The Role of Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0 Technologies in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in the VUCA World

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable Operations and Supply Chain Management (S-OSCM) (Caiado et al., 2022) faces dynamic changes brought by the chaos of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) environments (Nowacka and Rzemieniak, 2022) that impact the functioning of companies. This VUCA world demands greater agility and adaptability from leaders who need to make “continuous changes in people, processes, technology, and structure” (Horney et al., 2010). The industry has undergone changes that directly affect companies and workers, and which were introduced with digital or disruptive technologies arising from the fourth industrial revolution (Caiado et al., 2021), which began in Germany and with new interpretations in programs, such as “Society 5.0” from Japan. On the other hand, while Industry 4.0 (I4.0) focuses mainly on cost reduction and more efficient production techniques in the industry, Society 5.0 (Deguchi et al., 2020) involves similar technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence (AI), cyber-physical systems, big data analytics (BDA), the Internet of Things (IoT)), but involving the whole of society (Zengin et al., 2021) under the leadership of science, technology, and innovation, and prioritizing a direct relationship with the United Nations 2030 Agenda (Caiado et al., 2018). There are still gaps concerning the incorporation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), together with the digitalization of industrial processes, which has become technocratic and ignores socially sustainable aspects. In this context, the need for high investments in digital transformation; the greater degree of customer participation through product customization and new business models, along with servitization (Weking et al., 2019); the inability of micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to implement I4.0 (Machado et al., 2021); and the transition from Operator 4.0 (focused on the relationships of trust and interaction between humans and machines) to Operator 5.0 (focused on collaboration with the equipment using its physical, sensory, and cognitive capabilities in an environment that provides safe work) (Zizic et al., 2022) are examples of drivers to carefully consider the central role of the human being in the I4.0 paradigm. It is also observed that the political and public discourse on I4.0, and its implications on S-OSCM, needs to be intensified for the success of digital and socio-technical transformation, through the achievement of the SDGs via the joint efforts of multiple stakeholders (e.g., government, the business community, and social institutions) (Beier et al., 2021; Farsi et al., 2021). Currently, the Industry 5.0 (I5.0) paradigm complements I4.0, recognizing the industry's capacity to become a sustainable source of development, but considering the limitations of the planet and prioritizing employee health, a role that was emphasized during the COVID-19 (Nowacka and Rzemieniak, 2022) pandemic. I5.0 emerged as an extension, and is based on principles such as human centrality, environmental management, and social benefit, and has a vision for an innovative, resilient, socio-centric, and competitive industry that minimizes negative environmental and social impacts (Akundi et al., 2022; Nul et al., 2021).

This Special Issue aims to explore the various SDG challenges facing S-OSCM in the era of I4.0 (Cunha et al., 2021; Nascimento et al., 2019) and through the lens of the I5.0 paradigm, considering industrial transition through 'green’, 'digital', and 'competitive’ views (Farsi et al., 2021). This Special Issue encourages researchers from a variety of fields interfacing with new theories and applications related to I4.0, Society 5.0, or I5.0, and the Sustainable Development Goals to contribute original and high-quality research papers to fulfill our aim. Submissions may include conceptual papers on theory elaboration (Wacker, 2008), theory-based systematic literature reviews (Seuring et al., 2021), methodological advances in operations research and modeling, qualitative surveys and case studies, quantitative empirical methods, and mixed-methods research (Choi et al., 2016). Manuscripts will cover both theoretical and empirical studies. Topics covering core technologies of I5.0 vision (e.g., human–machine interactive technologies; smart materials and bio-inspired technologies; digital twins and real-time simulations; energy-efficient data transmission, storage, and analysis technologies; AI; and efficient and renewable energy technologies) (Beier et al., 2021), OSCM digitalization, S-OSCM, SDGs, and issues related to global crises and challenges (e.g., COVID-19 disruptions in healthcare or the general OSCM domain) are equally welcome. They should demonstrate the pressing matters facing the interface of I4.0/5.0 and SDGs. It is equally expected that the contributed papers will bridge theory and practice, opening avenues for new research agendas and business models.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• The relationship between the I4.0 and the UN’s SDGs;
• Potential benefits of I4.0 for sustainable development;
• Potential risks of I4.0, Society 5.0 or I5.0 for sustainable development;
• The most important SDGs for I4.0, Society 5.0 or I5.0;
• Application of multicriteria methods in S-OSCM;
• Fuzzy sets theory and applications in S-OSCM;
• Data envelopment analysis and supply chain flexibility and resilience;
• I4.0 technologies in food supply chains;
• Transportation and logistical problems in S-OSCM;
• Sustainable humanitarian supply chain management and practices;
• Sales and Operations Planning interfaces with sustainability, global economies, and I4.0;
• Heuristics optimization methods in sustainable supply chain networks;
• Lean and agile management in sustainability management;
• I5.0 and the assessment and optimization of the OSCM in manufacturing processes;
• Multi-objective mathematical models to design a sustainable-resilient supply chain based on strategic and tactical decision levels;
• Optimization of data mining methods using a comprehensive multi-level, multi-factor, multi-objective, and multi-index evaluation system involving technology, economics, and safety;
• Influence of the IoT and emerging technologies on organizations' digital transformation capabilities;
• I5.0 in the context of business management, innovation, and digitalization;
• The translation of critical success factors from project management concerning I4.0 to sustainability;
• Nexus of business leadership and product innovation through design thinking;
• Influence of digital product and process innovations on customers' profitable strategies in a global context;
• The potential of biological resources and policy to drive I5.0;
• I5.0 in the context of smart and sustainable manufacturing;
• Components that enable I5.0 for intelligent production systems;
• Cloud-based decision-making on information acquired from sensors;
• Power dispatch systems enabled by machine learning;
• I5.0 and the transformation driven by IoT, BDA, and AI;
• IoT technology, such as sensors and actuators in the I5.0 industrial process to help mass customization of products;
• Expansion of technology infrastructure, provision of budget support based on sustainable business models, standardization, and synchronization protocols;
• Taxonomies to help in implementing methods and algorithms for different I4.0 applications;
• Techniques to improve the security and efficiency of data transmission between IoT devices, exploring the use of deep learning and AI for monitoring;
• Connectivity and coexistence of human machines;
• Knowledge-based tasks and automation for humans and robots to measure cycle times;
• Application of social value orientation theory to the contexts of human machines and multi-agent systems;
• Soft robotics for industrial applications with a worker-centric approach;
• AI for robust mobile robotics solutions;
• The need for a strong workforce to adapt to workplaces and companies;
• New perspectives on human centrality in future smart manufacturing;
• An agent-based approach to explore the effects of human-robot interactions;
• Socio-technical skills in I4.0.

Original papers relating to the above topics that provide the latest scholarly information and case studies on S-OSCM and its applications are welcome.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

References

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Prof. Dr. Rodrigo Goyannes Gusmão Caiado
Prof. Dr. Antonio Márcio Tavares Thomé
Prof. Dr. Moacir Godinho Filho
Prof. Dr. Adauto Farias Bueno
Guest Editors

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