LOGISTICS 4.0 – DIGITALIZATION OF THE SUPPLY CHAINS

Abstract

Constantly changing market needs and the concentration of the entire supply
chain on the level of customer service force both in the business and scientific world
to seek modern solutions to improve logistics processes. This trend is leading to the
transformation of current solutions into intelligent supply chains. The use of modern
technologies is aimed at improving logistic processes at the operational level, by
shortening the time of execution, minimizing bottlenecks and errors resulting from
faulty information flow. With the above aspects in mind, the authors of this article
have analysed in depth the structural differences distinguishing logistics 4.0 from the
latest technological solutions. Concrete examples show toolkits and actions that
optimise logistics processes in an enterprise, supported by intelligent cyber -physical
systems providing relevant information, based on full cooperation of the Internet of
Things (IoT), to achieve a significant degree of automation. Particular attention has
also been paid to the immeasurably important aspect that the human element
invariably remains. The basic business requirement is that the systems should be
autonomous, people should not be forgotten because they have to plan and take action
that cannot or should not be automated. However, in order to meet the requirements
and decentralisation, an automated, intelligent and increasingly autonomous flow of
assets, goods, materials and information between a point in the logistics ecosystem is
crucial.
Keywords: Logistics 4.0, supply chain, digitalization, IoT, real time