## 2 Theoretical Background
### Quality 4.0 and Logistics  
The establishment of Industry 4.0, technological progress, and digitization have created significant transformation opportunities in manufacturing, technical practices, and systems in several businesses [47]. Quality as a concept in manufacturing industries and service organizations mainly refers to conformance to product design and customer requirements. Quality is the main means of attracting customers and enhancing their satisfaction, which has a leading role in the viability of businesses in a competitive environment [48].  
The utilization of contemporary technology developed from Industry 4.0 and digital transformation is primarily what is meant by the phrase \"Quality 4.0\". Quality is now depicted as a strategy in a company and is now considered an integral part of a business model, driven by the active involvement of executives and employees [49; 50]. Within the scope of Total Quality Management (TQM), Industry 4.0 components are blended with traditional quality management approaches with the ultimate goal of creating new, optimum conditions for the quality of goods and services. This integration is referred to as \"Quality 4.0\" [51]. Quality 4.0 also explores the role of quality at a time of increasing automation and digitization of employment [52]. Digital tools are used for quality management in Quality 4.0. These cutting-edge tools make it possible to offer clients high-quality goods and services, giving businesses a much-needed competitive advantage. These tools increase operational effectiveness inside a company, lower nonconformance and defect rates, and guarantee on-time deliveries, manufacturing output, and supply chain adaptability [53; 54]. In a nutshell, Quality 4.0 is a branch of Industry 4.0 that aims to improve quality through clever solutions and algorithms. Quality 4.0 does not in any way replace or degrade the present quality management methodologies; rather, it augments them with Industry 4.0 Technologies [55; 56]. The basic architecture of Quality 4.0 is given in Figure 1.  
Quality 4.0 in logistics refers to the application of Industrial Transformation (IX) methodologies and emerging digital technologies to transform quality management and achieve step-change improvements in the value chain across product development, suppliers, operations, logistics, and customer experience [57].  
In the context of logistics, Quality 4.0 involves leveraging digital advancements to enhance quality processes and outcomes. For example, it can lead to better tracking, real-time monitoring, and optimization of logistics operations, ultimately improving overall supply chain efficiency and customer satisfaction. Emerging digital technologies are transforming logistics processes on a large scale. Despite a growing body of knowledge about individual use cases ranging from collaborative robots to platform-based programming systems at the forefront of Logistics 4.0 industrial development, organizations lack a systematic understanding of the opportunities that digital technologies bring to quality control [57; 58].  
At the forefront of Logistics 4.0 industrial development, digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT) are driving automation and planning from performing planned quality control tasks to a level where functions are (partially) performed autonomously and information is shared in an inter-organizational environment of physical processes in cyberspace [59].  
Figure 1: The basic Architecture of Quality 4.0.  
In recent years, the Quality 4.0 paradigm has slowly begun to expand into the logistics sector. However, Logistics 4.0 is still at an early stage of adoption: some sectors, such as warehousing, are still exploring its applicability, and the technological implementation of this paradigm may become unclear. A company's digital awareness and readiness is a major influencer, while the barriers and critical points are primarily technological, safety and security, and financial in nature [58; 59].