Technological solutions in Logistics 4.0

Abstract

Technological development, automation, digitalization, networking, new forms of communication, etc. initiated a new industrial revolution, also known as Industry 4.0. It represents a new form of organization and control of the value chain in the product life cycle. By connecting and synergizing existing and new solutions and technologies of communication, data collection, exchange and analysis, production, process management, trade, etc. a new paradigm of human action, business and living has been created. A concept that is intensively changing production processes has emerged, but its effects are also visible in other areas of human activity, primarily trade, health, agriculture, logistics, etc. By applying the solutions and technologies of Industry 4.0 in the field of logistics, the concept of Logistics 4.0 was developed with the aim of achieving greater efficiency of logistics systems and processes. New technologies and solutions appear every day, but the backbone of the development of the Logistics 4.0 concept is comprised of several key technologies, such as: Internet of Things (IoT), Autonomous Vehicles (AV) and Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGV), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), Big data, Data mining, Blockchain, Cloud Computing (CC), 3D printing, etc. The aim of this paper was to define and describe in detail the aforementioned technologies, as well as the possibilities of their application in the logistics systems and processes through a review of the relevant literature in this field. It can be concluded that logistics, as a multidisciplinary science, represents a fertile ground for the acceptance and further development of existing modern technologies, but also the initiator and incubator of new technologies that could easily go beyond logistics and become part of the family of Industry 4.0 solutions.