The effects of industry 4.0 on the performance of the circular economy in the context of cooperation: An application in the automotive supply chain of Turkey

While increasingly popular Industry 4.0 technologies and the effects of this approach on the circular economy are being addressed by scientific research, they are also becoming the focus of attention for the practitioners. Looking at the current research performed on this area, it is observed that there are not enough empirical studies investigating the effects of Industry 4.0 on the circular economy. While researches generally draw attention to the level of Industry 4.0 in improving production processes, they rarely focus on the renewal or restructuring of supply processes. However, integrated effects for the circular economy are also rare. Although research on this dual combination contributes to the literature despite its shortcomings, no current study can provide in-depth information on the moderator effect of supply chain collaboration linking Industry 4.0 and the circular economy. Since the studies in this field do not have sufficient depth, this study is dedicated to conduct a scientific study to fill a gap in this direction, especially in the Turkish automotive industry. This research empirically investigates the effects of the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies in the Turkish automotive industry on the circular supply chain through supply chain cooperation. Significant data were obtained by evaluating the research findings within the framework of Partial Smallest Structural Equation Modeling. The research was concluded with the participation of 136 companies from the main and sub-industry of the automotive sector. The study directs scientific studies and practitioners by emphasizing the integrated effects of Industry 4.0 technologies on cyclical supply processes, which are rarely discussed in the literature. Within the scope of the developed scale, the effects of Industry 4.0 technologies on cooperation in the supply chain and their reflections on the performance of cyclical supply processes are underlined. It has been determined that the current competencies of Industry 4.0 have a direct impact on cooperation in the supply chain and the cooperation in the supply chain on the circular economy. Still it is observed that Industry 4.0 leads the supply processes, which focus on circular economy principles, at a secondary level. Keywords: Industry 4.0, Circular Economy, Circular Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Collaboration, Digital Supply Chain.