Industry is currently undergoing a revolution (called Revolution 4.0) related to the far-reaching integration of all production areas through the digitization and the creation of new communication channels. The Polish economy generated a GDP of USD 524.5 billion in 2017, of which small and medium enterprises generated about 50% of revenue and in which microenterprises accounted for the largest share in generating GDP; i.e., around 30.2%. The aim of the research is to determine the adaptation possibilities of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) sector to Industry 4.0 solutions. Pilot research was carried out in the Czestochowa Industrial District. Enterprises from the SME sector were asked to provide an information about the used technologies and to determine the level of their organization’s readiness for sustainable development through technological transformation. Financial resources as well as a lack of specialized support in obtaining new technologies were defined as problems as far as transformation is concerned. The solution of the diagnosed problem is the development of a platform aimed at integrating the potential of enterprises from the SME sector in order to undertake joint actions for sustainable development.

Job satisfaction has a big impact on how an employee performs his job. Both elements have an impact on job safety and employee perception of it. A satisfied employee devotes himself to work, performs orders better, cares for others and for himself. He feels safe in the enterprise. The aim of the paper was to assess employees' job satisfaction and their work performance with use of simply survey. In order to achieve this aim, a survey was conducted among employees of a chosen metallurgical enterprise who were asked to assess level of their job satisfaction. The employees defined their job satisfaction by referring to 20 statements describing this satisfaction and evaluating three factors that were used to compute the satisfaction index. The survey allowed for indication the general level of employee satisfaction.

Energy from hydrogen is an appropriate technological choice in the context of sustainable development. The opportunities offered by the use of energy from hydrogen also represent a significant challenge for mobile technologies and daily life. Nevertheless, despite a significant amount of research and information regarding the benefits of hydrogen energy, it creates considerable controversy in many countries. Globally, there is a lack of understanding about the production process of hydrogen energy and the benefits it provides, which leads to concerns regarding the consistency of its use. In this study, an original questionnaire was used as a research tool to determine the opinions of inhabitants of countries in which hydrogen energy is underutilized and where the infrastructure for hydrogen energy is underdeveloped. Respondents presented their attitude to ecology, and indicated their knowledge regarding the operation of hydrogen energy and the use of hydrogen fuel. The results indicate that society is not convinced that the safety levels for energy derived from hydrogen are adequate. It can be concluded that knowledge about hydrogen as an energy source, and the production safety and storage methods of hydrogen, is very low. Negative attitudes to hydrogen energy can be an important barrier in the development of this energy in many countries.

Personalization, mobility, deliveries on the same day, and perhaps artificial intelligence—all of these elements will shape e-commerce in the near future. It is necessary to consider what features and standards online shops will have to meet in order to achieve success and to adapt to the changing preferences and requirements of the customer and their awareness of the perception of the environment through the prism of, for example, sustainable development. This means there is a need to specify a set of attributes that will influence the decision to use the services of a given e-shop. Despite all efforts, many online shops fail because they do not meet the expectations of customers. At the same time, meeting customer expectations is a big challenge for newly emerging e-shops. There are many studies on sustainable development in e-commerce, but there is no specific methodology for e-shop design, especially in the aspect of sustainable development. The authors propose a methodology based on Kano’s model and customer satisfaction to explore customers’ stated needs and unstated desires and to divided them into different groups with different impacts on customer satisfaction. In this paper, a case study on the attributes of customer satisfaction for a newly opened e-shop with organic products, which is to operate in the countries of Central Europe and takes into account selected assumptions of sustainable development, was presented. The research took the form of an original (authorial), universal survey that can be used in other similar research. A total of 1069 correctly completed surveys were taken into account for the analysis. Respondents indicated 16 must-have features for the e-shop in order to make customers benefit from its services and 11 one-dimensional features that will determine the level of customer satisfaction. Among the must-have features, there were those related to sustainable development, which indicates the environmental awareness of potential customers. The obtained results were given to the management of the research e-shop and were included during the design of its operation. After one to two years of e-shop operation, the results will be verified.

The paper presented the findings obtained by industrial research and experimental development on the use of rare earth metals (REMs) in the production of heavy steel ingots and their impact on the internal quality of the 42CrMo4 grade steel forging. REMs alloying was carried out after vacuuming the steel. A relatively large melting loss of cerium (about 50%) and its further decrease in casting due to reoxidation were observed. Refinement of structure and better mechanical properties of forged bar containing about 0.02 wt.% of Ce compared to that of the standard production were not achieved. The wind power shaft with content of about 0.06 wt.% of Ce showed high amount of REM inclusions, which were locally chained, and in some cases, initiated cracks. Four stoichiometrically different types of REM inclusions were detected in forgings, namely (La-Ce)₂O₂S + (La-Ce)O₂ + SiO₂ (minority); oxygen, phosphorus, arsenic, and antimony bound to lanthanum and cerium probably bonded with iron oxides La + Ce, MgO, Al₂O₃ a SiO₂; (La-Ce)₂O₂S, FeO, SiO₂, and CaO or CaS.

Supply chain management is one of the most important elements of sustainable development. And due to the fact that the world market is driven by supply and demand, and the determinant of access to products is regional and international logistics, this paper focuses on the possibilities of implementing a green transport strategy in the context of sustainable development in logistic enterprises. This paper presents the results of the SWOT analysis pointing out the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats of green vehicles market for the transport enterprises. It was noticed that the situation on the green vehicles market for the transport enterprises is characterized by the advantage of strengths and these strengths should be used to maximize the use of green vehicles. It emphasized that subsidies for green vehicles would allow to invest in a modern fleet, new solutions (e.g. own charging stations) can have an impact on the greater energy efficiency (self-sufficiency), increase of social awareness would force enterprises to take appropriate actions in the field of environmental protection and development of public transport based on green vehicles.