Application of Internet of Things (IoT) in Sustainable Supply Chain Management
, Syed Fayaz Ahmad 4, Ahmad Y. A. Bani Ahmad (Ayassrah) 5 and Nasir Khan 6
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Application of Internet of Things (IoT) in Sustainable Supply Chain Management
The current paper's authors took into account a critical supply chain issue. They emphasized how the Internet of Things helps the supply chain achieve its objectives. After satisfactorily addressing the following issues, a current piece of work can be considered for publication:
1. Highlights the main findings in abstract section.
2. Line 79, “Due to the integration of IoT.” Complete the sentence.
3. In Fig.2, “comm.” Stands for.
4. Add more latest references of the years 2021-22.
5. Provide some case study to highlights the benefits of IoT in supply chain.
6. Authors presented the bright side of implication of IoT in supply chain. Provide the challenges associated with IoT to achieve the goal of environmental and financial sustainability.
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 1 Comments
Point 1: Highlights the main findings in abstract section.
Response 1: Although this is a review paper, the findings are highlighted, please.
Point 2: Line 79, “Due to the integration of IoT.” Complete the sentence.
Response 2: The sentence is corrected, please
Point 3: In Fig.2, “comm.” Stands for.
Response 3: The short form of Communication, please
Point 4: Add more latest references for the years 2021-22.
Response 4: New references (Reference #55-60) for the years 2021-22 are added, please.
Point 5: Provide some case study to highlights the benefits of IoT in supply chain.
Response 5: This is a review paper and aimed to highlight the previous work done by others, please.
Point 6: Authors presented the bright side of implication of IoT in supply chain. Provide the challenges associated with IoT to achieve the goal of environmental and financial sustainability.
Response 6: The proposed paragraph is added in the manuscript in section 6, please.
“6. Challenges of IoT in Supply Chain
The IoT-based supply chain is confronted with numerous financial and environmental challenges. The higher cost of smart gadgets especially RFID is not allowing the penetration of technology into the open market. Similarly, the design and prices of controlling software systems for the smart operation of the process are considered big hurdles in the prevalence of the internet of things in the supply chain. However, the issue has been partially countered by connecting the transducers of IoT networks with mobile devices providing versatility and availability. In the context of the environment, the challenge currently faced by IoT devices is lagging behind the traditional design of sensors and actuators increasing e-wastes. The advent of smartphones in the open market with multi-functionalities is introducing green technology. Serious efforts in this regard would help in the revolution of IoT in every field of life. “
I would like to extend thanks for pointing out the weakness in my manuscript. I have tried my level best to understand these points and resolve them as per your valued advice. I believe, it will certainly improve the quality of my research work.
Reviewer 2 Report
The article is of a conceptual nature.
I suggest supplementing the article with limitations and problems related to the IoT application in sustainable supply chain management.
Minor editorial remarks:
line 22, in Keywords "Internet of Things" is repeated,
line 101, first dot is not needed.
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 2 Comments
Point 1: I suggest supplementing the article with limitations and problems related to the IoT application in sustainable supply chain management.
Response 1: The limitations and problems of IoT application in sustainable supply chain management are covered in section 6 of this manuscript, please.
“6. Challenges of IoT Application
The IoT-based supply chain is confronted with numerous financial and environmental challenges. The higher cost of smart gadgets especially RFID is not allowing the penetration of technology in the open market Similarly, the design and prices of controlling software systems for the smart operation of the process are considered big hurdles in the prevalence of the internet of things in the supply chain. However, the issue has been partially countered by connecting the transducers of IoT networks with mobile devices providing versatility and availability. In the context of the environment, the challenge currently faced by IoT devices is lagging traditional design of sensors and actuators increasing e-wastes. The advent of smartphones in the open market with multi-functionalities is introducing green technology. Serious efforts in this regard would help in the revolution of IoT in every field of life.”
Minor editorial remarks:
Point 2: line 22, in Keywords "Internet of Things" is repeated,
Response 2: The repeated word is removed, please, and thanks for pointing it out.
Point 3: line 101, the first dot is not needed.
Response 3: The typing error due to the extra dot in the text is removed, please.
I would like to extend thanks for pointing out the weakness in my manuscript. I have tried my level best to understand these points and resolve them as per your valued advice. I believe, it will certainly improve the quality of my research work.
Reviewer 3 Report
The current manuscript entitled “Application of Internet of Things (IoT) in Sustainable Supply Chain Management” by Khan et al. deals with the prevailing supply chain system and explores the benefits obtained after smart objects and embedded networks of IoT are implanted. Overall contents of the review paper are adequate and address concepts of smart carriage, loading/unloading, transportation, warehousing, and packaging for the secure distribution of products. After a careful reading, I found that the manuscript can be accepted for publication in the Sustainability journal after moderate revision. My specific comments are:
1. Line 11: Provide the full name of IoT in the abstract section. Several other abbreviations are not defined at their first use in the entire manuscript.
2. Rewrite the keywords, Internet of things appeared two times. Do not use abbreviations here.
3. Although Fig 1 depicts the process of supply chain management there is no information regarding the directional flow of supply. It lacks the proper linking with each other. E.g., using such gear-type clipart may be attractive but what they say is quite different from the hypothesis proposed by the author. If the gear of the supplier moves forward (clockwise) then the gear of manufacture with move backward (anti-clock) so it suggests that both are linked with each other inversely proportional? If not, then authors MUST redraw this figure and put simple shapes with arrows depicting clear flow directions.
4. Detailed objectives are missing at the end of the introduction section.
5. Authors should consider the trend of scientific publications on “IoT in agriculture”. Provide a graph depicting the number of articles published in recent 10 years. It will help to strengthen the hypothesis of this review paper about the trending application of IoT in the selected research problem.
6. Be consistent while writing “&” or “and”.
7. References are missing for the explained features of smart supply chain management (E.g., 2.1., 2.2., 2.3).
8. Figure 2: Add “Cloud and internet” icons within “Comm.” section. One extra section must be drawn to understand how these sensors and actuators can capture signals from agricultural crops/fields/supply chains and then be processed using embedded systems/comm. And then executed by actuators. Currently, this figure is just best suited for computer science journals and not agriculture.
9. The conclusion must be rewritten focusing on the major outcome of this literature review and not repeating the sections from the abstract or discussion. It may be reduced to <250 words and the last sentence must indicate future possibilities of using IoT in supply chain management.
10. Avoid outdated references.
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 3 Comments
Point 1: Line 11: Provide the full name of IoT in the abstract section. Several other abbreviations are not defined at their first use in the entire manuscript.
Response 1: The mentioned changes are incorporated in the abstract of the manuscript, please.
Point 2: Rewrite the keywords, Internet of things appeared two times. Do not use abbreviations here.
Response 2: The repeated word is removed, please.
Point 3: Although Fig 1 depicts the process of supply chain management there is no information regarding the directional flow of supply. It lacks the proper linking with each other. E.g., using such gear-type clipart may be attractive but what they say is quite different from the hypothesis proposed by the author. If the gear of the supplier moves forward (clockwise) then the gear of manufacture with move backward (anti-clock) so it suggests that both are linked with each other inversely proportional? If not, then authors MUST redraw this figure and put simple shapes with arrows depicting clear flow directions.
Response 3: The main reason behind drawing Fig 1 is the dependency of one on another area of the supply chain. The supplier has a cascading effect on every next area till it reaches to end user exactly similar to the mechanical gear system, please.
Point 4: Detailed objectives are missing at the end of the introduction section.
Response 4: The objectives are added at the end of the introduction section, please
Point 5: Authors should consider the trend of scientific publications on “IoT in agriculture”. Provide a graph depicting the number of articles published in recent 10 years. It will help to strengthen the hypothesis of this review paper about the trending application of IoT in the selected research problem.
Response 5: This review paper highlights all the works most relevant to the application of IoT in supply chain management, please. So, IoT in agriculture would be considered research beyond the scope of this paper, please
Point 6: Be consistent while writing “&” or “and”.
Response 6: The “&” is replaced by “and”, please.
Point 7: References are missing for the explained features of smart supply chain management (E.g., 2.1., 2.2., 2.3).
Response 7: The references for subsections 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3 are added, please.
Point 8: Figure 2: Add “Cloud and internet” icons within “Comm.” section. One extra section must be drawn to understand how these sensors and actuators can capture signals from agricultural crops/fields/supply chains and then be processed using embedded systems/comm. And then executed by actuators. Currently, this figure is just best suited for computer science journals and not agriculture.
Response 8: Thanks very much for your valuable piece of advice, it is stated that section 3 is aimed to provide general insights about sensors, actuators, embedded systems, and communication links, so readers may not confuse. However, the detailed interconnection of sensors with the cloud is discussed in Figure 4 along with their applications in different areas with a special focus on the supply chain.
Point 9: The conclusion must be rewritten focusing on the major outcome of this literature review and not repeating the sections from the abstract or discussion. It may be reduced to <250 words and the last sentence must indicate future possibilities of using IoT in supply chain management.
Response 9: As per your kind advice, the conclusion is rewritten, reorganized, and reduced to 243 words (<250). The last few sentences provide future possibilities of IoT, please
Point 10: Avoid outdated references
Response 10: Outdated reference #1-5,11,13,17-19,21,26,32,37,43,46,47,50,53 are replaced by updated ones, please
I would like to extend thanks for pointing out the weakness in my manuscript. I have tried my level best to understand these points and resolve them as per your valued advice. I believe, it will certainly improve the quality of my research work.
Round 2
Reviewer 3 Report
I have no further query/suggestion. Accept in current form.
