Sustainability and Industry 4.0 in the packaging and printing industry: a diagnostic survey in Poland

Industry 4.0 (I4.0) became an important paradigm to bridge the gap between technologies and humans. The paper aims to diagnose sustainability performance and I4.0 maturity in Poland’s printing and packaging sector and identify research areas where further actions for improvements are necessary. This article adopts a mixed-method study combining in-depth interviews of eleven heterogeneous enterprises, supported with a quantitative survey on a representative sample of 301 companies. The findings revealed an insignificant correlation from a statistical point of view (0.44) between the adopted I4.0 technologies currently used and sustainable best practices. Internet of Things technologies are more often adopted in the printing industry (27.2 %) than in the packaging industry (14 %). The study concludes that using I4.0 technologies boosts the execution of sustainable practices and/or realising sustainable development practices requires I4.0 technology adoption. The paper clarifies that more in-depth analyses are needed to help achieve sustainable objectives for printing and packaging companies through digital technologies. The methodology is replicable and might be applied in other economies across separate multinational enterprises to influence sustainable digitalised business strategy

Design of Product-Service Systems in printing industry

Traditional manufacturing enterprises allocated all their attention, resources, and efforts to design, manufacturing, and selling their products on the market. Changes occurring in the marketplace, growing competition, and environmental measures have rendered this traditional approach insufficient. In order to keep pace with competitors and maintain the market position, manufacturing enterprises had to make changes to their business strategies. These changes consisted in offering higher customer value and assuming responsibility for manufactured products. This is how manufacturers’ operations have got shifted from manufacturing and selling products to providing services. On the other hand, customers are unwilling to invest huge amounts, possibly get indebted and be in the red so they are looking for solutions that would minimise investment outlays. What counts for them is, above all, the machinery working continuously at top speed and loss elimination. In addition, customers expect solutions that are tailored to meet their individual needs. They want to solve emerging problems swiftly and comfortably and expect the manufacturer’s support. Product-Service System (PSS) is a solution, in which products and services integrated together meet customer needs and generate higher value. To manufacturing companies it is an attractive solution allowing them to achieve economic, environmental, and social benefits. Through the integration of an offer and parties to the transaction the effectiveness of activities increases as each party focuses on its core duties. It is especially important in B2B (business-to-business) solutions. Designing new PSS for new industries is an important research area. Being able to design a PSS for industrial applications is seen as the key success factor. The study is aimed to identify the possibilities and limitations of using a Product-Service System in printing industry. There are some research methods that are used to attain the goal. They combine practical industry-specific knowledge in printing with the synthesis and analysis of Product-Service System-related literature. A PSS increases the effectiveness and efficiency of printing house operations and its financial analysis shows that there are long-term benefits to the manufacturer and user of printing machines. The study discusses problems faced by printing houses, services that they need, as well as how and for what periods machines can be made available under a PSS arrangement. Data were collected from 80 printing houses. Results of conducted studies indicate that printing industry falls short of PSS-based solutions. On the other hand, it is important to know that printing houses are interested in them. The working out of a Product-Service System for printing industry expands the lifecycle of a printing machine and provides services that meet the needs and requirements of the printing house. These studies make a valid input into the development of PSS for a new industry, in this case, for the printing industry. They also suggest an innovative approach to PSS design based on practical knowledge of manufacturers and users of printing machines. Close cooperation with printing machine user is worth highlighting

Development of an e-business selection framework for manufacturing SMEs : a study of the printing industry

The aim of the research is to develop an e-business selection framework for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by integrating established techniques in planning. The research is case based, comprising four case studies carried out in the printing industry for the purpose of evaluating the framework. Two of the companies are from Singapore, while the other two are from Guangzhou, China and Jinan, China respectively. To determine the need of an e-business selection framework for SMEs, extensive literature reviews were carried out in the area of e-business, business planning frameworks, SMEs and the printing industry. An e-business selection framework is then proposed by integrating the three established techniques of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), Value Chain Analysis (VCA) and Quality Function Deployment (QFD). The newly developed selection framework is pilot tested using a published case study before actual evaluation is carried out in four case study companies. The case study methodology was chosen because of its ability to integrate diverse data collection techniques required to generate the BSC, VCA and QFD for the selection framework. The findings of the case studies revealed that the three techniques of BSC, VCA and QFD can be integrated seamlessly to complement on each other’s strengths in e-business planning. The eight-step methodology of the selection framework can provide SMEs with a step-by-step approach to e-business through structured planning. Also, the project has also provided better understanding and deeper insights into SMEs in the printing industry

Contextual impacts on industrial processes brought by the digital transformation of manufacturing: a systematic review

The digital transformation of manufacturing (a phenomenon also known as "Industry 4.0" or "Smart Manufacturing") is finding a growing interest both at practitioner and academic levels, but is still in its infancy and needs deeper investigation. Even though current and potential advantages of digital manufacturing are remarkable, in terms of improved efficiency, sustainability, customization, and flexibility, only a limited number of companies has already developed ad hoc strategies necessary to achieve a superior performance. Through a systematic review, this study aims at assessing the current state of the art of the academic literature regarding the paradigm shift occurring in the manufacturing settings, in order to provide definitions as well as point out recurring patterns and gaps to be addressed by future research. For the literature search, the most representative keywords, strict criteria, and classification schemes based on authoritative reference studies were used. The final sample of 156 primary publications was analyzed through a systematic coding process to identify theoretical and methodological approaches, together with other significant elements. This analysis allowed a mapping of the literature based on clusters of critical themes to synthesize the developments of different research streams and provide the most representative picture of its current state. Research areas, insights, and gaps resulting from this analysis contributed to create a schematic research agenda, which clearly indicates the space for future evolutions of the state of knowledge in this field

Quality Management Implementation Among Commercial Printing Companies in Malaysia

Providing experienced and skilled people at all levels in the printing business are essential elements to building a business model that can help business performance towards global standards. The global printing industry issue is always related to print quality and productivity, moreover as a priority in achieving customer satisfaction. The issues of quality and productivity are relevant to be addressed to determine the survival of commercial printers. This study explored the Senior Managers and the owner of the companies in Malaysia Small and Medium Printing enterprises' perspective on quality management implementation. This research focuses on SME commercial printers in Malaysia and ten Senior Managers and the owner of the companies have been interviewed. This empirical study derived on three main categories, including the advantages and challenges of implementing quality management and the strategies adopted in sustaining it. Keywords: Management; commercial printing; challenge and strategy eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under the responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians), and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v7iSI7.383

How do Australian small and medium enterprises communicate their corporate social responsibility activities online?

Much of the existing research on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) focuses on large firms, with comparatively little on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The SME research focuses on barriers and drivers to CSR and neglects how SMEs communicate their CSR activities. This paper addresses this gap by reporting on a content analysis of 443 Australian SME websites which identifies how they are using this channel to communicate their CSR activities.<br /

New Trends in Development of Services in the Modern Economy

The services sector strategic development unites a multitude of economic and managerial aspects and is one of the most important problems of economic management. Many researches devoted to this industry study are available. Most of them are performed in the traditional aspect of the voluminous calendar approach to strategic management, characteristic of the national scientific school. Such an approach seems archaic, forming false strategic benchmarks. The services sector is of special scientific interest in this context due to the fact that the social production structure to the services development model attraction in many countries suggests transition to postindustrial economy type where the services sector is a system-supporting sector of the economy. Actively influencing the economy, the services sector in the developed countries dominates in the GDP formation, primary capital accumulation, labor, households final consumption and, finally, citizens comfort of living. However, a clear understanding of the services sector as a hyper-sector permeating all spheres of human activity has not yet been fully developed, although interest in this issue continues to grow among many authors. Target of strategic management of the industry development setting requires substantive content and the services sector target value assessment

European smart specialization for Ukrainian regional development: path from creation to implementation

The focus of the research is to develop recommendations of smart specialization (SS) for Ukrainian policymakers using European approaches. The authors revealed that the main SS projects are presented in such sectors as agri-food, industrial modernization and energy. More than 12 EU countries were the plot for conducted analysis of SS, as a result of which the level of activity of each country was determined. The creation of consortiums, including SMEs, associations, universities and other participants, disclosed the successful way of SS realization. The structure of SME’s innovative potential in Ukraine was identified underlining their main characteristic features like types of innovations and innovative activity, differentiation according to enterprise size, their regional distribution. The authors explored lack of innovations on regional and national level and significant territorial disparities, which could be eliminated through policy implementation of regional SS. The existing legislative norms for possibility of SS implementation in Ukraine were analyzed due to correspondence with the EU ones. The analysis provides the opportunity to consider them only as general framework documents without any action plans and sectoral prioritization at all. The weak points of these law documents are emphasized. As a result of research, the authors developed recommendations presented by direct action plan for Ukrainian policymakers, which include such activities as underlining key priorities (especially ICT applicability in every SS project) and their correspondence with the EU ones; eliminating regional imbalances by focusing on innovation development and reorientation of some regions according to SS priorities; respecting regional existing capacities; providing organizational mechanism for cooperation of stakeholders and financial mechanism for SS support through the EU structural funds