Manufacturing enterprises today are forced to face radical challenges in the disruptive concepts of Smart Manufacturing (SM) and Industry 4.0 to stay competitive. Most Multinational Enterprise (MNEs) have initiated their journey towards adopting SM. As a mainspring of many manufacturing economies, Small and Medium-Enterprise (SMEs) are still struggling to understand the complexity offered in SM, and many of them are not ready to embrace the concept of SM. To overcome this, SMEs first need to assess their readiness and maturity before embarking on an SM journey. The existing available readiness assessment model seems to be suitable for MNEs, and there is still a lack of tailored models that suit SMEs. This paper sought to pinpoint the conceptual framework from the review of the existing readiness-maturity assessment and identify the gap of existing model as well as proposed a tailored model framework that are suitable for SMEs. Ultimately, this model will be used to pursue a comprehensive scholarly study across Malaysia. The proposed model is enhanced with 4M attributes as the dimension and embedded with the characteristic of Industry 4.0 build component to help the SME’s overcome the possible uncertainties in adopting SM concept.

This paper investigates the adoption of Industry 4.0 in developing countries, emphasizing the unique challenges these economies face compared to advanced nations. Despite the global spread of digital technologies such as automation, big data analytics, and the Internet of Things (IoT), adoption in resource-constrained contexts remains limited due to inadequate infrastructure, financial restrictions, skill gaps, and organizational resistance. To address these issues, the study employs a bibliometric methodology, analyzing 398 journal articles indexed in Web of Science through co-word and bibliographic coupling techniques. This approach enables the mapping of dominant themes, influential research clusters, and key gaps in the literature. The results highlight five thematic areas: global technological developments, sustainability integration, adoption barriers, implementation practices, and strategies for overcoming obstacles. Findings indicate that while challenges are considerable, Industry 4.0 can enhance productivity, stimulate Innovation, and support sustainability by strengthening supply chains and promoting efficient resource use. The study also reveals that transformative benefits can only be realized when supportive policies, international collaboration, private-sector participation, and workforce development are followed in a coordinated manner. The research contributes to theory by linking Industry 4.0 adoption to sustainability frameworks such as the Circular Economy and the Sustainable Development Goals. It also offers practical guidance for policymakers, SMEs, and managers on designing context-sensitive strategies tailored to developing economies. By providing a structured overview of challenges and opportunities, the study lays a foundation for future empirical research and offers actionable insights for advancing sustainable industrial transformation.

The desire to balance environmental sustainability and food security is causing a significant upheaval in the agricultural sector. This study investigated how prepared stakeholders are to embrace agriculture in Industry 4.0, which integrates green, intelligent, and sustainable technologies like blockchain, IoT, and AI. Although these advances promise increased resilience and efficiency, they present significant obstacles to implementation, such as inadequate infrastructure, socioeconomic inequality, and a lack of technology awareness. This study highlights these technologies' theoretical and managerial implications and finds critical gaps using bibliometric and thematic analysis. To overcome adoption obstacles, it emphasizes the significance of inclusive policies, strategic alliances, and capacity-building programs. The study concludes that these impediments must be addressed to secure food systems for future generations and align agriculture with global sustainability goals. Longitudinal studies, stakeholder-centric methodologies, and investigating emergent technology synergies are among the suggestions for future research.

Toyota Motor's success as a global brand automobile manufacturer has inspired manufacturing organizations worldwide to pursue lean transformation. However, a lack of understanding of lean sustainability hampers their progress towards achieving true lean organization status like Toyota. Without proper measurement, the gains from lean improvements remain unknown, leading to inaccuracies in strategy deployment. This chapter aims to define sustainable lean transformation gains and propose indicators to measure them. Extensive literature review reveals the importance of tangible and intangible indicators. To validate the proposed measurements, a survey involving 7 lean experts and 92 practitioners was conducted. Data analysis utilized content validity index, inter-rater agreement, and measurement model analysis. The chapter concludes by suggesting research opportunities to enhance lean management knowledge. Request access from your librarian to read this chapter's full text.

The literature on Industry 4.0 adoption has predominantly focused on large enterprises in developed economies, with limited empirical evidence from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in developing economies, where organizational preparedness and resource constraints hinder technology incorporation. This study investigates the role of awareness, challenges, perceived benefits, and readiness in the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies and their contribution to industrial sustainability among manufacturing SMEs in Pakistan. The objectives are to assess the relative influence of these factors on adoption status and to provide strategic recommendations for enhancing sustainable production and competitiveness. A descriptive cross-sectional research design was employed, and data were collected through an online survey of 200 SME managers in the manufacturing sector. Correlation and regression analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS to examine relationships between variables. The results indicate that awareness and understanding significantly influence the adoption of Industry 4.0, whereas challenges and perceived benefits show lower direct effects on adoption. The overall regression model explains 49.1% of the variance in adoption status, highlighting awareness as the primary driver. The findings emphasize the potential of Industry 4.0 to improve operational efficiency, optimize resource utilization, and support sustainable manufacturing in SMEs. The study offers actionable insights for policymakers and stakeholders by identifying low-cost, high-impact interventions such as targeted awareness campaigns, capacity building, and institutional support systems to accelerate digital transformation in developing economies.