Contextual Impacts on Industrial Processes Brought by the Digital Transformation of Manufacturing: A Systematic Review

Marco Savastano, Carlo Amendola, Francesco Bellini and Fabrizio D’Ascenzo
Additional contact information
Marco Savastano: Management Department, Sapienza University of Rome, Via del Castro Laurenziano 9, 00161 Rome, Italy
Fabrizio D’Ascenzo: Management Department, Sapienza University of Rome, Via del Castro Laurenziano 9, 00161 Rome, Italy

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 3, 1-38

Abstract: The digital transformation of manufacturing (a phenomenon also known as “Industry 4.0” or “Smart Manufacturing”) is finding a growing interest both at practitioner and academic levels, but is still in its infancy and needs deeper investigation. Even though current and potential advantages of digital manufacturing are remarkable, in terms of improved efficiency, sustainability, customization, and flexibility, only a limited number of companies has already developed ad hoc strategies necessary to achieve a superior performance. Through a systematic review, this study aims at assessing the current state of the art of the academic literature regarding the paradigm shift occurring in the manufacturing settings, in order to provide definitions as well as point out recurring patterns and gaps to be addressed by future research. For the literature search, the most representative keywords, strict criteria, and classification schemes based on authoritative reference studies were used. The final sample of 156 primary publications was analyzed through a systematic coding process to identify theoretical and methodological approaches, together with other significant elements. This analysis allowed a mapping of the literature based on clusters of critical themes to synthesize the developments of different research streams and provide the most representative picture of its current state. Research areas, insights, and gaps resulting from this analysis contributed to create a schematic research agenda, which clearly indicates the space for future evolutions of the state of knowledge in this field.

Keywords: digital transformation; digital manufacturing; Industry 4.0; smart manufacturing; sustainable innovation; business process innovation; business model innovation; technology and innovation management; systematic literature review; literature analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (24)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/3/891/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/3/891/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:3:p:891-:d:204465

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().