Industry 4.0: the future of manufacturing from the perspective of business and economics – a bibliometric literature review

Purpose This paper aims to provide a comprehensive, systematic review of the literature on Industry 4.0 – and on the trends and implications of the digitalization of manufacturing – from the perspective of business and economics. Design/methodology/approach A bibliometric methodology was used, allowing to extract rigorously the relevant literature, leading to a purposefully constructed database of peer-reviewed publications depicting the state of the art in this area. A quantitative analysis of the key characteristics of – and trends emanating from – the literature was performed, and results were presented in a graphic way using the VOSViewer software as a mapping tool. Relevant thematic clusters were identified, and promising future research avenues were identified. Findings This literature is extremely recent – 90% of the publications are from 2019 and 2020, and the leading journal publishing in this area is the Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management . Key clusters identified relate digital transformation to value chains; a close link is observed between Industry 4.0 technologies and business models; a strong connection to sustainability is also clear; and the implications of Industry 4.0 for human resources management are, not surprisingly, extremely relevant. Originality/value This is, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the most comprehensive systematic review linking specifically Industry 4.0 to the business and economics literature, bridging with recent, state-of-the-art research in the economics/business and technological fields. This contribution may be very helpful to researchers interested in understanding the key trends and opportunities offered by this area.