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Supply Chain 4.0

Enabling market-driven strategies

MARTIN CHRISTOPHER

It is sometimes difficult to realize that even only 30 or 40 years ago the

world was quite a different place. The last few decades of the 20th century
were characterized by steady economic growth in many countries, new
markets were emerging, and new sources of supply were being developed,
enabling lower input costs for a diverse range of industries. It was also the
period when the concept of supply chains was originally developed and
defined. In a seminal paper, Oliver and Webber1 first coined the phrase
‘supply chain management’ and other scholars and commentators began to
articulate the benefits of improving inter-firm collaboration.2
New tools and techniques were starting to impact management practice.
The just-in-time movement had begun, and its principles were widely imple-
mented across a range of industries. The use of information technology
transformed the ability to manage complex supply/demand networks.
Indeed, this was the period that some have termed the Third Industrial
Revolution – driven in large part by the computer and the development of
the Internet. It can be argued that this revolution was as transformative as
its two predecessors – the First Industrial Revolution being driven by the use
of steam and water power and the Second by the use of electricity to enable
mass production and the development of the modern factory.
Great though the impact of these industrial revolutions has been, it is
now suggested3 that the coming of the next revolution could be even more
profound in terms of its impact upon supply chains and how we manage
them. This next wave of change has become widely known as Industry 4.0 –
indeed, a Fourth Industrial Revolution.

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Industry 4.0 as an idea emerged in the early years of the 21st century.
Originating from a government-backed initiative in Germany (known
correctly as Industrie 4.0), the term is used as an umbrella to cover a number
of related innovations including the automation of the man–machine inter-
face, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and the development of connectivity,
particularly through the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing. The
intended aim of Industry 4.0 is to enable the delivery of greater customer
value through customized solutions using fewer resources.
Hermann et al4 have identified a number of design principles for the
wider application of Industry 4.0 in business:

●● Interoperability: enabling communication, through the Internet of Things,

between people, machines and cyber-physical systems.
●● Virtualization: physical processes are monitored through sensors and
other means and the data generated can be used to create virtual models
of the system.
●● Decentralization: cyber-physical systems are capable of making decisions
autonomously with reporting on an exception-only basis.
●● Real-time capability: through sensors, barcodes, RFID tags and other
means, the performance of the system can be constantly monitored and
progress tracked.
●● Service orientation: through cloud-based computing and other means,
the functions provided by cyber-physical systems can be made available
to others as a service.
●● Modularity: modular systems are able to rapidly adapt to changing
requirements through a ‘plug and play’ capability.

Using these design principles, it is possible to envisage the creation of supply/

demand networks that are capable of responding in short timescales to an
ever-changing business environment. In a world of increasing uncertainty and
volatility, this capability will be a valuable source of competitive advantage.
When these ideas are incorporated into the practice of supply chain manage-
ment, we might justifiably term this phenomenon ‘Supply Chain 4.0’.

The changing shape of customer demand

A trend that has been apparent for several decades, but which has gathered
pace in recent years, is the growing demand from customers for customized and

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 ENABLING MARKET-DRIVEN STRATEGIES 3

individually tailored solutions. This is true in both business-to-consumer (b2c)

and business-to-business (b2b) markets. It is no longer sufficient for companies
to present a ‘one size fits all’ offer along the lines of Henry Ford’s reported state-
ment that his customers could buy a car in ‘any colour, as long as it is black’!
Now companies must be able to cope with the provision of products and
services that are specific to an individual customer. At the same time, there is an
increasing trend in some sectors such as apparel towards a greater customer
involvement in the design and specification of the product (eg Nike’s ‘Air Zoom
Pegasus 36 by you’, which provides multiple options for the consumer to
choose from) – a trend that has been termed by some ‘co-creation’.5
This fundamental shift in the pattern of demand from a homogenous
market to one that is becoming ever more heterogeneous presents a challenge
to conventional wisdom in manufacturing and logistics. Since the first indus-
trial revolution, much of management thinking has been driven by the concept
of ‘economies of scale’. The idea of scale economies is that the greater the
volume, the lower will be the unit cost. To achieve these economies requires
larger batch sizes and maximum utilization of capacity, be that in manufac-
turing or in logistics. Clearly whilst such an approach will bring down unit
costs, it will dramatically reduce flexibility and limit customer choice.
Today, in the face of universal demand from customers for customized
products and solutions, the idea of economies of scale has to be replaced
with what some have called ‘economies of scope’ – in essence, being able to
offer greater variety from the same resources. It is in facilitating this transi-
tion from scale to scope that Supply Chain 4.0 can play a significant role, in
particular by enabling the ‘batch size of one’.
The ‘batch size of one’ is in a sense a philosophical notion, and whilst in
some business environments it may never be achieved, it should still be set
as a ‘stretch’ target. If products and solutions can be designed, manufactured
or assembled and shipped in units of one – at a profit – individual customi-
zation can become a reality. Already we have seen how advances in rapid
manufacturing, eg 3D printing, can make this possible in a growing number
of industries. Simultaneously, developments in robotics and autonomous
vehicles have the potential to make the distribution of smaller quantities
economically viable.

From mass markets to ‘segments of one’

For the best part of a century the focus of much marketing effort was on
seeking ways to serve the ‘mass market’. With a focus on efficiencies and

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economies of scale, the objective was to maximize volume and to produce

standard products for a homogenous customer base. Such an approach was
highly appropriate given the needs of the time. However, at some point in
the mid-20th century, a new consumer began to emerge with greater levels
of disposable income and with individual needs for which they sought
specific solutions. Marketers responded to this trend by developing strate-
gies based upon the idea of segmentation.6 The concept of market
segmentation was simple: group customers into cohorts who were alike on
some specific dimensions and different from other consumers who were
placed into separate segments. In this way specific marketing strategies
could be devised for each segment, enabling a more effective means of meet-
ing the needs of a heterogeneous market.
Initially these segments would be relatively large to enable some level of
differentiation to be provided whilst still maintaining efficiencies in produc-
tion and logistics. However, as competition increased and the degree of
choice became even greater, markets fragmented into ever smaller segments.
Now the challenge is to find ways in which these ‘micro’ segments – or in the
extreme, ‘segments of one’ – can be served.
One approach to this challenge is the idea of ‘mass customization’.7 The
principle behind mass customization is that individual needs can be catered
for whilst still enabling production efficiencies to be achieved through scale
economies. The means by which these two apparently conflicting outcomes
can be achieved is through a ‘de-coupling’ of the value-creation process. One
way to bring about this de-coupling is through the design of products that
can be late-configured by postponing the final assembly, manufacture, pack-
aging and distribution. To facilitate this process, modules or semi-finished
items can be held as strategic inventory ahead of the precise customer
requirement being known. Once an order is received, the final product can
be assembled/manufactured/packaged, enabling a much higher degree of
responsiveness.
To facilitate this postponement strategy, it is necessary to recognize that
the supply chain begins on the drawing board. What this means is that prod-
ucts should be designed so that they are essentially modular, or capable of
multi-stage manufacture or assembly. If this is possible, the core modules or
elements can be manufactured ahead of demand, in volume, and held as
strategic inventory until the actual customer requirement is known. This
strategic inventory is in effect the ‘de-coupling point’. After that point, final
products can be assembled or manufactured to individual customer specifi-
cation. Through this process it becomes possible to achieve economies of

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 ENABLING MARKET-DRIVEN STRATEGIES 5

scale up to the de-coupling point, and then after that point transition to a
business model based upon the economies of scope. In this way, overall
supply chain costs can be reduced whilst customer choice and hence satis-
faction is increased.
Whilst this idea of postponement has been around for a long time8 and
has been quite widely adopted in many industries in recent years, its real
potential may well be realized through the advent of Supply Chain 4.0
because it provides the ability to respond more quickly and flexibly and to
reduce the batch size.

Transitioning from ‘forecast-driven’ to ‘demand-driven’

The ultimate purpose of any supply chain is to serve customers. It is easy to
lose sight of this simple truth when surrounded by a constant flow of tech-
nological innovation. In today’s world, one of the most powerful means by
which a business can differentiate itself from the competition is through its
ability to meet customer demand faster and better than those competitors
can. Traditionally supply chains have been designed from the factory
outwards, not from the customer backwards. They are production-driven
rather than demand-driven, meaning that they focus primarily on achieving
supplier efficiencies rather than enhancing market effectiveness.
One reason for this conventional production-driven philosophy is that
when lead times are long and visibility of real consumer demand is poor, it
is inevitable that organizations have to plan and forecast in advance.
Consequently, because of the lengthy forecast horizons, these forecasts have
often had poor levels of accuracy. One of the potentially transformative
aspects of Supply Chain 4.0 in general and IoT connectivity in particular is
that supply chain end-to-end visibility will be dramatically improved. As a
result, response times can be reduced, and higher levels of agility can be
achieved. This means that the forecast horizon is shortened and thus fore-
cast accuracy should be improved. At the same time the forecast will be
enriched and enhanced by the incorporation of additional insights provided
by data analytics drawing upon multiple data sources. Where it is possible
to utilize AI and machine learning, these forecasts will no longer be predic-
tive but rather will anticipate actual demand. All in all, a powerful virtuous
circle can be created which will provide a real foundation for the develop-
ment of demand-driven supply chains.

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 6 SUPPLY CHAIN 4.0

Whilst the potential promise of Industry 4.0 is massive, there are many
hurdles to be overcome if this promise is to be realized. Clearly the ground-
breaking technology that is now available – or is close to being
developed – can significantly enable manufacturing and logistics to be
streamlined and to become more efficient than they are today. However, to
make the breakthrough from the past to the future will require a fundamen-
tal change in the way in which we think about the process of matching
supply with demand. In particular we need to break with the conventional
wisdom that can be summarized as ‘forecast-driven’ management. For
centuries the foundation of manufacturing management has been that
demand should be planned for on the basis of a forecast. Because typically
lead times have been long – often measured in months rather than weeks or
days – there has been the necessity to plan ahead if there is to be any chance
of matching demand with supply. Forecast-driven management implies the
building of finished goods inventory in anticipation of demand. As a result,
the costs are increased but also paradoxically service failures will still occur
because of errors in those forecasts.
The longer the forecast horizon, the greater will be the forecast error. It
follows therefore that reducing lead times has to be the goal for organiza-
tions seeking to improve product availability at less cost and with lower
risk. Alongside lead-time reduction is the need to constantly refresh the fore-
cast using data that is current and relevant to the market that we seek to
serve. Hence the twin objectives for managers seeking to improve the match-
ing of demand and supply should be to focus on lead-time reduction and to
capture demand-relevant data in as close to real time as possible.
Customers, as we have previously noted, are seeking more customized
solutions delivered in ever shorter timeframes. Suppliers in both b2b and
b2c markets are faced with customers whose service expectations are
continually rising. As a result, it is becoming increasingly evident that the
goal for companies today has to be to transition from a forecast-driven busi-
ness model to one that is capable of responding to demand as it happens.
Making the transition from forecast-driven to demand-driven will not be
easy, but it can be facilitated by a better use of data. The aim should be to
provide greater customer insight through the exploitation of multiple data
streams captured in as close to real time as possible. Classic ‘mechanistic’
forecasts, which are usually based upon historical data, have poor levels of
accuracy when faced with a rapidly changing business environment. Whilst
longer-term forecasts at a higher level of aggregation will still be required to
plan for the acquisition of resources and capacity, the day-to-day response

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 ENABLING MARKET-DRIVEN STRATEGIES 7

to market demand should be informed by data that enables the anticipation

of actual customer requirements. The use of analytics and ‘big data’9 can
dramatically improve forecast accuracy by enabling the faster interpretation
of events and by aiding the understanding of the underlying drivers of
demand.

The impact of Supply Chain 4.0 on agility

Agility is the ability of the organization to adjust rapidly to unexpected
changes in supply or demand conditions. It is not a single company concept
but rather it extends from one end of the supply chain to the other. No
matter how agile the business itself may be in terms of its internal processes
and procedures, it will make little difference if the company is reliant upon
upstream or downstream partners who lack agility.
Agility across the supply chain obviously relies upon partnership and
collaboration. Beyond this, however, there are two key drivers of agility:
visibility and velocity – both of which can be significantly enhanced by the
use of Supply Chain 4.0 technologies.
The role of visibility and velocity in enhancing agility and hence respon-
siveness can be explained by reference to the idea of the ‘supply chain
fulcrum’. Since the fundamental objective of supply chain management is to
balance supply and demand, we can represent this as a set of scales with a
box labelled ‘D’ for demand on one side, which has to be balanced on the
other side by an equivalent amount of ‘supply’. Supply comes in two forms:
inventory (ie physical product) or capacity (ie the ability to source or make
the product). Whether supply comprises more or less inventory (I) than
capacity (C) doesn’t matter as long as the sum of I and C equals demand (D).
Figure 1.1 illustrates this principle.

FIGURE 1.1 Inventory and capacity balancing demand

D
I C

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FIGURE 1.2 Less inventory and capacity needed as the fulcrum gets closer to demand

D I C

Now imagine that the fulcrum is moved closer to the box marked D, as in
Figure 1.2. Simple physics tells us that the same amount of demand can be
balanced with less inventory and/or less capacity.
What the fulcrum reflects here is how close to actual demand we can get
before we respond with a commitment to supply. In reality, moving the
fulcrum closer to demand requires first that we can see what is actually
happening to demand in as close to real time as possible (ie visibility).
Second, it requires a rapid response with the shortest attainable lead time (ie
velocity).

How might the application of Supply Chain 4.0 thinking

and practice enhance both visibility and velocity?
The smart technologies that underpin Supply Chain 4.0 can significantly
improve visibility across a network by their ability to recognize demand
patterns and to interpret demand signals. It can monitor rates of usage in
real time and enable continuous replenishment of product, meaning that less
inventory, particularly safety stock, is required. The flow of materials from
source to user can be tracked and traced and disruptions to that flow can be
identified sooner.
Velocity can be increased as a result of shorter lead times, which may be
achieved through rapid manufacturing, automation and better management
of the man–machine interface. Queuing time can be reduced or eliminated
by dynamic scheduling of production using smaller batch sizes, and autono-
mous vehicles and robotics will provide the flexibility necessary to enable
more rapid response to customer requirements.
Whilst these technologies are still evolving, the promise that they present
is the ability to create a truly demand-driven supply chain capability.
The impact of Supply Chain 4.0 on supply chain management will be
significant. However, one of the barriers to reaping the benefits is the lack of
shared information across boundaries – both within the business and between

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partners in the network. The advent of 5G cellular network technology will

make it possible to capture data at multiple points across the supply chain
and to share that data instantaneously with all the parties in the supply chain.
Smartphones and IoT devices will collect data in real time relating to sales,
orders, shipments, inventory levels and all the information necessary to
manage supply and demand more efficiently and effectively.
The arrival of the new technologies that underpin Industry 4.0 is particu-
larly timely given the transformation highlighted earlier in this chapter that
has been taking place in many markets – the shift from the mass market to
the increased fragmentation and segmentation of the customer base.

Shifting centres of gravity

All supply chains have a centre of gravity. The location of this point is deter-
mined by the relative strength of various supply-side and demand-side
vectors. These vectors, or forces, are outside the control of the organization
and are constantly changing. Examples of supply-side vectors would include
differing labour costs in different countries and the availability of materials
and resources and transport costs. On the demand side, the vectors likely to
impact the supply chain’s centre of gravity might include: changing demo-
graphics in the marketplace, changing customer preferences and levels of
disposable income, and the rise and/or decline of industrial sectors.
The dynamic interplay of these vectors will lead to a constantly shifting
centre of gravity, meaning that the focal firm will require higher levels of
agility and flexibility to ensure a competitive cost base alongside a capability
for rapid response. The idea that competitive advantage can be achieved
through the ability to better cope with constant change underpins the
concept of ‘dynamic capabilities’.10
Dynamic capabilities are the means by which firms can respond rapidly
to unexpected changes in the business and market environment. At their
simplest, dynamic capabilities are a reflection of the agility and flexibility
that underpin the fundamental business processes and routines, eg a new
product development process that enables rapid time to market. Beyond
this, however, the ultimate dynamic capability is the ability of the organiza-
tion to rapidly reconfigure its internal and external structures and
relationships. This capability has been termed ‘structural flexibility’.11
Structural flexibility reflects the ability of the supply chain to adapt or

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 10 SUPPLY CHAIN 4.0

r­ econfigure its architecture in response to unexpected changes in either the

demand side or the supply side of the business – in other words, a shift in the
supply chain’s centre of gravity.
Paradoxically, because so many organizations have focused on efficiency
and have business models that are based upon economies of scale, they often
lack the ability to change pace or direction quickly. Typically, these busi-
nesses will have built networks that were designed to minimize cost rather
than maximize responsiveness. They probably have invested in bricks and
mortar assets, eg factories and distribution centres, and as a result would
find it difficult to reconfigure their supply chain arrangements at short
notice.
However, for those organizations that are prepared to embrace the
opportunities provided by Supply Chain 4.0, the picture could be much
different. The reason for this optimism is that Supply Chain 4.0 has the
potential to enable much higher levels of connectivity across the supply/
demand network with all the benefits that this can deliver.

Supply Chain 4.0 provides the key to connectivity

Whilst the phrase ‘supply chain’ is widely used, it would be more accurate
to talk about networks or webs since the reality is that every business is reli-
ant on multiple external linkages for their survival. Managing these complex
webs has become even more challenging with the rise of outsourcing and
offshoring. Whereas in the past the business might have undertaken many of
the value-creating activities in-house, today the firm is likely to be depend-
ent on many other parties to enable it to create value for its customers. It has
been suggested12 that companies no longer compete as individual entities
but rather as supply chains. Thus, there is a need for the highest levels of
collaborative working across the network to ensure that a competitive
advantage can be achieved and maintained. For this reason, there is now a
greater concern to ensure the maximum degree of connectivity across the
nodes and links of the supply/demand network.
‘Connectivity’ is the term given to the means by which the different play-
ers and entities involved in these value-creating webs can seamlessly interface
and interact with each other. Whilst the need for collaboration and commu-
nication across supply chains has long been recognized as a vital prerequisite
for competitive success, it has often proved difficult to achieve. One reason

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 ENABLING MARKET-DRIVEN STRATEGIES 11

for this lack of progress is that, until recently, employing the technology for
enabling real-time end-to-end connectivity has not been a practical and
viable proposition for many businesses.
Now, however, many of the barriers to the rapid capture, analysis and
sharing of data and information have been removed through the develop-
ments associated with Supply Chain 4.0.
The more that organizations transition towards what some have called
‘virtual’ organizations – as a result of outsourcing – the more the need for
higher levels of connectivity. Connectivity is also essential in the building of
networks with greater structural flexibility. Because structural flexibility
requires an ability to reconfigure networks rapidly as circumstances change,
there is a parallel requirement for an open architecture where data can be
shared easily amongst the current members of the network.
None of this can happen without a high degree of trust amongst all the
members of the network and a willingness to work collaboratively. Whilst
the technology exists to capture and share data, from one end of the supply
chain to the other, through sensors, RFID tags and the like, its full potential
can only be realized if all parties agree to opening up the information high-
way. At the same time there has to be a willingness to align processes across
corporate boundaries and to commit to greater standardization of protocols
and procedures.
The challenge is to find a way around the hurdles and seek out a means
to implement Supply Chain 4.0.

Implementation
Most of the discussions that take place around the theme of Industry 4.0 are
primarily concerned with technology. However, to apply the ideas underpin-
ning Industry 4.0 to supply chain management (ie to achieve ‘Supply Chain
4.0’) involves far more than technology. In particular the ability to exploit
the full potential of these breakthrough developments depends on achieving
the highest level of end-to-end supply chain integration. Whilst the need for
supply chain integration has been a significant theme running through the
literature for many years, the reality is that integration has proved difficult
to achieve in practice.
There are two fundamental aspects of supply chain integration: process
alignment and shared information – both of which are only achievable by
collaborative working across corporate boundaries.

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Integration across a supply chain is made possible by creating seamless

connectivity through aligning the processes of the different parties in the
supply/demand network. A good example of process alignment is the use of
vendor-managed inventory (VMI), whereby suppliers take responsibility for
the automatic replenishment of their customers’ inventory. This in itself is
made possible by the sharing of information on the rate of usage of that
inventory by the customer. In this way the need for safety stock to be held
by both the supplier and the customer is reduced and, typically, higher levels
of availability can be achieved for less cost.
Industry 4.0 provides many of the tools by which information can be
collected across the supply chain and yet paradoxically much of the poten-
tial value of this information cannot be captured because of a lack of
collaborative working. Historically there has often been a mindset in busi-
ness which has encouraged an ‘arm’s length’ approach to suppliers – and
sometimes even to customers. Hence there has been an unwillingness to get
too close to other entities in the supply chain. This has been particularly true
when it comes to the sharing of information. Also, in the past the technology
to enable low-cost and secure transfer of data across the chain was not
always available, which is no longer the case today. For example, there now
exist a number of cloud-based solutions through which multiple partners
can share data and access information from one end of the supply chain to
another. All that is needed is a web browser and, crucially, a willingness to
trust the other members of the supply chain with that information. Probably
still today it is that lack of trust that impedes the widespread adoption of the
Supply Chain 4.0 concept.
Beyond the issue of trust, another impediment to achieving the full poten-
tial of Supply Chain 4.0 is the lack of appropriate skills within the firm. The
classic supply chain management skillset, typically based on a logistics and
distribution management heritage, will need to be significantly augmented.
The supply chain manager of the future will need support from data scien-
tists who can use analytical skills to gain deeper customer insight. In addition,
engineers versed in the technology of robotics and autonomous vehicles will
be needed to ensure the smooth operation of the man/machine interface.
Above all, given the need for cross-boundary working – both inside the busi-
ness and between businesses – a high level of supply chain orchestration
capability will be required. Just as the conductor of an orchestra seeks to
ensure that all the disparate instruments and their players are brought
together to produce the desired output, so too must the supply chain orches-
trator manage all the elements and components of Supply Chain 4.0.

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For many companies a further significant barrier to implementing an

integrated supply chain strategy based upon Industry 4.0 technologies is
their organization structure. The shape of that structure should ideally
mirror the flow of information that connects all the elements of the supply/
demand network. That flow is ‘horizontal’, ie from one end of the supply
chain to the other, yet most companies are organized on a ‘vertical’ basis,
ie by department or function. As a result, the transparency of that infor-
mation may be restricted and thus the likelihood that all the functions
within the firm can share ‘a single version of the truth’ is reduced. That
problem is exacerbated when inter-firm boundaries are encountered across
which data may not be readily transmitted or where ‘hand-offs’ are
involved, meaning that each entity in the supply/demand network might
be working to a different set of assumptions or might interpret that data
in different ways.
It will be clear that a prerequisite for the implementation of Supply
Chain 4.0 is that data and information must be able to flow across the
network in an unimpeded and transparent way. The implication for organ-
izational design is that functional and inter-firm boundaries must be
removed, and silos demolished. In their place more cross-functional,
process-oriented groups should be formed within the business with the
closest of links to equivalent groups in their upstream and downstream
supply chain partners.
Alongside this, ‘control towers’ will need to be built with the capability
of capturing data at every node and link in the network and with the ability
to share that data across the network. The purpose of a control tower is to
ensure end-to-end visibility and to utilize AI to analyse and interpret the
data with a view to informing decisions on appropriate supply chain
responses and actions.
To enable the continuous improvement of the network’s performance, the
construction of a ‘digital twin’ which mirrors the actual physical configura-
tion of the supply chain can be highly advantageous. A digital twin is in
effect a virtual replication of the supply/demand network which can be used
to enable bottlenecks to be identified, ‘what if’ questions to be asked and
alternative strategies to be simulated.
By utilizing all the relevant data relating to demand and supply condi-
tions – much of it captured in real time from sensors and other devices – and
augmenting it with information from multiple external sources, the control
tower and the digital twin can powerfully guide management decision-
making.

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Conclusion
Whilst there are clearly many hurdles to be overcome in the implementation
of Supply Chain 4.0, its potential to enable real end-to-end integration
across supply/demand networks is a compelling argument for striving to
make it happen. Even though we are still in the very early stages of develop-
ment, it is clear that Supply Chain 4.0 thinking and practice have the power
to transform the way we serve the customer. Whereas in the past the customer
was at the end of the supply chain – the recipient of products and service as
determined by the supplier – now they are at the start of that chain, specify-
ing the value that they wish to see provided. Whilst there has been much talk
of the need for companies to become truly market-driven, it is possible that
Supply Chain 4.0 may finally enable this idea to become reality.

Notes
1 Oliver, RK and Webber, MD (1982) Supply chain management: Logistics
catches up with strategy, Outlook, Booz, Allen & Hamilton, Inc, reprinted in
1992 in Logistics: The strategic issues, ed M Christopher, Chapman & Hall,
London
2 Kanter, RM (1994) Collaborative advantage: The art of alliances, Harvard
Business Review, July/August; Lewis, JD (1995) The Connected Corporation,
Free Press, New York; Gattorna, JL and Walters, DW (1996) Managing the
Supply Chain, Macmillan Press, Basingstoke
3 Marsh, P (2012) The New Industrial Revolution, York University Press, York;
Anderson, C (2012) Makers: The new industrial revolution, Random House,
New York
4 Hermann, M et al (2016) Design principles for Industrie 4.0 scenarios, 49th
Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
5 Prahalad, CK and Ramaswamy, V (2004) The Future of Competition:
Co-creating unique value with customers, Harvard Business School Press,
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