Physical Internet deployment in industry: literature review and research opportunities
Industrial Management & Data Systems
ISSN: 0263-5577
Article publication date: 4 November 2021
Issue publication date: 10 June 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The Physical Internet (PI) provides solutions to improve the current unsustainable economically logistics systems. This paper aims to identify the key themes and point out the gaps to demonstrate the current state of the PI deployment in the industry. Furthermore, this paper attempts to provide possible opportunities for future research to lead research directions of PI deployment in the industry.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper follows the methodology of systematic literature review (SLR) including five processes of (1) identifying the search process; (2) selecting publications following the criteria that include and/or exclude a publication; (3) evaluating and analyzing the chosen literature; (4) reporting findings and (5) synthesizing future research opportunities. A total of 88 papers ranging from 2011 to 2021 were selected and coded for analysis.
Findings
This paper has identified 7 themes, including the PI concepts, assessments of the PI, components of the PI, innovative facilities applied in the PI, collaboration in the PI, the PI implementation and literature review. Meanwhile, five key methodologies including experimental, exploratory, review, design science research as well as mixed-methods have been classified. A framework has been proposed to summarize the results incorporating the real-life industries involved in the existing research. The authors also present the research gaps and future research opportunities for the PI deployment in industries.
Originality/value
This study is one of the first research focusing on the PI real-life implementation and thus contributes to the PI literature differing from other literature review papers. The proposed framework is useful to learn about the current core research themes in the PI. The discussion of future research opportunities may inspire interesting research delving into the field.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank National Demonstration Center for Experimental Education of Information Technology and Management (Renmin University of China) for partially support of this research.
Citation
Chen, S., Su, L. and Cheng, X. (2022), "Physical Internet deployment in industry: literature review and research opportunities", Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 122 No. 6, pp. 1522-1540. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-07-2021-0416
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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