Social Manufacturing: from the theory to the practice

Goal: This scientific research article focuses on understanding the new manufacturing paradigm of Industry 4.0 called social manufacturing. The study aims to consolidate the concept of social manufacturing by characterizing and evaluating its theoretical potential, identifying its main practical trends, and correlating its state-of-the-art with its state-of-the-practice. Design / Methodology / Approach: The first step was the consolidation of the concept of social manufacturing through bibliographic analysis. Then, real-world cases were identified and classified under the optics of social manufacturing to define the current practice. Lastly, confronting the concept of social manufacturing with existing methods depicted a clear panorama, including academic and practical opportunities. Results: The results show a trend towards social manufacturing. New challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, are pushing forward social collaboration initiatives related to manufacturing. The most advanced conceptualized stage occurs theoretically, as mass individualization is still not a reality. New scenarios of limited resources and challenging environments such as the COVID-19 pandemic will impose the broader dissemination and application of mass customization concepts, practices, and tools. Limitation of the investigation: This research only considered articles published in English. Practices were analyzed using third-party content available. Practical implications: New scenarios of limited resources and challenging environments such as the COVID-19 pandemic impose the broader dissemination and application of mass customization concepts, practices, and tools. Originality / Value: The term social manufacturing in the literature has yet to be consolidated. In addition, no comparison between theory and practice was available.