A Literature-Based Survey on Industry 4.0 Technologies for Procurement Optimization

Abstract

To survive in the market and acquire a competitive edge, industries need to invest in advanced technology. However, most companies fail due to poor integration of technology in their supply chain. The concept of Procurement 4.0 has emerged to optimize supply chain performance developing new value propositions and meeting new business needs. It is the integration of Industry 4.0 concepts in procurement. Although Industry 4.0 concepts have been studied in different industrial contexts, a limited number of researches have been conducted on the use of emerging technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Big data and Cognitive analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Cloud technologies, etc. in relation procurement while more existing researchers have focused web-based applications which facilitates real-time communication across supply chains. Therefore, the applicability of industry 4.0 technologies in procurement should be investigated. In this research, a literature survey involving systematic identification and review of 45 articles published in different sources between 2000 and 2019 was carried out to identify different emerging technologies that can be used across the procurement process. Further, the results include the applications of these technologies in the different areas of procurement that supports procurement optimization.