مقاله انگلیسی رایگان در مورد برآورد آمادگی زنجیره تامین هوشمند و سطح بلوغ SMEs – الزویر 2022

Abstract

     A Smart Circular Supply Chain (SCSC) integrates both Industry 4.0 (I4.0) and Circular Economy (CE) concepts into supply chain in response to achieving sustainable goals/agenda. The purpose of this paper is to assess SCSC readiness and maturity level of SMEs considering different stakeholders from a multi-layered perspective. For this aim, a conceptual framework was proposed and accomplished through a case study of SMEs in Turkey’s textile industry. Such integrated approach to holistically assessing SCSC readiness and maturity makes a unique contribution to the field. The highlights of this study are summarized as follows: (1) approaching readiness and maturity in transitions by focusing on systems theory; (2) identifying the dimensions of readiness and maturity in transitions to I4.0 and CE; (3) assessment of readiness and maturity level of SMEs in transition to CE and (4) assessment of readiness and maturity level of SMEs in transition to I4.0 within the supply chain.

Introduction

     According to the United Nations, the global population has grown from 3 billion in 1960 to 7.7 billion in 2019 and it is expected to reach 8.5 billion in 2030 (Balestrucci, 2020, United Nations, 2019). Such rapid and substantial growth has significantly raised the demand for natural resources, which is increasing the pressure on natural ecosystems and can potentially lead to catastrophic environmental consequences (Balestrucci, 2020, Nykvist et al., 2009). One of the major organizational responses to this global challenge is the Circular Economy (CE). Unlike the linear economy, CE avoids generating waste and improves the reuse of resources by utilizing the cradle-to-cradle design (Kayikci et al., 2022b). More broadly, CE is an economic model aiming at the effective use of natural resources for waste minimisation, expansion of product life cycles, removal of primary resources, and closed-loops of goods, components of products, and materials in the context of environmental sustainability and socio-economic advantages (Morseletto, 2020). Such aims of CE can be obtained by various business models (Sehnem et al., 2022), such as shared consumption models, products-as-services, CE regenerative principles (repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing, replacement, regeneration, recovery, etc.), and industrial symbiosis.

Conclusion

     With the rising population, the value of CE in the utilization of scarce resources grows continually. Therefore, transition into a circular model of the economy has become a requirement. The purpose of this study is the evaluation of both readiness and maturity level for I4.0 and CE perspectives in SMEs. For a successful CE or I4.0 transition, reaching a certain level in the supply chain is not sufficient. Regardless of how ready or mature the firm is, it should also be at the same level as other stakeholders in the supply chain. Multi-dimensions encompassing the whole supply chain were included in the development of the proposed framework for determining the readiness and maturity levels of SMEs regarding I4.0 and CE in the supply chain as the systems theory suggests. The development of the readiness and maturity model for both I4.0 and CE can be considered as the major contribution of this study. This study examined the ecosystem participants of the supply chains (e.g., stakeholders) and their multi-tier perspectives to present a holistic perspective of the supply chain. This is the first study to assess both the readiness and maturity level of I4.0 and CE in the supply chain. The main limitation is that it was applied to only four companies in the same supply chain ecosystem, although these were specifically selected based on their different levels of readiness and maturity.