Logistics 4.0: a systematic review towards a new logistics system

Abstract

Enterprises are confronted with new customer requirements and challenged by global competition leading to fundamental changes of today’s industry. Against this background, at present Industry 4.0 is the main concept of dealing with these challenges in manufacturing. Lacking a comparable covering concept in logistics, this study aims to stringently unify diverse approaches in research to a Logistics 4.0-framework in order to generate a new picture of the state of logistics research. In this article, a comprehensive framework of Logistics 4.0 is developed. First, the term Logistics 4.0 is defined, and then a systematic literature review of 114 articles on Logistics 4.0 is performed. The resulting framework combines external triggers, main technological innovations, impacts of human interactions and logistics tasks. Existing solutions that support Logistics 4.0 are summarised according to the technologies: internet of things, cyber-physical systems, Big Data, cloud computing, mobile-based systems, social media-based systems and further technologies. Managerial implications are outlined and open research issues are examined. For researchers, this review offers the possibility to unify and expand existing solutions and to identify links and interfaces that are still needed. As for managerial implications, this framework can be used to identify future strategies and technologies to fulfil certain logistics tasks, but also to develop new technological solutions for current and future demands.