Development of a Sustainable Industry 4.0 Approach for Increasing the Performance of SMEs

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The problem is important and up to date.

The objectives of the paper and the research are not stated clearly.

The style of the figures seems to be not consistent. Their style should be unified.

Author Response

The problem is important and up to date.

 

Thank you very much for your remark! It is the main reason of this research.

 

The objectives of the paper and the research are not stated clearly.

The abstract and the introduction have been improved for satisfying your expectations.

 

The style of the figures seems to be not consistent. Their style should be unified.

We suppose you are talking about the first figure and improve it. If not, could you tell us exactly what the problem is?

Thank you in advance.

Reviewer 2 Report

Authors should have addressed all the following comments for the possible publications:

• The present study is a review paper. Hence, it includes the points such as the significance of the study, motivation of study, background, and rationale, research questions, research goal, and research objectives. 
• The introduction part has many mis-linked statements, kindly restructure the introduction part. 
• The information flow is also missed in between the introduction part. 
• Extensive English editing required. 
• The review paper should follow some particular methodologies such as PRISMA, and PROKNOW - C . Kindly refer to the following articles for reference but not limited to these only. 
  Víctor Manuel Ortiz-Martínez, Pedro Andreo-Martínez, Nuria García-Martínez, Antonia Pérez de los Ríos, Francisco José Hernández-Fernández, Joaquín Quesada-Medina, "Approach to biodiesel production from microalgae under supercritical conditions by the PRISMA method", Fuel Processing Technology,Volume 191,2019,Pages 211-222, ISSN 0378-3820, https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.fuproc.2019.03.031.
  
  S. Sayyad, S. Kumar, A. Bongale, P. Kamat, S. Patil and K. Kotecha, "Data-Driven Remaining Useful Life Estimation for Milling Process: Sensors, Algorithms, Datasets, and Future Directions," in IEEE Access, vol. 9, pp. 110255-110286, 2021, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3101284.
  
  Warke, V.; Kumar, S.; Bongale, A.; Kotecha, K. Sustainable Development of Smart Manufacturing Driven by the Digital Twin Framework: A Statistical Analysis. Sustainability 2021, 13, 10139. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su131810139
  
  
• Section 4 can be renamed as the case studies and present scenario in Industry 4.0
• Figure 11, is directly downloaded from the internet. Kindly take the prior permissions from the owner. 
• The conclusion is too small. The conclusion should be explained pointwise. 

 

Author Response

• The present study is a review paper. Hence, it includes the points such as the significance of the study, motivation of study, background, and rationale, research questions, research goal, and research objectives.

 

Thank you very much!

The paper is not exactly a review paper but the beginning of a research industry 4.0 concept implementation in SMEs. The paper uses a detailed review for finding the best methods and tools that could be combined and exploited for creating an adapted sustainable methodology for SME digital transformation.   

• The introduction part has many mis-linked statements, kindly restructure the introduction part. 

The introduction has been restructured.

The introduction has been improved. Thank you in advance for telling us if this corresponds to your expectation.

• The information flow is also missed in between the introduction part.

 The information flow management has been added in the introduction

• Extensive English editing required. 

Thank you ! The paper has been reading for increasing the English quality.

• The review paper should follow some particular methodologies such as PRISMA, and PROKNOW - C . Kindly refer to the following articles for reference but not limited to these only. 
  Víctor Manuel Ortiz-Martínez, Pedro Andreo-Martínez, Nuria García-Martínez, Antonia Pérez de los Ríos, Francisco José Hernández-Fernández, Joaquín Quesada-Medina, "Approach to biodiesel production from microalgae under supercritical conditions by the PRISMA method", Fuel Processing Technology,Volume 191,2019,Pages 211-222, ISSN 0378-3820, https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.fuproc.2019.03.031.
  
  S. Sayyad, S. Kumar, A. Bongale, P. Kamat, S. Patil and K. Kotecha, "Data-Driven Remaining Useful Life Estimation for Milling Process: Sensors, Algorithms, Datasets, and Future Directions," in IEEE Access, vol. 9, pp. 110255-110286, 2021, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3101284.
  
  Warke, V.; Kumar, S.; Bongale, A.; Kotecha, K. Sustainable Development of Smart Manufacturing Driven by the Digital Twin Framework: A Statistical Analysis. Sustainability 2021, 13, 10139. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su131810139
  
  

Thank your for these references! As it is not a review paper and due to their numbers, we did not take time for integrating specifically all of the papers. But we focus our attention on those which can be exploited in the context of SME improvement.

• Section 4 can be renamed as the case studies and present scenario in Industry 4.0

Thank you! The section name has been changed.

• Figure 11, is directly downloaded from the internet. Kindly take the prior permissions from the owner. 

Thank you ! The use of these tools is being implemented in the company and we don’t have at this stage our own image. Then, we suppressed the figure.

• The conclusion is too small. The conclusion should be explained pointwise.

The conclusion has been improved

 

Reviewer 3 Report

In this paper, the authors elaborated an SME performance model for supporting the company's digital transformation in order to improve its performance.

The topic is interesting and the paper is connected with the overall philosophy of the Journal.

However, the current version of the paper suffers from a number of weaknesses related to the empirical strategy used.

In what follows, I shall try to point out my main concerns.

• The discussion section is essential to analyze the relevance of the work, based on the comparison of its findings with other similar studies. Please improve.
• The conclusions are weak and superficial.
• The authors do not report the limitations of the study.

Author Response

In this paper, the authors elaborated an SME performance model for supporting the company's digital transformation in order to improve its performance.

The topic is interesting and the paper is connected with the overall philosophy of the Journal.

Thank you very much!

However, the current version of the paper suffers from a number of weaknesses related to the empirical strategy used.

In what follows, I shall try to point out my main concerns.

• The discussion section is essential to analyze the relevance of the work, based on the comparison of its findings with other similar studies. Please improve.

This part has been improved

• The conclusions are weak and superficial.

The conclusion has been changed

• The authors do not report the limitations of the study.

The limitations have been added

Reviewer 4 Report

Dear authors,

the manuscript deals with an interesting topic, by analyzing sustainability and Industry 4.0. Some parts of the paper need an improvement. In particular:

• in the introduction describe better the objectives of the paper and the gaps you are covering;
• in the paragraph 2.4 you can add also references to OHSAS 18001 certification;
• more information about the framework elaboration are required (par.3.2): how did you elaborate it? Explain better. Then, after figure 3: how did you select those criteria? 
• par. 4. how did you gather that enterprise's data? Is it a French SME?
• Discussion must be improved, in particular by explaining practical and theoretical implications;
• conclusions, as well, needs to be better discussed.

Best wishes.

Author Response

the manuscript deals with an interesting topic, by analyzing sustainability and Industry 4.0.

 

Thank you very much

Some parts of the paper need an improvement. In particular:

• in the introduction describe better the objectives of the paper and the gaps you are covering;

we improve the introduction and we add the

• in the paragraph 2.4 you can add also references to OHSAS 18001 certification;

OHSAS 18001 certification has been replaced by ISO 45001 in March 2021

• more information about the framework elaboration are required (par.3.2): how did you elaborate it? Explain better. Then, after figure 3: how did you select those criteria? 

We complete information on the framework but this has been detailed in another of our paper and we would want to focus on it once again.

• par. 4. how did you gather that enterprise's data? Is it a French SME?

This enterprise is a French one and we obtained the data by collaborating with the enterprise for its transformation. We add this precision in the paper.

• Discussion must be improved, in particular by explaining practical and theoretical implications;

The discussion section has been improved

• conclusions, as well, needs to be better discussed.

 

The conclusion has been improved

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

The authors made the changes according to the requirements, although the discussion part includes the comparison with a single study, comparisons were needed with several works.

Author Response

Thank you for your positive remarks and your suggestions!

We complete the discussion part as suggested. 

 

Best regards.