Resumo

This paper provides a comprehensive, systematic review of the literature on Industry 4.0 - and on the trends and implications of the digitalization of manufacturing - from the perspective of Business and Economics.

This paper develops a bibliometric study of the literature on Industry 4.0, from the perspective of Business and Economics. Bibliometric research aims to analyze the scientific production in a certain area, characterizing the literature, its trends, relevance and impact and, additionally, seeks to establish connections between themes, authors and academic communities, among other aspects (Chueke & Amatucci, 2015; Ozdagoglu et al., 2020).

According to Schwab (2016), the Fourth Industrial Revolution combines the digitalization of manufacturing with the integration of the digital, physical, and biological spheres. This literature is extremely recent – 90% of the publications are from 2019 and 2020, and the leading journal publishing in this area is the Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management. Key clusters identified relate digital transformation to value chains; a close link is observed between Industry 4.0 technologies and business models; a strong connection to sustainability is also clear.

After this comprehensive and systematic bibliometric study, we discussed the key clusters and the main thematic axes as pointers for future research. The main trends and the state of the art in this literature were analyzed – including themes such as the link between digital transformation and value chains; the technologies underlying Industry 4.0 and the impact of their use in the business models; the link between Industry 4.0, innovation and sustainability; the relationship between manufacturing industry, technology, and SMEs; and the implications for human.

The challenges brought by Industry 4.0 are important and ever present. Governments all over the world are launching public policies, programs and strategies to accompany and stimulate this process, and to create competitive advantage via the deployment of technologies and managerial practices associated to Industry 4.0. Our research concluded, beyond any doubt, that this is a flourishing area of interest in the literature on Business and Economics.

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