Sustainable and Collaborative Smart Manufacturing and Logistics

Dear Colleagues,

The word "SMART" is one of most popular keywords for representing recent research topics on manufacturing as well as logistics. With the advancement of various technologies, manufacturing and logistics are gradually developing, and in particular, the issue of environmental considerations, referred to as sustainability, is a topic that should be dealt with, as important as it is. In addition, for the efficient operation of production and logistics in a distributed environment, collaboration among companies (i.e., inter-collaboration), collaboration within companies (i.e., intra-collaboration), and human–machine or machine–machine collaboration are essential. In order to facilitate a sustainable and collaborative environment, the manufacturing industry must apply and utilize advanced technologies such as cyber–physical production systems (CPPSs), artificial intelligence (AI), internet-of-things/everything/behavior (IoT/IoE/IoB) applications, big data analytics, 3D printing, cloud/fog/edge computing, and reality technology (AR/VR/MR/XR), which have recently been actively researched. The aforementioned technologies can be applied not only to the manufacturing industry but also to the optimization and efficient operation of the logistics industry. This Special Issue will emphasize the impact of the development of innovative theories, models, systems, and applications of advanced technologies facilitating smart manufacturing and logistics. Sustainability, in this Special Issue, can be considered in the efficient monitoring and use of energy and resources during production and logistics, reduction of waste, elimination of environmental harmfulness, etc. Collaboration can also be considered among cooperating companies, business partners, human workers, robots, machines, and even products or parts.

This Special Issue will provide knowledge, experience, and applications in the recent achievements in the area of sustainable and collaborative manufacturing and logistics. It will address all aspects of smart manufacturing and logistics, such as planning, control, the management of the supply network, production, logistics, the development of smart manufacturing and logistics support systems, and the applications of advanced technologies, while focusing on issues of sustainability and collaboration.

We welcome papers on the following topics for the Special Issue:

• Sustainability-enhanced methodologies and models for manufacturing and logistics;
• Applications of advanced technologies for sustainable and collaborative smart production and logistics;
• Innovative planning, control, and management of supply networks for sustainability and collaboration objectives;
• Theory and methodology for collaborative manufacturing and logistics, and their applications, including topics on collaboration platforms or co-bots.

Prof. Dr. Kwangyeol Ryu
Prof. Dr. Dong-Ho Lee
Prof. Dr. Youngjae Jang
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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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.