Environmental and economic implications of applying augmented reality in express parcel delivery in China

Abstract

State-of-the-art information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as augmented reality (AR), have been increasingly adopted in express delivery. However, their environmental and economic impacts remain underexamined. We pioneer to assess the environmental and economic performances of applying AR in a parcel distribution center for express delivery, using a perspective life cycle assessment (LCA) approach and a traditional life cycle costing (LCC) method. On the basis of our field investigation and literature analysis, three scenarios, namely Baseline Scenario, AR Scenario, and AR+ Scenario, are developed consistent with current and potential AR applications in parcel delivery. Our findings indicate that AR and AR+ Scenarios are more environmentally sustainable than Baseline Scenario, exhibiting a decrease in global warming potential (GWP) by 13.44 % and 13.06 %, respectively. With the introduction of AR, the values of most selected impact categories show notable declines, except for human toxicity potential and marine ecotoxicity potential. The total endpoint scores decreased by 13.39 % and 12.86 % in the AR Scenario and AR+ Scenario, respectively. Moreover, the AR Scenario and AR+ Scenario are economically advantageous, demonstrating cost reductions of 38.59 % and 49.31 %, respectively, compared with the Baseline Scenario. Most substantial benefits associated with AR occur in the picking & sorting process, exhibiting improved accuracy and efficiency. Our sensitivity analysis underscores the substantial benefit associated with applying AR in routing improvement; 1 % routing improvement leads to a reduction of 0.27 kg CO2-Eq. Moreover, the sensitivity analysis also shows that labor cost is the most influential factor in the overall economic performance; its 1 % fluctuation leads to a change of 1.37 USD in the total cost. Our uncertainty analysis suggests that using more advanced processing units in AR devices leads to superior economic performance, but at greater environmental costs due to increased metallic contents. Based on these assessments, we provide managerial and theoretical implications on adopting smart ICTs in logistics.