A General Outline of a Sustainable Supply Chain 4.0

Abstract

This article presents a literature review to identify the current knowledge of supply chains 4.0 from the sustainability perspective. Reviewed papers were classified in terms of objectives, results, and sustainability approaches. Additionally, a critical discussion with the main results and recommendations for further research was carried out. Manufacturing supply chains have been contemplated but agri-food supply chains and chains related to diversified cropping systems have been also considered. In this way, 54 articles were identified and revised, and were classified according to the three main aspects of sustainability: economic, social, and environmental. The classification of articles indicated that more attention has been paid to the environmental aspect in the industry 4.0 (I4.0) context in the literature, while the social aspect has been paid less attention. Finally, reference frameworks were identified, along with the I4.0 models, algorithms, heuristics, metaheuristics, and technologies, which have enabled sustainability in supply chains.