Transforming Sustainable Supply Chains: The Strategic Role of Fourth Industrial Revolution Technologies and Green Innovations in Manufacturing Sector

This research examines the mediating effect of green technologies (GTs) on the relationship between Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies and sustainable supply chain innovations in Texas’s manufacturing industry. This endeavour sought to assess the impact of 4IR enablers, including Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and big data analytics, on sustainability as affected by GT, including renewable energy and energy-efficient spaces. A cross-sectional quantitative research approach was used, and survey questionnaires were sent to the identified supply chain managers from Texas’s manufacturing firms. Purposively, 332 participants were asked to fill in structured questionnaires from 297 manufacturing firms. Pre-survey data were collected and analysed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test the direct and mediating paths between 4IR technologies, GTs, and sustainable supply chain innovations. Thus, the result confirms that endogenous mass 4IR technologies directly influence sustainable supply chain innovations, which are also mediated by GTs in this research. The research suggests that firms should aim at increasing their technological mileage, enhance the use of GT, and provide adequate training to supply chain managers. It is rightly suggested that future research should cover sectoral effects and longitudinal studies in order to understand how the function of 4IR technologies is changing regarding sustainability.