Original title: Role of Industry 4.0 Technologies in Enhancing Supply Chain Resilience of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs): A PLSSEM Based Empirical Investigation
Komal Sharma, Deepika Rathi, Dr Jainish Bhagat, RONAK AJAYKUMAR MEHTA · September 2026
Modern factories face sudden disruptions, making strong supply chains vital. Supply chains are networks that move parts to factories and goods to buyers. The researchers surveyed 260 manufacturing leaders to see how modern digital tools help. These tools include smart sensors, big data, machine learning, blockchain, and digital twins, which are virtual copies of physical systems. Using these tools helps companies build resilience, which means they resist shocks, have backups, adapt, and recover. How does this work? The digital tools give companies real-time visibility into their networks. Clear visibility then boosts two other critical abilities: agility, which is the speed to adapt, and collaboration with partners. All three qualities directly protect the network. In fact, digital tools help supply chains mostly by powering up this visibility, agility, and teamwork. Being prepared internally also directly improves visibility and agility, even though it does not boost the tech's impact.
Imagine you are cooking a big meal for guests. You have a list of recipes, but you also need to adapt if you run out of an ingredient. The hard part is that you cannot see all your ingredients at once, so you might miss that you are low on something until it is too late. In this paper, the technology is like having a smart pantry that tracks what you have and suggests substitutions. The key finding is that just having the smart pantry helps, but it works best when you can see everything clearly, which then lets you adjust your cooking and coordinate with others. Being organized in the kitchen also helps directly, but it does not make the smart pantry work better than it already does.
Manufacturers face disruptions like pandemics and shortages. This study shows that adopting digital tools like IoT and analytics helps, but the key is building visibility first, which then boosts agility and collaboration. Managers can use this to prioritize investments and prepare their organizations for change.
The abstract does not specify limitations, but the study relies on self-reported survey data from executives, which may introduce bias. The sample is limited to OEMs in specific sectors, so findings may not generalize to other industries or regions. The cross-sectional design means causality cannot be confirmed.
Ask anything about this paper. Answers come from its abstract, and say so when the abstract doesn't cover your question.
Role of Industry 4.0 Technologies in Enhancing Supply Chain Resilience of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs): A PLSSEM Based Empirical Investigation — Komal Sharma, Deepika Rathi, Dr Jainish Bhagat et al. — SocArXiv — doi:10.31235/osf.io/fkprh_v1
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper. This is a preprint, so it hasn't necessarily been peer reviewed.