Impact of Industry 4.0 on Supply Chain Operations

Purpose of the Assessment This assignment is designed to enable you to demonstrate an understanding of the likely impact of technology upon existing supply chain operations processes. Assessment Task You will conduct a review of the literature in the subject area commonly referred to as “Industry 4.0”. Specifically, you are to identify the origins of the concept of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and to chart its development up to the present day.

Following your review, you are to critically evaluate the impact of Industry 4.0 on the supply chain operations of a company of your choice. You will be expected to illustrate your discussion with examples from academic journals, the trade press and other authoritative sources.

Assessment Breakdown 1. 1. Establish the scenario for your report by selecting an organisation of any type, sector and size to focus your report on. Describe: a) Which organisation is it? (type, sector and size) b) What are the main products and/or services provided by the organisation? c) Who are the main customers? (10% of word count)

1. 2. Prepare a literature review, charting the development of the concept of the Fourth Industrial Revolution from its inception until the present day. Ensure that you include references to at least 10 peer-reviewed articles, including the 2017 paper by Szozda that has been supplied (). You may also find relevant reviews in the trade press and from other authoritative sources. (45% of word count)

1. 3. Replicate Szozda’s case study (as illustrated by Figures 4 and 5 in the supplied paper) in the context of your chosen company. How will the company change? (45% of word count) Assessment Guidance The quality of your presentation and academic referencing is very important. Please, use the Harvard Referencing System.

Within your assignment your tutor will be looking for content that addresses the key elements of the assignment brief. Try not to overcomplicate your answers by choosing a company that you know little about. Keep to simple processes that you know well. Look at the Check list at the end of this brief. It shows the subheadings to use and offers a guide as to how the marks will be distributed. Use the percentages as a guide to how to distribute your word count. The word count should be 2000 words±10% (tables, diagrams and appendices are excluded from the count).