From Biological Models to Industrial Production: How Industry 4.0 Enables the Manufacturability and Scalability of Biomimetic Design

The industrial relevance of biomimetic design rests on whether a biological principle can be converted into an engineering solution that is manufacturable, verifiable, scalable, and traceable in operation. This critical integrative review considers that problem from a production-management perspective and examines the contribution of Industry 4.0 technologies to design, validation, manufacture, and industrial use. The evidence base consists of 50 purposively selected Gold Open Access full texts (n = 50) from the Web of Science Core Collection. Each study was coded for its biological model, design principle, digital technology, material and manufacturing route, manufacturability, scale, evidence level, and reported performance. CAD, modeling, simulation, machine learning, optimization, and digital manufacturing support different parts of the transformation process, whereas sensors, robotics, and IIoT supply functional and operational feedback. The direct studies report laboratory- or prototype-level improvements in strength, stiffness, material or support use, drag, thermal and energy performance, sensing, and actuator durability. None, however, demonstrates E4–E5 evidence across the complete chain. Evidence on serial production, process capability, stable quality, total cost, standardization, certification, and life-cycle performance is still limited. Drawing on these findings, the review proposes a technology–production–performance framework and a set of measurable Industry 5.0 indicators. Its main limitations are the Gold Open Access and English-language boundaries, purposive rather than exhaustive selection, unavailable exact search strings and record-level exclusion counts, single-researcher coding, and outcome heterogeneity that prevented meta-analysis.