A Shift Toward Industry 5.0: A Practical Assessment Framework for Human-Centric, Sustainable, and Resilient Industry

This study aims to address the need to operationalize Industry 5.0 (I5.0) by developing a comprehensive Assessment Framework for the adoption of the Human Centricity, Environmental Sustainability, and Industrial Resilience pillars. While existing models largely focus on technological maturity, they fail to provide measurable tools for evaluating I5.0 adoption. To bridge this gap, the paper proposes an Assessment Framework based on a structured set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) developed within the EU-funded PROSPECTS 5.0 project. The methodology combines an extensive literature review, a workshop with relevant stakeholders, a Delphi survey with experts, and empirical refinement conducted through workshops involving 14 companies across multiple sectors and of varying sizes. The results highlight that organizations predominantly measure traditional indicators such as health and safety, energy consumption, and supply chain robustness, while underestimating emerging dimensions such as human empowerment, social inclusion, circularity, and advanced human–machine collaboration. The framework introduces a set of KPIs for each of the I5.0 pillars, supporting structured assessment across different industrial contexts while allowing sector-specific adaptation. The findings reveal a gap between the perceived importance of several sustainability and human-centric metrics and their actual implementation. This framework allows organizations to self-assess their practices, guide strategic decisions, and align technological growth with societal and environmental goals.