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Introduction
Industry 4.0 modernizes traditional manufacturing by integrating advanced technology [21]. Smart manufacturing enhances supply chain flexibility through automation, shared business planning, alternative routes, and supplier diversification [49]. It supports managing stakeholder engagement, improving operational flexibility, and resource management efficiency [10]. It also provides effective data management solutions [28]. This progression builds upon Industry 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0, with emerging technologies transforming design, manufacturing, and transport, driving wider industry adoption [45, 50, 62].
Industry 4.0 enhances productivity, efficiency, and sustainability in a dynamic world. Its technologies support its integration into manufacturing, fostering competitiveness in the digital transformation journey [34]. However, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) drive the sugar industry in developing nations. Their inclusion in Industry 4.0 and sustainability initiatives strengthen supply chain resilience and economic sustainability [48]. Identifying the proper requirements for adopting new technologies and aligning them with organizational culture remains challenging. Ensuring market competitiveness also requires mitigating the negative impacts of industry-wide adoption [36].
Organizations often struggle with integrating cutting-edge technologies, particularly within Industry 4.0. Managing these innovations demands expert knowledge, while high initial hardware, software, and training costs pose additional barriers [23]. SMEs, in particular, may find these expenses prohibitive. Despite Industry 4.0’s potential to drive growth, process industries struggle to fully capitalize on it due to a lack of empirical evidence and frameworks [47].
Industry 4.0 applications [8] could maximize resource efficiency and productivity in sugar manufacturing. However, the high cost of implementation remains a challenge [31]. Financial constraints are a significant barrier to adoption [43]. Studies have identified twelve key barriers to Industry 4.0 implementation, including organizational culture, leadership, management challenges, and the absence of standardized reference architecture [13, 14, 25, 46, 55].
This research focuses on developing economy nations. India is a developing economy where Industry 4.0 can transform key industries like sugar production. The agriculture-driven economy of India makes it an ideal case for studying Industry 4.0 adoption in traditional industries like sugar. This study examines how Industry 4.0 can enhance efficiency and sustainability in India's sugar industry.
The present research seeks to address the above-mentioned gaps in the extant literature by addressing the following research questions:
What are the different aspects of I4.0 adoption in the sugar industries of developing nations?
How can the sugar sector...