Abstract
PurposeThe physical internet (PI) is an emerging logistics and supply chain management (SCM) concept that draws on different technologies and areas of research, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and key performance indicators, with the purpose of revolutionizing existing logistics and SCM practices. The growing literature on the PI and its noteworthy potential to be a disruptive innovation in the logistics industry call for a systematic literature review (SLR), which we conducted that defines the current state of the literature and outlines future research directions and approaches.Design/methodology/approachThe SLR that was undertaken included journal publications, conference papers and proceedings, book excerpts, industry reports and white papers. We conducted descriptive, citation, thematic and methodological analyses to understand the evolution of PI literature.FindingsBased on the literature review and analyses, we proposed a comprehensive framework that structures the PI domain and outlines future directions for logistics and SCM researchers.Research limitations/implicationsOur research findings are limited by the relatively low number of journal publications, as the PI is a new field of inquiry that is composed primarily of conference papers and proceedings.Originality/valueThe proposed PI-based framework identifies seven PI themes, including the respective facilitators and barriers, which can inform researchers and practitioners on future potentially disruptive SC strategies.
Highlights
The current global logistics and supply chain management (SCM) practices of transporting, storing and handling physical freight are unsustainable in the long run from economic, environmental and societal perspectives. Montreuil (2011, p. 71) identified 13 specific symptoms of the unsustainable global logistics and SCM practices that constitute the “worldwide global logistics sustainability grand challenge.” using the latest improvements in information sharing, interconnectivity, information technology, data mining, big data and data analytics, it is possible to develop new logistics and SCM practices that are sustainable in the long run
We discuss the thematic analysis, which provides an overview of the main themes in the Physical Internet (PI) literature
The PI is receiving increasing attention from academics and practitioners, who view this new paradigm as being a disruptive innovation having the potential to significantly disrupt existing logistics and supply chains (SCs) practices
Summary
The current global logistics and supply chain management (SCM) practices of transporting, storing and handling physical freight are unsustainable in the long run from economic, environmental and societal perspectives. Montreuil (2011, p. 71) identified 13 specific symptoms of the unsustainable global logistics and SCM practices that constitute the “worldwide global logistics sustainability grand challenge.” using the latest improvements in information sharing, interconnectivity, information technology, data mining, big data and data analytics, it is possible to develop new logistics and SCM practices that are sustainable in the long run. The current global logistics and supply chain management (SCM) practices of transporting, storing and handling physical freight are unsustainable in the long run from economic, environmental and societal perspectives. 3) defined the PI as “a comprehensive and measurable supply chain framework which is based on a network of physical components These components are standardized as well as optimized and exchange information to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability of supply chain management operations.”. The PI is a holistic concept that merges numerous relevant areas of logistics and SCM research with the promise of disrupting current logistics and SCM practices These areas include sustainability, effectiveness and efficiency of global value chains and information flows, as well as horizontal and vertical collaboration. PI hubs enable efficient unimodal and multimodal dispatching and routing of modular containers in an open logistics network via consolidation of loads, which in turn lowers inventory and logistics systems costs (Venkatadri et al, 2016)
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