# A Taxonomy of Technologies for Human-Centred Logistics 4.0
## 4 Taxonomy of Technology  
This paper aims to provide a taxonomy of technologies for Logistics 4.0, with a specific focus on the relation between technology and human factors. Indeed, in the taxonomy development, along with the main category related to the logistics activities (Internal Logistics Activities), two new categories have been conceptualized to take into consideration the relevant aspects of Logistics 4.0: (i) the improvement of information flows thanks to the availability of a considerable amount of data (Flow types), and (ii) the necessity of combining the new technological application with the human work (Human-technology relation). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline
**Technological** & **Description** & **Taxonomy Objects** & **References** \\ \hline \multirow{7}{*}{IT/ICT/CC} & & Warehouse Management & \\  & Information Technology (IT) or Information and & & Systems (WMS) & \\  & communications technology (ICT) in logistics is identified as all & & Inventory Resources & \\  & applications used to plan, implement and control procedures to & & Planning (IRP) & \\  & transport and store goods and services from origin to & & Order Management & \\  & destination. Cloud Computing (CC) figuratively refers to a & & Systems (OMS) & [38, 39, 40] \\ IT/ICT/CC & & bundle of virtualized and distributed resources shaped in a & Inventory Management & [38, 39, 40] \\  & diffuse, all-pervasive way, similar to a cloud. This type of & & Systems (IMS) & \\  & technology allows access to software applications and data & & Picking Route & \\  & storage without a significant investment in infrastructure but & & Management Systems & (PRMS) \\  & investment in software functionality and services. & & Scheduling Management & \\  & & Systems (SMS) & \\ \hline \multirow{7}{*}{Wearable devices} & & Handheld Computers & \\  & & (picking orders & \\  & information) & & Voice-Direct Headsets & \\  & & (voice picking) & \\  & Wearable devices help operators take on physical jobs that & & Smart Glasses (pick-put to & \\  & would otherwise be too difficult, constantly monitoring & & light) & [41, 42, 43] \\  & management software. & Activity Trackers (steps, & \\  & & heart-rate) & \\  & & Exoskeletons (lifting and & \\  & & moving) & \\  & & Wearable Scanners & \\ \hline \multirow{7}{*}{AVS/RS} & & AGUTS (picking and & \\  & Automated vehicle storage and retrieval systems (AVS/RS) are & & moving) & \\  & used to achieve greater operational efficiency and competitive & & Smart Fast Rotation & \\  & advantage, especially in operating environments with a high & & Storage Systems & [44] \\  & altitude. Autonomous vehicles provide horizontal movement & & Smart Trasloelevators & \\  & (\(x\)-axis and \(y\)-axis) within a tier using rails or laser guides, while & & Smart Mini-Loaders & \\  & lifts provide vertical movement (z-axis) between tiers. & & Smart Lifts and Forklifts & \\ \hline \multirow{7}{*}{Drones} & & Drones (inventory, picking & \\  & Drones could collect data from shelves doing autonomous & & and moving) & \\  & inventory control and handle small and light parcels. & & Collaborative Robots & \\  & & (picking) & \\ \hline \multirow{7}{*}{Logistics Robots} & & Collaborative Robots & \\  & & (load-n’-unload, & \\  & & inspection, kitting, and & \\  & Logistics robots are robots with one or more grippers to pick up & & packing) & \\  & and move items within a logistics operation such as & & Industrial Robots & \\  & warehouses, sorting centers, or last-mile fulfillment centers. & (inspection, kitting and & \\  & & packing) & \\  & & Labelling Systems & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 5: _Cont._After the choice of the categories and dimensions as described in Section 3.1, during the taxonomy development, it was possible to highlight that some internal logistics areas shared exactly the same objects, equally classified according to the other dimensions.