Among the several innovations introduced by the fourth industrial revolution, automation and digital technologies stand out for impacting firms’ performances in all three dimensions of sustainability (Sun et al., 2021; Bai et al., 2020). Over years, least attention has been devoted to the social dimension, being the hardest to measure and quantify, but practitioners are starting to understand its value, particularly in the intralogistics sector, in which human resources still play a relevant role (Klumpp et al., 2019; Bag et al., 2020; Sgarbossa et al., 2020). The present thesis aims at investigating how social sustainability has been addressed in Intralogistics 4.0 and proposes a schematization of the Decision-Making Process to follow when introducing technological innovation in warehouses. A multi-step methodology was adopted. First, a scope literature review was conducted to sharpen the research focus; then, the interplay the two research pillars was investigated by means of a systematic literature review. Five semi-structured interviews with logistics providers were conducted and, by merging the main insights with the theoretical findings, a conceptual framework was built, describing elements and mechanisms affecting technological innovations in warehouses. Lastly, the framework was validated by applying it to the technologies studied in the real-case scenarios. On one side, the research provided a systematic organization of the literature state-of-the-art about social sustainability in IL40; on the other side, framework application shows that 4.0 technologies enhance both social and economic performances.
Tra le numerose innovazioni introdotte dalla quarta rivoluzione industriale, risaltano le tecnologie automatiche e digitali, le quali influenzano le prestazioni delle imprese per quanto riguarda tutte e tre le dimensioni della sostenibilità (Sun et al., 2021; Bai et al., 2020). Nel corso degli anni, all’aspetto sociale è stata dedicata meno attenzione, essendo il più difficile da misurare e quantificare, ma i ricercatori stanno iniziando a comprenderne il valore, in particolare nel settore dell'intralogistica, in cui le risorse umane rivestono ancora un ruolo rilevante (Klumpp et al., 2019; Bag et al., 2020; Sgarbossa et al., 2020). Questa tesi si propone quindi di indagare come il tema della sostenibilità sociale sia stato affrontato nell'Intralogistica 4.0 e propone una schematizzazione del processo decisionale da seguire nell’innovazione tecnologica dei magazzini. Nello svolgimento del lavoro è stata adottata una metodologia a più fasi. In primo luogo, è stata condotta una revisione preliminare della letteratura per affinare il focus dello studio; successivamente, l'interazione tra i due pilastri della ricerca è stata esaminata attraverso un’analisi sistematica della letteratura. Sono state condotte cinque interviste semi-strutturate con fornitori di servizi logistici e, integrando le principali evidenze empiriche ai riscontri teorici, è stato sviluppato un modello concettuale che descrive gli elementi ed i meccanismi che influenzano l’innovazione tecnologica dei magazzini. Infine, il modello è stato validato applicandolo alle tecnologie studiate nei casi reali. Da un lato, la ricerca ha fornito un'organizzazione sistematica dello stato dell'arte della letteratura sulla sostenibilità sociale in ambito IL40; dall'altro, l'applicazione del modello ha dimostrato che le tecnologie 4.0 possono determinare benefici sia sociali che economici.
Social sustainability in Intralogistics 4.0: analysis of the state-of-the-art and explorative study of technological innovations' impact
Striano, Sofia;Todde, Margherita
2021/2022
Abstract
Among the several innovations introduced by the fourth industrial revolution, automation and digital technologies stand out for impacting firms’ performances in all three dimensions of sustainability (Sun et al., 2021; Bai et al., 2020). Over years, least attention has been devoted to the social dimension, being the hardest to measure and quantify, but practitioners are starting to understand its value, particularly in the intralogistics sector, in which human resources still play a relevant role (Klumpp et al., 2019; Bag et al., 2020; Sgarbossa et al., 2020). The present thesis aims at investigating how social sustainability has been addressed in Intralogistics 4.0 and proposes a schematization of the Decision-Making Process to follow when introducing technological innovation in warehouses. A multi-step methodology was adopted. First, a scope literature review was conducted to sharpen the research focus; then, the interplay the two research pillars was investigated by means of a systematic literature review. Five semi-structured interviews with logistics providers were conducted and, by merging the main insights with the theoretical findings, a conceptual framework was built, describing elements and mechanisms affecting technological innovations in warehouses. Lastly, the framework was validated by applying it to the technologies studied in the real-case scenarios. On one side, the research provided a systematic organization of the literature state-of-the-art about social sustainability in IL40; on the other side, framework application shows that 4.0 technologies enhance both social and economic performances.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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2022_12_Striano_Todde_01.pdf
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Descrizione: Executive summary
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2022_12_Striano_Todde_02.pdf
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Descrizione: Thesis
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/196458