An Investigation upon Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 within the Context of Sustainable Development Goals
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The article is very interesting and deals with an innovative and high-impact area. However, there are some aspects that need to be improved:
Introduction: Well structured. Figure 1 is not clear, the resolution needs to be improved and the font size needs to be increased.
Materials and methods: Too much definition of each SDG. The questions of some of the SDGs are too broad and not very specific, as it is necessary for users to know what Society 5.0 is, for example.
Sample size: The results are too focused on the sample of university teachers, is this representative to draw conclusions, as they are people with a high level of education and training, so the results are not representative of the population. This may compromise all the results.
Discussion: Well structured but it would be necessary to include a space for general conclusions of the study with the limitations of the study and a well-developed future projection.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer;
Firstly, I would like to state my gratefulness to you because of your comments and contributions. In accordance with your suggestions, I made the following changes;
Point 1: Introduction: Well structured. Figure 1 is not clear, the resolution needs to be improved and the font size needs to be increased.
Response 1: Figure 1 is updated with a better resolution photo.
Point 2: Too much definition of each SDG. The questions of some of the SDGs are too broad and not very specific, as it is necessary for users to know what Society 5.0 is, for example.
Response 2: The definition of SDGs was reduced and made clear.
Point 3: Sample size: The results are too focused on the sample of university teachers, is this representative to draw conclusions, as they are people with a high level of education and training, so the results are not representative of the population. This may compromise all the results.
Response 3: When the sample size is considered, we stated the reason why we chose academicians for our study both in the methods (i.e. sample) part and also in the conclusion part as a limitation of the study.
“The selection of the sample is of great significance in terms often presenting and studying a subject matter or topic scientifically. Due to fact that it involves private and technical information, it seems impossible to ask questions about every kind of subjects to the general public. To give an example, limited and superficial information can be obtained when the general public is asked for their opinions regarding devices with artificial intelligence and their use in the field of production. Bearing this in mind, the academicians working at the university was selected as the sample for the present study so as to get detailed information about and obtain accurate interpretations upon Society 5.0 and Industry 4.0, being a strategic approach and involving high technology in its content. Despite the fact that Society 5.0 will influence the whole society, it is expected that only a limited number of politicians, academicians and business will play an effective role on this issue. For this reason, the present study was carried out with academicians in accordance with the natural course of life. Within Kafkas University, the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, the Faculty of Engineering and related Vocational High Schools, which were thought to have higher level of knowledge about the issue, were given priority.”
“The main limitation of the study involves carrying out the study only with the academicians at a state university in Kars, Turkey. However, it becomes impossible to get information from the general public due to the fact that the topic is a current one and involves many technological elements.”
Point 4: Discussion: Well structured but it would be necessary to include a space for general conclusions of the study with the limitations of the study and a well-developed future projection.
Response 4: The conclusion part was strengthened with details and limitations and suggestions for further studies were added.
“The main limitation of the study involves carrying out the study only with the academicians at a state university in Kars, Turkey. However, it becomes impossible to get information from the general public due to the fact that the topic is a current one and involves many technological elements. Bearing this in mind, investigating Society 5.0 is thought to provide many benefits in terms of local authorities, SMEs, disaster management, human resources management and empowering women labor.”
Thank you for your attention and great support to the study.
Sincerely,
Reviewer 2 Report
Dear authors, thank you for your submission to Sustainability. Please consider the following points thoroughly to improve your mansucript:
The introduction is quite lengthy and hard to follow. Maybe it makes sense to better strucutre with subheadings a) what the research gap and contribution of this manuscript is b) what Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 is, and c) What the relationships between both concepts are.
I do not know if it makes sense to introduce all SDGs in detail and then condense them to two categories. The same applies for the Industry 4.0 measurement scales. Without knowing the results, it might make sense to look at all SDGs in detail and analyze their results for a broader set of relationships between Industry 4.0 and SDGs. In the current version, it might be the case that due to condensing many SDGs into two categories, better statistical realationships are lost. The same might apply for Industry 4.0 where a lot of items are lost due to AVE etc.
The method must be explained more in detail. The justification why academics were used, if those are knowledgeable for this study, how they were informed etc. is vital content that is missing. What are the sample and selection biases that might result from this, how was this countered in the study? Was there different disciplines of academics covered that could influence the results etc.?
The discussion, in the current way, does not deliver too many insights. Maybe, it makes sense to a) discuss the impact for Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0, b) their interconnection and c) the SDGs.
The literature on Industry 4.0 and Society is quite generic, many references are rather outdated and should be replaced or complemented with works on a) interconnection of Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 and B) Industry 4.0 and SDGs etc. Likewise, the conection of several SDGs with Industry 4.0 could be shown much more in detail. Please see several suggestions below:
Industry 4.0 and humans:
Cirillo, V., Rinaldini, M., Staccioli, J., & Virgillito, M. E. (2021). Technology vs. workers: the case of Italy’s Industry 4.0 factories. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 56, 166-183.
Müller, J. M. (2019). Assessing the barriers to Industry 4.0 implementation from a workers’ perspective. IFAC-PapersOnLine, 52(13), 2189-2194.
Industry 4.0 and TBL of sustainability,Cicular Economy etc.:
Birkel, H. S., & Müller, J. M. (2020). Potentials of Industry 4.0 for Supply Chain Management within the Triple Bottom Line of Sustainability–A Systematic Literature Review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 125612. Rahman, S. M., Perry, N., Müller, J. M., Kim, J., & Laratte, B. (2020). End-of-Life in industry 4.0: Ignored as before?. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 154, 104539. SDGs and Industry 4.0 on a broader level: Chen, M., Sinha, A., Hu, K., & Shah, M. I. (2021). Impact of technological innovation on energy efficiency in industry 4.0 era: Moderation of shadow economy in sustainable development. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 164, 120521. Dantas, T. E. T., de-Souza, E. D., Destro, I. R., Hammes, G., Rodriguez, C. M. T., & Soares, S. R. (2020). How the combination of Circular Economy and Industry 4.0 can contribute towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainable Production and Consumption. Please complement the article with the above-named references, among further relevant articles.Author Response
First of all, I would like to express my gratitude for your precious comments and suggestions to improve the article. I took your suggestions into consideration and made the following changes in the article;
Point 1: The introduction is quite lengthy and hard to follow. Maybe it makes sense to better strucutre with subheadings a) what the research gap and contribution of this manuscript is b) what Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 is, and c) What the relationships between both concepts are.
Response 1: The introduction is divided into 2 sections. The newly created literature review is organized under 2 subtitles.
- Introduction,
- Literature Review,
2.1 Industry 4.0,
2.2. Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 Relationship
Point 2: I do not know if it makes sense to introduce all SDGs in detail and then condense them to two categories. The same applies for the Industry 4.0 measurement scales. Without knowing the results, it might make sense to look at all SDGs in detail and analyze their results for a broader set of relationships between Industry 4.0 and SDGs. In the current version, it might be the case that due to condensing many SDGs into two categories, better statistical realationships are lost. The same might apply for Industry 4.0 where a lot of items are lost due to AVE etc.
Response 2: The details of SDGs were reduced and their relationship was expressed in the article.
The results of SPSS, AMOS and Smart PLS played a role in making this distinction. Statistically, it has been determined by the programs used that such a distinction will be brought to the best result.
Point 3: The method must be explained more in detail. The justification why academics were used, if those are knowledgeable for this study, how they were informed etc. is vital content that is missing. What are the sample and selection biases that might result from this, how was this countered in the study? Was there different disciplines of academics covered that could influence the results etc.?
Response 3: The reason why the academicians formed the sample for the study was justified both in the methods part and as the limitation of the study in the conclusion part.
“The selection of the sample is of great significance in terms often presenting and studying a subject matter or topic scientifically. Due to fact that it involves private and technical information, it seems impossible to ask questions about every kind of subjects to the general public. To give an example, limited and superficial information can be obtained when the general public is asked for their opinions regarding devices with artificial intelligence and their use in the field of production. Bearing this in mind, the academicians working at the university was selected as the sample for the present study so as to get detailed information about and obtain accurate interpretations upon Society 5.0 and Industry 4.0, being a strategic approach and involving high technology in its content. Despite the fact that Society 5.0 will influence the whole society, it is expected that only a limited number of politicians, academicians and business will play an effective role on this issue. For this reason, the present study was carried out with academicians in accordance with the natural course of life. Within Kafkas University, the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, the Faculty of Engineering and related Vocational High Schools, which were thought to have higher level of knowledge about the issue, were given priority.”
“The main limitation of the study involves carrying out the study only with the academicians at a state university in Kars, Turkey. However, it becomes impossible to get information from the general public due to the fact that the topic is a current one and involves many technological elements.”
Point 4: The discussion, in the current way, does not deliver too many insights. Maybe, it makes sense to a) discuss the impact for Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0, b) their interconnection and c) the SDGs.
The literature on Industry 4.0 and Society is quite generic, many references are rather outdated and should be replaced or complemented with works on a) interconnection of Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 and B) Industry 4.0 and SDGs etc. Likewise, the conection of several SDGs with Industry 4.0 could be shown much more in detail. Please see several suggestions below:
Response 4: The literature was reconsidered and literature review part was formed seperately.
“Due to reasons such as sustainable energy policy, economic growth, development of new working models, high and effective production, safe and smart waste management and use of infrastructure systems reasonably and sustainably, there is a direct relationship between Industry 4.0 and SDG7, SDG-8, SDG-9, SDG-11, SDG-12 and SDG-13. However, the Society 5.0 embodies all the SDGs.
“The Industry 4.0 confronts us as a development planning to achieve skilled labor in Germany which feels itself incompetent by giving priority to industrial production and to draw back the production which shifted towards Far Eastern countries to Germany. At the stage of applying Industry 4.0, it was aimed that human labor was decreased and replaced by other technologies such as sensors, robots and artificial intelligence. Through Society 5.0, however, it was intended that the technology used in Industry 4.0 could be used by the whole society in accordance with the aims of SDGs and goals would be created accordingly. Even though they share similarities in terms of technology created and used, the Industry 4.0 aims at industrial production while Society 5.0 aims at the whole society. Industry 4.0 calls for more economical, error-free and faster production through use of new technologies [96]. The businesses are expected to adopt Industry 4.0 by making changes in their organizational structure so as to be able to maintain their competition advantage and to accommodate themselves to market conditions [97]. The changes in organizational structures benefit the businesses and countries economically, ecologically and socially [98]. Decreasing carbon emission, decreasing recycling actions and performing more effective recycling processes, producing more environmentally friendly products, providing more opportunities for the employees to take part in management positions instead of heavy and contaminating jobs thanks to more effective production form several of the benefits provided by Industry 4.0 [75,96,98,99]. Those developments aim at providing benefits especially for Japan and Germany. In this way, the price of products produced in Japan and Germany will fall, which in turn will increase competition and customer satisfaction. On the other hand, the negative effect formed by Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 will be mostly felt by the developing and underdeveloped countries. The businesses which have canalized their productions towards countries such as Turkey, Brazil, China, Vietnam and Bangladesh will move their productions back to their own countries due to high cost of labor force. Moreover, the competition conditions as well as faster, more effective and less costly production structure will weigh against small firms.”
“The main limitation of the study involves carrying out the study only with the academicians at a state university in Kars, Turkey. However, it becomes impossible to get information from the general public due to the fact that the topic is a current one and involves many technological elements. Bearing this in mind, investigating Society 5.0 is thought to provide many benefits in terms of local authorities, SMEs, disaster management, human resources management and empowering women labor. “
Dantas, T.E.T.; de-Souza, E.D.; Destro, I.R.; Hammes, G.; Rodriguez, C.M.T.; Soares, S.R. How the Combination of Circular Economy and Industry 4.0 Can Contribute towards Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainable Production and Consumption 2021, 26, 213–227, doi:10.1016/j.spc.2020.10.005.
Chen, M.; Sinha, A.; Hu, K.; Shah, M.I. Impact of Technological Innovation on Energy Efficiency in Industry 4.0 Era: Moderation of Shadow Economy in Sustainable Development. Technological Forecasting and Social Change 2021, 164, 120521, doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120521.
Birkel, H.; Müller, J.M. Potentials of Industry 4.0 for Supply Chain Management within the Triple Bottom Line of Sustainability – A Systematic Literature Review. Journal of Cleaner Production 2021, 289, 125612, doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125612.
Cirillo, V.; Rinaldini, M.; Staccioli, J.; Virgillito, M.E. Technology vs. Workers: The Case of Italy’s Industry 4.0 Factories. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics 2021, 56, 166–183, doi:10.1016/j.strueco.2020.09.007.
Rahman, S.M.; Perry, N.; Müller, J.M.; Kim, J.; Laratte, B. End-of-Life in Industry 4.0: Ignored as Before? Resources, Conservation and Recycling 2020, 154, 104539, doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.104539.
Müller, J.M.; Voigt, K.-I. Sustainable Industrial Value Creation in SMEs: A Comparison between Industry 4.0 and Made in China 2025. Int. J. of Precis. Eng. and Manuf.-Green Tech. 2018, 5, 659–670, doi:10.1007/s40684-018-0056-z.
Thank you for your great support and attention.
Sincerely,
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
In my opinion, most of the issues to be corrected have been resolved. However, I still do not agree with the sample chosen as I still think that it compromises the results obtained.
Reviewer 2 Report
Dear authors, thank you for your revisions. I believe that all points have been addressed. I understand that some limitations such as the sample or low path coefficients cannot be solved. If the paper goes into another review round, a better contribution/ suggestions for further research section could be established.
