Applications of Industry 4.0 Technologies in Warehouse Management: A Systematic Literature Review

Lihle N. Tikwayo and Tebello N. D. Mathaba ()
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Lihle N. Tikwayo: Postgraduate School of Engineering Management, University of Johannesburg, 1 Bunting Road, Auckland Park, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa
Tebello N. D. Mathaba: Postgraduate School of Engineering Management, University of Johannesburg, 1 Bunting Road, Auckland Park, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa

Logistics, 2023, vol. 7, issue 2, 1-19

Abstract: Background: Recent literature indicates that warehouse management costs account for a significant portion of overall logistics costs in companies. Warehousing requires the classification, controlling and management of inventory as well as processing of related information. Therefore, adopting efficient and reasonable warehouse management measures to achieve effective management and control of materials is a key means to flexibly adjusting the supply and demand of storage materials and reduce operating costs. There remains a gap in the understanding of benefits and barriers to the full adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies and decision support systems (DSSs) in warehouse management. Methods: This work applies a systematic literature review methodology of recent implementation case studies to analyze documented barriers and benefits of Industry 4.0 technology adoption in warehouse management. For analysis, benefits and barriers are ranked in order of importance using Pareto analysis based on their frequency of occurrence. Results: Improved process efficiency, the availability of real-time data, added competitive advantage and the ability to integrate business activities digitally are the top four most important benefits of implementing Industry 4.0 technologies and decision support systems in warehouse management. The prominent barriers to implementation are high life cycle cost, challenging physical environment/layout, inadequate supporting resource constraints, increased security risk and high energy consumption. Conclusions: Barriers to implementing Industry 4.0 technologies are interrelated in nature and prevent businesses from realizing the full benefit of implemented Industry 4.0 technologies. Adequate financial support, new knowledge and skills are required to be able to ensure the successful implementation of Industry 4.0 in warehousing management.

Keywords: Industry 4.0 technologies; warehouse management; RFID; autonomous mobile robots (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L8 L80 L81 L86 L87 L9 L90 L91 L92 L93 L98 L99 M1 M10 M11 M16 M19 R4 R40 R41 R49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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