Digitalisation in Sustainable Manufacturing – A Literature Review

The purpose of this insight paper is to provide an overview of early studies implemented on examining the influence and impacts of Digitalisation in sustainable manufacturing, with the key focus towards the new Digital Supply Chain (DSC), through the implementation and adoptability of Industry 4.0 parameters within the context of sustainable manufacturing. There have been few literatures that discusses the evolution and transformation of the transformation of traditional manufacturing methods through comparisons of conceptual models and state of art reviews of digitalisation and industry 4.0 with specific focus on digitisation within supply chain processes. Through early studies within literature, it was noted that there is a gap in linking Sustainable Manufacturing practices to the new elements and actors of industry 4.0 and its wider impacts on DSC. Hence, the authors aim to explore firstly, sustainable manufacturing and the practices adopted within supply chain, with specific case of food manufacturing sectors, before finally examining the literature concerning the focus of digitalisation in manufacturing processes.