Darker side of industry 4.0 and its impact on triple‐bottom‐line sustainability

Abstract

While the literature commonly prevails a positive outlook on how Industry 4.0 (I4.0) enhances sustainability, there exists an understudied aspect—the darker side of I4.0—that has negative implications and has not yet been systematically addressed. This research aims to challenge the assumption of a sustainable I4.0 by highlighting the potential negative implications of I4.0 technologies on sustainability, emphasising potential measures to mitigate such effects, and presenting a framework for a sustainable future. A dual research methodology was used to conduct this research work. The systematic literature review (SLR) method was used to synthesise the literature. Additionally, a questionnaire was sent to 34 manufacturing Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises (SMEs) to measure their current progress towards triple‐bottom‐line (TBL) sustainability. This SLR navigates through the complex multifaceted nature of the dark side of I4.0, including job displacement, wage disparity, cybersecurity risks, socio‐economic disparities, and environmental effects. This study presents a structured five‐step approach that emphasises the integration of cutting‐edge I4.0 technologies with a focus on sustainable development practices to address economic, environmental, and social issues for a sustainable I4.0 future. This article aimed to understand I4.0 as a whole phenomenon from the perspective of TBL sustainability. The originality of this research article lies in uncovering the hitherto less‐understudied negative aspects of I4.0 and presenting a complex interpretation of I4.0 and its impact on TBL sustainability.