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Sustainable supply chain management in the digitalisation era: The impact of Automated Guided Vehicles

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Bechtsis, D 
Vlachos, D 
Iakovou, E 

Abstract

Internationalization of markets and climate change introduce multifaceted challenges for modern supply chain (SC) management in the today's digitalisation era. On the other hand, Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) systems have reached an age of maturity that allows for their utilization towards tackling dynamic market conditions and aligning SC management focus with sustainability considerations. However, extant research only myopically tackles the sustainability potential of AGVs, focusing more on addressing network optimization problems and less on developing integrated and systematic methodological approaches for promoting economic, environmental and social sustainability. To that end, the present study provides a critical taxonomy of key decisions for facilitating the adoption of AGV systems into SC design and planning, as these are mapped on the relevant strategic, tactical and operational levels of the natural hierarchy. We then propose the Sustainable Supply Chain Cube (S2C2), a conceptual tool that integrates sustainable SC management with the proposed hierarchical decision-making framework for AGVs. Market opportunities and the potential of integrating AGVs into a SC context with the use of the S2C2 tool are further discussed.

Description

Keywords

automated guided vehicles, sustainable supply chain management, literature taxonomy, decision-making framework, Sustainable Supply Chain Cube (S2C2) tool

Journal Title

Journal of Cleaner Production

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0959-6526
1879-1786

Volume Title

142

Publisher

Elsevier