STUDY OF SELECT ISSUES OF INDUSTRY 4.0 AND CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Abstract

Manufacturing industry offers one of the greatest opportunities for India, not only to spur economic growth but also for job creation and driving innovation. It has transformed the landscape from mass production to customized production. With digital transformation being a crucial component in achieving an advantage in this fiercely competitive industry. To achieve this target, “Make in India”, “Digital India” and “Samarth Udyog Bharat 4.0” must be integrated with the principles of Industry 4.0 and make the transition to smart manufacturing. The Government of India is gradually progressing on the road to Industry 4.0 through the Government of India’s initiatives like the National Manufacturing Policy, which aims to increase the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25 percent by 2025. Further, the transformation of traditional manufacturing and production practices due to emerging Industry 4.0 technologies allows substantial improvements in business operations, processes, productivity, quality, and manufacturing networked systems. According to the report given by waste management society of India, the adoption of a circular economy in India may result in yearly benefits of $624 billion by 2050 and a 44% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The circular economy plays a vital character in preserving the environmental condition and creating an ecological balance to encourage the recycling of waste products. Therefore, the research work aims to consider the execution of Industry 4.0 and circular economy across India’s manufacturing industry. A review of the existing literature reveals that studies on Industry 4.0 and the circular economy are still in a nascent stage of development and major challenges pertaining to adoption and implementation, circularity decisions, legal informatics implementation, and triple bottom line performance measurement systems are under-represented in existing research and need to be investigated further. Therefore, this thesis provides qualitative as well as quantitative methods to fill the research gaps by using survey methods, case studies, statistical models and conceptual frameworks associated with select issues from the viewpoint of the Indian manufacturing

industry. A survey of Indian manufacturing industry was carried out to explore the various factors related to Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy. Based on the hypotheses development, a questionnaire was developed and distributed through email and Google form links. Further, a questionnaire was divided into eight sections that cover all the important factors corresponding with Industry 4.0 and circular economy implementation in Indian manufacturing industry. A total of 370 forms were distributed to the Indian manufacturing industry and overall 120 responses from manufacturing industry were found relevant to descriptive analysis and hypotheses testing. The questionnaire's validity and reliability were tested extensively by statistical analysis. The hypotheses based on various factors were developed and tested through structural equation modelling methodology. It was found from the survey and hypotheses testing that circularity decisions are the significant factors which affect the triple bottom line performance of the Industry 4.0 and circular economy. Furthermore, the present research established a performance measure framework which is based on triple bottom line perspectives of sustainability with the help of a value engineering approach. The research work aims to implement value engineering and circular economy concepts and develop a cost-effective product with reduced power consumption, CO2 emissions and minimum wastage of raw material. Further, these findings may be useful for industrialists and researchers in implementing value engineering and circular economy effectively in their practices. The research work further identified and prioritized key challenges of Industry 4.0 and circular economy implementation through ANP Fuzzy-TOPSIS methodology in an Indian manufacturing organization. A model for the circularity index was developed through graph theory and matrix approach, which calculates the maximum circularity index and percentage of circularity.

The research work contributed to the very limited studies available on circularity decisions by establishing a method for selecting the optimum circularity index through graph theory and matrix approach. The research work also incorporates the sustainability concepts into the Industry 4.0 and circular economy and contributes to the very few studies available on integration of sustainability with Industry 4.0 and circular economy from the perspective of Indian manufacturing organizations. The present study investigates the following important contribution to the research work.  An extensive review of Industry 4.0 and circular economy have been carried out that focused on theoretical aspects, conceptual frameworks, maturity models and other building blocks. Based on the detailed literature analysis while considering both qualitative and quantitative aspects, the research work has identified the research gaps and formulated the research objectives of the study that integrated with various issues and challenges on which the study was conducted.  The research motivated the Indian manufacturing industry and made a major contribution to the very few articles that are available corresponding to Industry 4.0 and circular economy implementation from the Indian manufacturing organization.  A detailed questionnaire was established and a survey of the Indian manufacturing organization was carried out. The results of descriptive analysis and hypotheses of the survey may be useful for industrialists and managers to have a better insight into the Indian manufacturing industry. It may also establish the foundation for further investigation of the manufacturing industry.  To perform descriptive analysis and hypotheses testing, hypotheses were developed associated with drivers, barriers, enablers, key challenges, circularity decisions, and value engineering benefits and their association with the performance of Industry 4.0 and circular

economy. The researchers and industrialists may employ the findings of the hypotheses for identifying and analyzing these factors for improving Industry 4.0 and circular economy performance.  A case illustration of a barrel manufacturing industry has been discussed and supported that very limited case studies are available for Indian manufacturing organizations integrated to value engineering and circular economy.  A framework integrating the concept of value engineering into circular economy is established to evaluate the triple bottom line performance of the circular economy. The framework provides that the very few studies are available on performance measuring systems of product development and circular economy, especially from triple bottom line perspectives.  The research work identified and prioritized the major issues and challenges for the Indian manufacturing Industry using ANP Fuzzy-TOPSIS methodology. Very limited studies were available on key challenges for the Indian manufacturing organization. The findings of the research may be useful for researchers and industrialists in decision-making to ensure the easy execution of Industry 4.0 to develop a circular economy.  A circularity decision framework was established with the help of identifying the several circularity attributes and evaluating the optimum circularity alternative through graph theory and matrix approach. The results of the study may improve the circularity performance of Industry 4.0 and circular economy. In addition, the circularity framework may also be useful for industrialists and managers in circularity decisions and measurement of the circularity index while allocating with the quality and quantity of return products.  A conceptual framework has been established to facilitate the integration of Industry 4.0 into the field of legal informatics. It has been concluded that the implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies may help legal informatics systems achieve their goal. It may also support

lawmakers to align jurisprudence by enabling advanced information technology to improve the existing legal justice system