Effects of Big Data Analytics on Sustainable Manufacturing: A Comparative Study Analysis

Abstract

Application of big data analytics (BDA) is seen in various disciplines within an organization to predict trends, explore opportunities and monitor performance. Among all the industries, BDA presents immense value in sustainable manufacturing (SM) given that it is an industry that consumes a high amount of energy, emits high amounts of waste and carbon emissions and requires a large amount of manpower. This paper aims at illustrating the effects of BDA in supporting SM by studying the Indian manufacturing firms which have unfavorable labor laws compared to other developing countries. With an extensive literature review, this paper discusses the relationship between BDA and sustainability, the capabilities of BDA, the concept of SM, the BDA framework for SM, the relationship between Industry 4.0 and SM and the challenges of implementing BDA. Using qualitative meta-analysis research methodology, the paper examines the nine common critical success factors that enable SM through BDA implementation by comparing 15 primary studies. Finally, the paper concludes the research findings and outlines future research directions. The study provides theoretical and practical contributions to BDA implementation in achieving effective SM practices in emerging economies.

Keywords

• Big data analytics
• Indian manufacturing firms
• developing economies
• qualitative meta-analysis
• sustainability