Digitalization in industrial logistics: Contemporary evidence and future directions

Abstract

Industrial logistics is mainly concerned with the analysis, design, and ongoing optimization of material and information flows in industrial enterprises. In recent years, the digitalization movement has created a multitude of new opportunities to ensure long-term competitive advantages through the systematic improvement of logistics performance and/or a stepwise reduction of logistics costs. In this paper, the authors analyze the current literature on digitization in the field of industrial logistics with a particular focus on action-oriented research findings. Thereby, the authors systematically investigate recent studies on 1) technologies and technological concepts of digitalization in industrial logistics, 2) enablers of digitalization in industrial logistics, 3) risks of digitalization in industrial logistics, and 4) opportunities for digitalization in industrial logistics. Moreover, based on the secondary-data-based content analysis, the authors identify promising areas of action for future research initiatives.