Intelligent Warehouse in Industry 4.0—Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

The development of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) and the digitization and automation of manufacturing processes have created a demand for designing smart warehouses to support manufacturing processes. Warehousing is one of the fundamental processes in the supply chain, and is responsible for handling inventory. Efficient execution of warehouse operations often determines the effectiveness of realized goods flows. Therefore, digitization and its use in exchanging information between partners, especially real-time inventory levels, is critical. For this reason, the digital solutions of Industry 4.0 have quickly found application in internal logistics processes and enabled the design of smart warehouses, also known as Warehouse 4.0. The purpose of this article is to present the results of the conducted review of publications on the design and operation of warehouses using the concepts of Industry 4.0. A total of 249 documents from the last 5 years were accepted for analysis. Publications were searched for in the Web of Science database using the PRISMA method. The article presents in detail the research methodology and the results of the biometric analysis. Based on the results, a two-level classification framework was proposed, which includes 10 primary categories and 24 subcategories. Each of the distinguished categories was characterized based on the analyzed publications. It should be noted that in most of these studies, the authors’ attention primarily focused on the implementation of (1) Industry 4.0 technological solutions, such as IoT, augmented reality, RFID, visual technology, and other emerging technologies; and (2) autonomous and automated vehicles in warehouse operations processes. Critical analysis of the literature also allowed us to identify the current research gaps, which will be the subject of further research by the authors.

Use of Augmented Reality as a Tool to Support Cargo Handling Operations at the CARGO Air Terminal

“…Augmented reality technology is one of the primary tools of Industry 4.0, the application of which is described in the areas of manufacturing [ 9 ], maintenance [ 10 ], and internal logistics systems [ 7 ]. AR technology allows a person to see a computer-generated virtual world that is simultaneously integrated with the real world.…”

“…For this reason, the digital solutions of Industry 4.0 are finding numerous applications in warehouse processes, and their implementation makes it possible to create smart warehouses, called Warehouses 4.0. According to the research presented in [ 7 ], the following solutions are most commonly used in these facilities: augmented reality (AR), RFID, Internet of Things, visual technology, and automated storage systems. Characteristics of storage facilities based on these solutions include, in particular, interoperability, virtualization, decentralization, real-time aspects, service orientation, modularity, and reconfigurability [ 8 ].…”

Efficient Server Room Monitoring with Flutterand Firebase - Real-Time Insights and InstantNotifications

“…The development of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) and the digitization and automation of manufacturing processes have led to a demand for the design of smart warehouses to support manufacturing operations. The results of the conducted review of publications on the design and operation of warehouses using the concepts of Industry 4.0 are presented by [2].…”

Mixed Palletizing for Smart Warehouse Environments: Sustainability Review of Existing Methods

“…Supply Chain operations can take advantage of these innovations to better handle the flow of products and information along the Supply Chain. In the context of logistics centers, the digital adaptation of Industry 4.0 has found application in internal logistics processes and has led to the emergence of smart warehouses, namely Warehouse 4.0 [4]. The increasing complexity and variety of customer orders handled through warehouses raise the demand for exponential real-time data and challenging contextual information processing [5].…”