Changes in Sustainable Development in Manufacturing in Cases of Unexpected Occurrences—A Systematic Review

Abstract

Nowadays, managers are facing the challenge of operating in situations of high uncertainty: delayed deliveries, lack of energy or rising energy and gas costs, the need to replace energy sources, and changing supply and sales markets. In the literature, two dominant trends in the activities of enterprises in the face of crises can be distinguished: (I) changes in supply chain management (increased flexibility by searching for local suppliers); and (II) transition to digital production and investment in technologies in the concept of Industry 4.0 or even Industry 5.0, such as artificial intelligence, 3D printing, robots, cyber-physical systems, digital manufacturing, and blockchain. A gap in the research has been observed in examining the impacts of these actions on the implementation of sustainable solutions and designating organizational changes in manufacturing. The main goal of this study is to review the literature using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) for data collection and, secondly, the methodology of Systematic Literature Review (SLR) and Mapping in Literature Reviews (MLR). Our literature review of the selected databases is based on 566 published articles in 2020–2022. The achieved results indicate the main organizational changes in the context of sustainable development in manufacturing, namely in the business management area (adopting Sustainable Project Management (SPM), Sustainable Supply Chain Management practices, Sustainable Supplier Selection (SSS), and Resilient Manufacturing Strategy (RMS)) and in the production area (adopting Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled Additive Manufacturing assists, simulation software, and Life Cycle Assessment. The findings of our study revealed key relationships between the adoption of fifth-generation industrial technologies and the sustainable development of manufacturing.