Operations management of smart logistics: A literature review and future research

The global collaboration and integration of online and offline channels have brought new challenges to the logistics industry. Thus, smart logistics has become a promising solution for handling the increasing complexity and volume of logistics operations. Technologies, such as the Internet of Things, information communication technology, and artificial intelligence, enable more efficient functions into logistics operations. However, they also change the narrative of logistics management. Scholars in the areas of engineering, logistics, transportation, and management are attracted by this revolution. Operations management research on smart logistics mainly concerns the application of underlying technologies, business logic, operation framework, related management system, and optimization problems under specific scenarios. To explore these studies, the related literature has been systematically reviewed in this work. On the basis of the research gaps and the needs of industrial practices, future research directions in this field are also proposed.

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Authors and Affiliations

1. School of Business and Research Center for Smarter Supply Chain, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215021, China Bo Feng
2. School of Economics & Management, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, China Qiwen Ye

1. Bo Feng

Corresponding author

Additional information

This study is supported by the National Social Science Funds for Major Projects (Grant No. 18ZDA059) and Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Guangdong Province Planning Project (Grant No. GD20YGL03).

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Feng, B., Ye, Q. Operations management of smart logistics: A literature review and future research. Front. Eng. Manag. 8, 344–355 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42524-021-0156-2

• Received : 16 July 2020
• Accepted : 29 January 2021
• Published : 15 April 2021
• Issue Date : September 2021
• DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s42524-021-0156-2

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Keywords

• smart logistics
• operations management
• optimization
• Internet of Things