Logistics and Supply Chain Challenges and Solutions in the Turbulent World

Dear Colleagues,

In today's turbulent global environment, logistics and supply chains face multifaceted challenges. The logistics sector is navigating a complex landscape characterized by geopolitical instability, trade wars, labor shortages, environmental concerns, natural, political, and economic crises, pandemics, and cybersecurity threats (Wiedmer, Griffis, 2021). Embracing digital transformation, investing in technology, and adopting automation are key strategies for building stable and transparent logistics processes and maintaining adaptable supply chains in this volatile era. Industry 5.0 (Kessler, Arlinghaus, 2022) represents a paradigm shift beyond the automation-first perspective of Industry 4.0 (Burger et al., 2021) by reintegrating humans, prioritizing sustainability, resilience, and personalization alongside digitalization. This theory of transition emphasizes human–machine collaboration in a new hybrid reality via the interconnection of the virtual and real worlds through the use of cobots, augmented reality, digital twins, and AI‑enhanced decision tools (Simon, 1995). Logistics 4.0 and Logistics 5.0 approaches and methods aim to reshape the traditional internal workflows, procurement and distribution strategies, and urban and global freight processes, before finally restructuring the entirety of logistical and supply chain operations. 

These techniques have widespread applicability, finding use in the logistics domain—from procurement and inbound logistics, warehousing, inventory and operations management to distribution, reverse logistics, internal movements, transportation, city logistics, last-mile logistics, and global freight. These reshaping trends encourage the connection of technology, sustainability, and people to tackle disruptions and design more efficient, smarter, and more resilient logistics ecosystems. 

We invite cutting‐edge papers using diverse methods for exploring solutions for these challenges including nature and physical systems’ analogies as a means for optimization (Sarraj et al., 2014; Sharma, Lote, 2013; Turken et al., 2020). All submissions should contribute to the body of scientific literature and practice primarily in logistics contexts, with insights for both academia and industry. Reflecting the evolution of logistics, we are particularly keen to publish contributions that integrate the following topics:

• AI-powered workflows in logistics.
• Sustainability targets across the supply chain.
• Human-Centricity: Logistics 5.0 reintroduces the human role in decision-making and operations.
• Resilience: Through adaptive supply chain design, real-time AI analytics, and human–machine synergy, logistics systems gain flexibility to handle disruptions.
• Sustainability: Green logistics practices, optimized routing, energy‑efficient warehouses, and reverse logistics align with environmental goals.

Related literature:

Burger M., Kessler M., Arlinghaus J. (2021) Aiming for Industry 4.0 Maturity? The risk of higher digitalization levels in buyer-supplier relationships, Procedia CIRP, Volume 104, 1529-1534, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2021.11.258.

Kessler M., Arlinghaus J. C. (2022) A framework for human-centered production planning and control in smart manufacturing. Journal of Manufacturing Systems, Volume 65. 220-232, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmsy.2022.09.013.

Sarraj, R., Ballot, E., Pan, S. et al. Analogies between Internet network and logistics service networks: challenges involved in the interconnection. J Intell Manuf 25, 1207–1219 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10845-012-0697-7

Sharma, S., Lote, K.S. Understanding demand volatility in supply chains through the vibrations analogy - the onion supply case. Logist. Res. 6, 3–15 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12159-012-0083-z

Simon, H., A. (1995) ‘Artificial intelligence: an empirical science’, Artificial Intelligence, 77(1), pp. 95–127, https://doi.org/10.1016/0004-3702(95)00039-H.

Turken, N., Cannataro, V., Geda, A., & Dixit, A. (2020). Nature inspired supply chain solutions: definitions, analogies, and future research directions. International Journal of Production Research, 58(15), 4689–4715. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2020.1778206

Wiedmer, R. & Griffis, SE (2021) Structural characteristics of complex supply chain networks, Journal of business logistics 42(2), https://doi.org/10.1111/jbl.12283 

Dr. Edit Süle
Dr. Diego D'Urso
Dr. Abderahman Rejeb
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Logistics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.