A strategic framework for achieving sustainable and digital manufacturing systems

Currently, companies need to consider the environmental and societal impacts of their processes and stay up to date with technological changes enabled by Industry 4.0 to maintain their competitive advantage. This situation reveals the need to align digitalization principles with sustainable manufacturing. Although the literature on digitalization and sustainable manufacturing is well developed separately, there is a gap in knowledge regarding a structure for sustainable and digital manufacturing (S&DM) systems. With this perspective, this study aims to develop a scale for digitalization and sustainable manufacturing and guide organizations by proposing a strategic framework. A multi-stage research design is followed to achieve S&DM systems. Two different research methods were used. Firstly, an S&DM scale is developed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), which identifies the main factors to be considered in transitioning to S&DM systems. Secondly, a focus group discussion defines a criterion set based on the S&DM scale. Finally, a strategic framework is presented, enabling sectoral or organizational implementations by proposing measures for each criterion and an action plan to achieve S&DM systems. At the end of the study, a strategic framework comprising measures and an action plan to achieve S&DM systems is proposed. The outputs of this study are expected to benefit both industry and academia by developing a scale that captures the key aspects of S&DM from a macro perspective and by designing a flexible framework for organizations that can be used according to sectoral needs.