LOGISTICS 4.0-DIGITALIZATION OF THE SUPPLY CHAINS

Constantly changing market needs and the concentration of the entire supply chain on the level of customer service force both in the business and scientific world to seek modern solutions to improve logistics processes. This trend is leading to the transformation of current solutions into intelligent supply chains. The use of modern technologies is aimed at improving logistic processes at the operational level, by shortening the time of execution, minimizing bottlenecks and errors resulting from faulty information flow. With the above aspects in mind, the authors of this article have analysed in depth the structural differences distinguishing logistics 4.0 from the latest technological solutions. Concrete examples show toolkits and actions that optimise logistics processes in an enterprise, supported by intelligent cyber-physical systems providing relevant information, based on full cooperation of the Internet of Things (IoT), to achieve a significant degree of automation. Particular attention has also been paid to the immeasurably important aspect that the human element invariably remains. The basic business requirement is that the systems should be autonomous, people should not be forgotten because they have to plan and take action that cannot or should not be automated. However, in order to meet the requirements and decentralisation, an automated, intelligent and increasingly autonomous flow of assets, goods, materials and information between a point in the logistics ecosystem is crucial.