2018 Volume 60 Issue 11 Pages 788-797
As activities to drive forward the fourth industrial revolution, efforts are being made to innovate the logistics industry. Plagued by a labor shortage and inefficiency in its business operations, the industry has high expectations that smart digital logistics, which incorporate IoT, AI and robotics technologies, will help to resolve these issues. Measures and roadmaps for reducing energy use and manpower in transport and at distribution centers and optimizing supply chains are being developed and activities have been started based on these roadmaps. Logistics companies are active in introducing robots for transport and sorting operations within their distribution facilities, experimenting with use of drones for last-mile delivery, and providing solutions for optimizing supply chains. Faced with a severe labor shortage, especially of truck drivers, they are rapidly making efforts for commercial development of trucks driven in a linked convoy and automated driving.
