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The literature that is presently available on sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) combining optimization and industry 4.0 techniques falls short in its depictions of the recent developments, budding pertinent areas and the importance of SSCM in the growth of industrial economies around the world. This article's main objective is to analyze current trends, highlight the latest initiatives and perform a meta-analysis of the literature that is currently accessible in the SSCM area with a special focus on optimization and industry 4.0 techniques. The paper also proposes a conceptual framework that will assist in illuminating how the ideas of optimization and industry 4.0 may contribute to realizing sustainability in supply chains.

The proposed study systematically reviews 85 research publications published between 2010 and 2022 in referenced peer-reviewed journals in diverse fields, including engineering, business and management, services and healthcare. Numerous categories are considered throughout the examination of the literature, including year-wise publications, prominent journals, type of research design, concerned industry and research technique used.

The study demonstrates a deeper comprehension of the literature in the field and its evolution throughout numerous industry sectors, which is helpful for both practitioners and academics. The results from the content analysis highlight various future research opportunities in the domain.

This is one of the first research articles that have attempted to establish, analyze and highlight the current trends and initiatives in the SSCM domain from an optimization and industry 4.0 techniques viewpoint. The cluster-based future research propositions also enhance the novelty of the study.

This study aims to examine current research on the relationship between Operational Excellence and Healthcare 4.0 (H4.0) for healthcare organizations.

The authors have performed a systematic literature review of 102 documents published between 2011 and 2022 from the Scopus database to identify the research trends on Operational Excellence and H4.0. Through a descriptive bibliometric analysis, this study has highlighted the year-wise trend in publication, top authors, prominent sources of publications, the country-wise spread of research activities and subject area analysis. Furthermore, through content analysis, this study has identified four clusters and proposed directions for future research of each identified cluster.

Results reflect overall growth in this area, with a few parts of the world being underrepresented in research related to Operational Excellence and H4.0. The content analysis focused on describing challenges pertaining to healthcare industries and the role of Operational Excellence tools and H4.0 technologies in dealing with various healthcare delivery aspects. The authors concluded their analysis by proposing a theoretical framework and providing theoretical and managerial implications of the study.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the paper is one of the first to analyze the existing literature on the healthcare sector at the interface of Operational Excellence and H4.0 technologies. The conceptual framework and cluster-wise future research prepositions are some of the unique offerings of the study.