Table 2.

Potential Solution proposed that may assist firms while making a decision for I4.0 adoption

Potential solution (PS)	Definition	Source
Savings (reduction in energy consumption, overproduction)	The coordinated interaction across firm and predictions using big data analytics enhances process monitoring performances thereby facilitating timely identification of errors and reduce energy consumption, overproduction, and material wastage	Ding et al. (2018)
Using 6 R (recognise, reconsider, realise, reduce, reuse/repair, recycle)	First to recognize the opportunities offered by Industrial Upcycling. Next is to evaluate and reconsider or redesign manufacturing processes for benefits business. After recognition of the opportunities and reconsideration of business processes, we need to realize the business process improvement or innovation. Next step is to reduce the use of resources to achieve efficient outcomes is the essence of the methodology. Reusing the materials considered as useable prior to process improvement is next step of progression. Finally, recycling as much as possible is one of main expected outcomes of the Industrial Upcycling effort. The aim is the zero waste	Yadav et al. (2020)
Implementation of green initiatives and sustainable practices	Manufacturing units need to reduce solid wand effluent waste, emission, as well as the capacity to cut on the consumption of harmful/toxic materials. The firms should encourage the use of preservatives as per defined standards. This provides multifold benefits like improves operational performance, increases market share, positive brand image and give a competitive edge	Sharma et al., (2021)
Support, motivation, and job security from management	Clear conversation and right expectation from management should be discussed with employees. The managers should communicate in a manner that personnel feel motivated towards new innovations and have no fear related to job insecurities	Hofmann et al. (2017), Sharma et al., (2020b, 2020c)
Integration of digital and physical units (Transparency, Interoperability, Virtualisation)	Modular product design reduces information asymmetry and improve SC transparency. Application of digital technologies help to achieve interoperability and virtualization	Hofmann et al., (2017), Xu et al. (2018), Horváth et al. (2019), Zhang et al. (2019)
Environmental product design and life cycle analysis	Designing of product considering environmental aspects and effective life cycle analysis smoothens SSCM adoption	Liao et al., (2017), Yadav et al., (2020)
Sustainable resource management	Judicious usage of resources to reduce overuse and wastage	Zhong et al. (2017), Fatorachian and Kazemi (2018)
Adoption of safety standards	Existence of safety standards in the system ensures employee safety from accidents during supply chain
Educating users for recycling practices	Regular education for customers to execute recycling practices assist in improving sustainability adoption	Batista et al. (2018), Tseng et al. (2019)
Customer awareness and satisfaction	Awareness regarding ecological, ethical, and social concerns. Customisation and personalisation with affordable prices leads to satisfied consumers	Ding et al. (2018), Kumari et al. (2018)
Working on reduction of drug wastage and better drug disposal	Formulation of effective rules, strict regulations, policies for well-defined protocol for disposal of waste/drug	Ding et al. (2018)
Sustainable production that increases customer loyalty and brand image	Sustainable practices and I4.0 increase market share (economic status) of firm, improves brand image, provides the competitive edge, reduces environmental degradation and improves the overall supply chains performance	de Sousa Jabbour et al. (2018)
Policies with strict regulations	Firms should do product life assessment and follow government policies for better and sustainable products	Author own definition
Reduce GHG emissions, energy use, water wastage	With respect to the global environmental problems firms should develop eco-friendly and sustainable process to reduce GHG emissions, energy use, and water wastage	Author own definition
Organisational/institutional awareness	Working on initiatives that make other organizations recognize the long-term benefits of I4.0	Author own definition
Supplier support	Proactive interest and assistance from supplier and third -party partners towards I4.0	Author own definition
Ensuring regulatory compliance	In addition to government scrutiny the firms should follow regulatory pathways to sustain or accelerate growth rate using disruptive catalysts i.e. I4.0 technologies	Reinhardt et al. (2020)