Paving the way towards a new education in Logistics: Green and automated Academic Article in Scopus uri icon

abstract

  • Green Logistics has gained considerable attention in educational academic and industry literature in recent years as government regulations seek to comply with international sustainable goals and companies intend to gain competitive advantage by appealing to conscious consumers. Understanding how to implement green logistics practices is proving to be instrumental in profiting from its advantages such as fuel cost reduction, transport routes optimization, efficient use of resources, improving energy efficiency and increasing competitiveness and better market positioning. Moreover, the leaps and bounds of technology have led the way towards the fourth industrial revolution with Industry 4.0. Thus, this study aims to answer the following question: can the use of an educational approach to Industry 4.0 support the transition towards greener, more efficient logistics? It examines how green logistics education supports the implementation of a circular economy. While the first one refers to connecting resources to commodities and subsequently to consumers' needs through products, the second one refers to a system where all material flows within an economy are completely closed, in such a way that both concepts are intrinsically linked to each other. Industry 4.0 technology is of paramount importance to optimize and virtualize the supply chain. The analysis findings reveal how industry 4.0 technologies and implementation of Internet of Things (IoT) will facilitate process' traceability, production optimization and logistics. On top of that, the adoption of electric vehicles has proved to reduce fuel cost, inactivity time and emissions. This research offers insight into the drivers of adopting green logistics education and how to avoid falling into the pitfalls of greenwashing while pursuing to gain the profit advantages of Green Logistics. © 2025 IISE Annual Conference and Expo 2025, Conference Proceedings. All rights reserved.

publication date

  • January 1, 2025