Complexity management challenges in the industry 4.0 era: A systematic review in production systems

Operational complexity in production systems has grown significantly with the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies. Managing it is a strategic challenge that conditions industrial efficiency, adaptability, and sustainability. This research aims to analyze how these technologies impact the managemen...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Germán Herrera-Vidal, Jairo R. Coronado-Hernández, Julien Maheut
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Results in Engineering
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123025013994
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Summary:Operational complexity in production systems has grown significantly with the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies. Managing it is a strategic challenge that conditions industrial efficiency, adaptability, and sustainability. This research aims to analyze how these technologies impact the management of complexity in manufacturing environments. Methodologically, a systematic literature review was conducted using the PRISMA protocol, filtering 61,360 publications to select 27 key studies. The findings indicate that IoT, AI and CPS optimize decision-making and personalization but also introduce new layers of technical, organizational, and human complexity. In particular, a critical lack of standardized metrics for measuring and managing complexity was identified. Furthermore, a weak connection to the emerging principles of Industry 5.0, centered on human-technology collaboration, is evident. Consequently, a classification of complexity factors (internal, external, static, and dynamic) is proposed, and future lines of research oriented towards the development of adaptive human-centered frameworks and sustainability are suggested.
ISSN:2590-1230