Autonomous transportation has been implemented in supply chain for decades, especially in indoor environments, such as warehouses, where safety risks and regulations are less than in everyday traffic. Applications include horizontal and vertical transportation. Regarding outdoor transportation, the most used and researched application is platooning, which consists of a convoy of vehicles, where the first vehicle leads and the others copy its movements. However, full automation in this environment has not been completely achieved within this aspect. The paper aims to examine the important principles of autonomous vehicles, its applications, and the extent to which it impacts the transportation industry and global supply chains. Autonomous vehicles can perform driving functions by themselves, by sensing its environment and navigating with or without human input. The main autonomous functions can be divided in navigation, situational analysis, motion planning, and trajectory control. The benefits of this technology are improved safety, higher efficiency, lower environmental impacts and greater comfort, whereas barriers include laws and liabilities, high initial costs, ethics, human factors and security risks. The most important impact of autonomous transportation in supply chains is costs reductions, mainly due to staff reductions, fuel efficiency gains, accident savings and productivity gains. Through our research study, we examine the advantages of autonomous vehicles and how enterprises need to redefine their supply chains for ways to benefit from these new technologies and achieve competitive advantage in global demand driven markets.

The paper examines the use of case study analysis of additive manufacturing implementation within small and medium enterprises (SME). Many of the manufacturing enterprises are subjected to lot of disruptive and changing landscape over the years. The current expectations of the new changing markets are shorter product cycles and fulfilling better customization within the produce lines. This allows the entry of Additive Manufacturing (AM) application within many of the product based manufacturing enterprises. AM adopts the process of joining materials through layers to produce objects through 3D digital data technology that enables it to innovate the traditional manufacturing processes. The paper aims to present an overview of additive manufacturing technology through small and medium enterprise adoption by conducting three mini case studies within manufacturing businesses. The paper aims to investigate how additive manufacturing drives innovation within these manufacturing SMEs and while understanding the adoption of these technological advances, proposes an appropriate implementation framework. The study also aims to evaluate any tactical patterns of innovation and growth towards the adoption and advantages of additive manufacturing, while recommending solutions to address certain challenges, especially within the supply chain transformation within the environment. Finally, through this paper the authors aim to address that use of additive manufacturing technology may or may not be applicable to all manufacturing SMEs.

The paper aims to present the holistic view on the principles and practices of innovation, innovation management and industry 4.0 within connected and autonomous automotive manufacturing environments. It has been seen through literature that innovation management practices enable companies to compete within the autonomous and connected vehicle market and is considered as an emerging and competitive differentiation towards the growth of the product and that of meeting customer demands within the changing markets. Similarly, industry 4.0 has the capabilities to offer new and innovative insights within manufacturing processes, allowing organisations to exchange data across systems and enable them to utilise the information more effectively and efficiently towards future decision-making capabilities. Virtualisation of the process and that of the supply ensures more smooth operations between intra-organisations and external partners and hence more advanced data sharing systems are going to be provide the functionality within the global environments. The paper examines the linkage of innovation management and industry 4.0 practices within connected and autonomous vehicles in automotive sector.