State of the Art and Future Directions of Digital Twins for Production Logistics: A Systematic Literature Review

Digital Twins (DTs) are widely discussed in the context of the Industry 4.0 paradigm as one of the main opportunities to strengthen the overall competitiveness of manufacturing enterprises. Despite a substantial scientific discussion, there is still no unified understanding regarding the constitution and subsequent usage of DTs within production logistics systems. Therefore, this paper focuses on the application of DTs in production logistics. The authors discuss common definitions, characteristics, and functionalities of DTs and outline current developments and implications from state-of-the-art implementation approaches, by using a systematic literature review. Moreover, based on the research findings, the authors evaluate a set of DT case studies, identify current research gaps, and present potential directions for future research initiatives regarding the field of production logistics in manufacturing enterprises.

Simulation-Based Participatory Modelling in Urban and Production Logistics: A Review on Advances and Trends

Simulation-based participatory modelling allows integration of all types of knowledge including empirical, technical and scientific from all disciplines and domains. Thus, in recent years, the use of participatory modelling has been continuously increasing in many fields including logistics. With a view of achieving better understanding of the subject, this article systematically reviews the advances made in participatory modelling in the field of urban and production logistics in the last decade. It further reports the findings transparently following a categorization based on (i) the purpose of participatory modelling in the domain, and (ii) depending on the purpose how data is collected, processed and outcomes are presented. The review resulted in 97 articles which were analysed and categorized based on the above two questions formulated in the literature surveyed. The review revealed that apart from the three existing categories of purposes, namely, reflexive, descriptive and normative there is an emerging fourth category that was analytical in nature and 15 out of 97 articles analyzed belonged to this category. The authors decided to call this category analytical field empirical modelling which is primarily based on mathematical modelling and use of computational methods. We present these results with the help of a categorization. During the analysis for the second research question, we discovered that though the conventional ways of data collection and processing, such as interviews and workshops, which remain significantly present, in electronic data crowdsourcing and data processing via computational methods are emerging.

Sustainable development of industrial enterprises in the basis of a new form of economic activity organisation

This article examines a new form of economic activity organisation for industrial enterprises in the context of the digital transformation of the economy. The analysis of networking in the cluster and economic approaches has allowed us to identify the guiding principles of interaction between economic actors, and the resulting effects and “values”. The platform education proposed by the author as an organisational and economic activity form is the digital ecosystem component, which is a spatial and temporal environment for the functioning of enterprises. A scheme for assessing data and process management in this ecosystem has been developed using the metrics proposed by the author. This scheme reflects the production-logistics chain formed in the framework of the actors’ integration in the digital ecosystem.

Optimisation of Inventory Levels as Logistics Challenge

Inventory ensures stability of the production technical system. Production facilities have warehouses for workpieces to create final output parts, and warehouses for finished products to meet customer demand. Stocks of workpieces avoid manufacturing downtime. Stocks of finished products make it possible to meet demand in a timely manner and avoid penalties for late deliveries of finished products to consumers.On the other hand, the objects that make up the inventory are «dead» material resources that do not bring profit and negatively affect economic efficiency and competitiveness. According to published data, in economically developed countries, such as the USA, Japan, Germany and others, up to 30–40 % of production is in stocks. All this indicates the relevance of the issue of optimising the level of reserves, of solving the problem of establishing and maintaining the optimal level of the stock, its timely replenishment, considering time required for execution of applications of end users.The objective of the work is to propose a solution to a stochastic logistic problem of inventory management with a random time delay and random demand, obtained by the authors using the methods of mathematical statistics, mathematical modelling, and production logistics for unknown and arbitrary form of distribution functions of demand and time delay. The work provides specific examples of approaches to implementation of suggested solution.

Prospects for Using Digital Technologies in Production Logistics

Aim. The presented study aims to examine the specific features as well as organizational and technical aspects of production logistics, taking into account its potential for using digital technologies.Tasks. The authors consider the essence, purpose, and goals of production logistics; analyze major logistics systems used in production logistics; assess the prospects for using digital technologies in this sphere.Methods. This study uses the methodology of strategic and logistics management, the systems approach, life cycle theory, general scientific methods of generalization, comparative, retrospective, and structural-functional analysis.Results. The production and logistics systems of a company are considered as equivalent elements in the context of managing material flows in internal and external supply chains and achieving the company’s operational and development goals. In this regard, production logistics is shown as part of both logistics and production, which affects its organization and architecture. Under modern conditions, an approach based on certain data is widely used in production logistics. It requires active introduction of digital technologies in production logistics, the purpose of which is not to achieve technical or organizational perfection of business processes, but to select technologies from the perspective of creating additional value.Conclusions. In the course of the study, three categories of activities associated with production logistics are identified. For each of these categories, the prospects and recommended classification of digital technologies are defined. Particular emphasis is placed on improving the quality and efficiency of data use. According to the authors, all information systems and digital technologies used in production logistics should be highly reliable. Thus, introduction of any new technologies in production logistics requires careful consideration. Regardless of the type of technology, a systems approach to the organization and development of production logistics is a prerequisite for the efficient operation of the company as a whole.

Forecasting Grain Production and Static Capacity of Warehouses Using the Natural Neighbor and Multiquadric Equations

The strategic logistics of agricultural production and storage aggregates information related to production and storage. In this sense, time, location, and distance from producer and consumer markets are considered, emphasizing the importance of grain storage and production logistics. The Natural Neighbor and multiquadric equation are spatial interpolation methods used to predict these variables value at non-sampled locations, for asymmetric and categorical data, respectively. This study investigated the spatial prediction of grain production (tons) (soybean, first crop corn, second-crop corn, and wheat) in the 2016/2017 growing season and qualitative data on the static capacity of warehouses in the 2017/2018 growing season. The result obtained through the spatial interpolation using the natural neighbor method was coherent, as it showed the high variability of grain production relative to the different meso-regions. Therefore, the method was appropriate because it allowed predicting the behavior of grain production in the 2016/2017 growing season in the state of Paraná-Brazil, making it possible to identify regions of higher or lower production. The result of the spatial interpolation using the multiquadric equations allowed identifying a higher predominance of storage units with a low static capacity of warehouses, but also enabled the detection of regions with a static capacity of warehouses that varied from the medium to the high category in the state of Paraná, Brazil.

PROPOSAL OF A MODEL FOR THE ECO-INNOVATION INTEGRATION INTO THE INNOVATION PROCESS OF COMPANIES IN SLOVAKIA TO INCREASE THEIR PERFORMANCE

The issue of innovations, as well as ecological innovations, is a concept in Slovakia, to which considerable attention is paid because they affect all spheres of society. They relate to production, logistics, sales, and the consumers, who decide on their acceptance on the market. However, the success of innovation in the market depends on several factors that influence the innovation process. They are not just determinants that act pro-innovation and thus support innovation and innovation process. In the innovation process, some factors have the opposite effect and result in forces that suppress the creation of innovation. Therefore, in this article, we focus on mapping the state of pros and cons of innovation forces acting on companies’ innovation process in Slovakia. Based on the above findings, we have identified a large interest in implementing innovations, using an open innovation system to implement innovations and implementing eco-innovation. On the other hand, we have also identified negative factors influencing companies’ innovation process such as lack of financial resources, high bureaucracy, lack of relevant information for creating innovations, low awareness of eco-innovation, etc. Subsequently, based on the findings, we proposed a model for eco-innovation integration into companies’ innovation process in Slovakia, which was the paper’s aim. The proposed model eliminates mainly the negative influencing factors of the innovation process in companies, and at the same time, it should support them for the innovation direction. Implementing the proposed model should lead to an innovation increase in companies, but their positive impact also applies to environmental support and an overall increase in the company´s efficiency in Slovakia.