Abstract
This paper examines the current challenges faced by logistics with a focus on the agri-food sector. After outlining the context, a review of the literature on the relationship between logistics and strategic management in gaining and increasing competitiveness in the agri-food sector is conducted. In particular, the flow of the paper is as follows: after examining the aforementioned managerial problem and its broader repercussions, the paper proceeds to address two main research questions. First, how and by which tools can digitization contribute to improving supply chain management and sustainability in logistics? Second, what are the main managerial and strategic implications and consequences of this for the agri-food sector in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, cost reduction, and supply chain optimization? Finally, the paper presents Italy as a case study, chosen both for its peculiar internal differences in logistical infrastructures and entrepreneurial management between Northern and Southern regions (which could be at least partially overcome with the use of new technologies and frameworks) and for the importance of the agri-food sector for the domestic economy (accounting about 25% of the country’s GDP), on which digitization should have positive effects in terms of value creation and sustainability.
Highlights
International trade, global politics and new technologies are facing radical changes which result in great complexity and uncertainty.The world of shipping, transport and logistics is developing in a context of increasing globalization, which has enabled production processes to enjoy a substantial reduction in transport costs and an increase in efficiency with considerable benefits for the growth of the global economy [1]
The present paper aims at analyzing the specificity of logistics at the level of strategic management through an extensive literature review, along with the ways in which digitization can help to improve specific aspects of both efficiency and sustainability, with a particular focus on the agri-food sector
Following a general analysis of the role of logistics in management, two main research questions are addressed in this paper: (1) What contributions can digitalization bring to the logistics sector and supply chain optimization? and (2) What are the direct effects in the agri-food sector, an industry which relies heavily on logistics for a series of very significant aspects such as the high perishability of products and the need to transport them to markets far away from production
Summary
International trade, global politics and new technologies are facing radical changes which result in great complexity and uncertainty. (2) What are the direct effects in the agri-food sector (with a focus on the Agriculture 4.0 paradigm), an industry which relies heavily on logistics for a series of very significant aspects such as the high perishability of products and the need to transport them to markets far away from production After this part, the paper presents the case study of Italy, a country that could greatly benefit from vast investments in digitization and new technologies in the aforementioned areas for two main reasons. The strategic importance of logistics for company competitiveness is present for all perishable food products and this, as mentioned, implies an increase in the complexity of its specific aspects, deriving from the creation, control and monitoring of green cold chain networks [66] at all levels but, substantially, from the scarce standardization of loading units and the different specific packaging requirements for the various product classes, something that could be highly improved with intelligent information sharing and other digital techniques
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