Towards Industry 4.0 Mapping digital technologies for supply chain management-marketing integration

• Published in: Business process management journal Vol. 25; no. 2; pp. 323 - 346
• Main Authors: Ardito, Lorenzo, Petruzzelli, Antonio Messeni, Panniello, Umberto, Garavelli, Achille Claudio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bradford Emerald Group Publishing Limited 20-03-2019
• Subjects: Analytics; Big Data; Business process reengineering; Cloud computing; Customer relationship management; Customer services; Cybersecurity; Data analysis; Data management; Data processing; Digital technology; Industrial applications; Industry 4.0; Information processing; Innovations; Inventory; Knowledge management; Marketing; Studies; Suppliers; Supply chain management; Supply chains; Value chain
• ISSN: 1463-7154; 1758-4116
• DOI: 10.1108/BPMJ-04-2017-0088

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive picture of the innovative efforts undertaken over time to develop the digital technologies for managing the interface between supply chain management and marketing processes and the role they play in sustaining supply chain management-marketing (SCM-M) integration from an information processing point of view.
Design/methodology/approach
Patent analysis and actual examples are used to carry out this study. In detail, first, the authors identify the subset of enabling technologies pertaining to the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) that can be considered the most relevant for effective SCM-M integration (i.e. Industrial Internet of Things, Cloud computing, Big Data analytics and customer profiling, Cyber security). Second, the authors carry out a patent analysis aimed at providing a comprehensive overview of the patenting activity trends characterizing the set of digital technologies under investigation, hence highlighting their innovation dynamics and applications.
Findings
This research provides insightful information about which digital technologies may enable the SCM-M integration. Specifically, the authors highlight the role those solutions play in terms of information acquisition, storage and elaboration for SCM-M integration by relying on illustrative actual examples. Moreover, the authors present the organisations more involved in the development of digital technologies for SCM-M integration over time and offer an examination of their technological impact in terms of influence on subsequent technological developments.
Originality/value
So far, much has been said about why marketing and supply chain management functions should be integrated. However, a clear picture of the digital technologies that might be adopted to achieve this objective has yet to be revealed. Thus, the paper contributes to the literature on SCM-M integration and Industry 4.0 by highlighting the enabling technologies for the Industry 4.0 that may particularly serve for managing the SCM-M interface from an information processing perspective.