Reverse Logistics in the Setting of Industry 4.0: A Sustainability Perspective

Abstract: Circularity and sustainability, these are terms that are discussed in many different ways in current research due to the climate crisis. To face the challenges of the climate crisis and new consumer behaviour, the still emerging concept of Industry 4.0 is considered in different ways. When it comes to circularity, this thesis highlights and focuses on the circularity part of reverse logistics or in other words, the reverse flow of goods in a supply chain. These themes are interrelated but not seen as a whole by research so far. This thesis analyses which Industry 4.0 technologies can be used in reverse logistics, what economic, environmental and social effects they have and how they can be measured. Methodologically, we combine exploratory and explanatory research with a deductive way of reasoning, where we analyse data of 4 interviews and 2 surveys in at total 5 Swedish and German manufacturing companies out of the mining, construction equipment, electronics, fasteners and communication industry with a multi method qualitative approach. This is done with the help of literature related to Industry 4.0, reverse logistics as well as environmental, economical and social sustainability. Our results are that the most used Industry 4.0 technologies by manufacturing companies in reverse logistics are Big Data, CPS, IoT and AI. When it comes to sustainability effects and measurements, the companies mostly are focusing on economical and environmental sustainability, while social sustainability is not observed to a similar extent. Especially environmental effects are seen and measured as these figures are important and in demand at the market right now, while economical effects are more often measured with regular KPIs and social effects are not considered as much.