An approach to the network of operations that are necessary to make a certain product reach the final consumer, from the place where raw materials are obtained, passing through the space destined for production; which undoubtedly implies all the transport, storage and distribution operations destined for the market, is essentially the logistics activity. Now, the logistics activities that correspond to what is being called the “intelligent company”, with updated planning strategies regarding the benefits offered by new technologies, specifically aimed at achieving maximum efficiency for the achievement of greater profits and satisfaction, and always in function of a demand that is becoming increasingly demanding, is the subject that concerns us on this occasion.

We will refer to the type of 4.0 logistics company, which is rebounding in relation to the highest levels of operability and performance. Being a company based on the principles of automation (robotics), digitization through specialized technologies in intelligent analysis (artificial intelligence), and the advancement of interconnectivity processes (Internet of Things), promote, as never before, the streamlining of productivity and business profitability. It is not uncommon to find interpretations related to the world of production, which assert that the type of 4.0 companies is considered “the fourth industrial revolution of humanity”, since they introduce intelligent systems and automations and cloud information for their functions, which replace and optimize tasks at the level of the entire supply chain.

The effort to reduce time, costs, and errors is essentially the leitmotif of 4.0 companies, since it is about optimizing the supply chain, but modifying processes to make them simpler, autonomous, and in full interconnectivity with all their parts. The aim is, with great effectiveness, to speed up shipping management, adapt production to the different needs of demand, greater efficiency through route optimization, geolocation of drivers and customers, improvement of storage and stock spaces, and automation of fee cancellation processes, remuneration, and all activities associated with administrative tasks. It is also about promoting the concatenation of procedures at the level of the entire supply chain, interconnecting production areas with other processes associated with the world of communications for the satisfaction of the needs of the final consumer, making it a co-participant (through elastic systems) in the processes of innovation and redesign of goods.

The 4.0 company accelerates the process of innovation of offered products, developing and integrating information with communication technologies throughout the value chain. From there, it creates intelligent networks that, by integrating with customers and suppliers in a flexible manner, provide great benefits, generating a type of integrated industrialization.

The following are 4 fundamental elements that allow us to understand more closely what 4.0 business activity consists of:

Implementation of Cyber-Physical Systems: broad connection between digital and physical systems, achieving a true process of integration. It is about combining the capabilities of computer systems, storage, and communication, with tracking and control processes of objects in the physical world.

Development of the Internet of Things (IoT): procedures through which effective connection of light bulbs, watches, cell phones, appliances, cars, medical devices, etc., is achieved through the internet.

Development of the Internet of Services (IoS): very similar to the Internet of Things, but this time it is about effectively connecting the internet with digitized services for companies that offer it. In the same sense, it allows creating processes that can identify and predict the right time to perform corrective or maintenance processes.

Generation of intelligent factories: creation of automated systems at the production level to turn human intervention into a less necessary task.

In addition to the above, to better understand the functioning of the 4.0 logistics company, we must mention automatic information technology, whose purpose is to recognize object information, through the processing of data related to transport, storage, and distribution. Likewise, real-time location processes (RTLS), to achieve greater traceability and tracking around the location of objects and people, and the implementation of technologies based on intelligent sensors that are capable of capturing temperature levels, humidity generation, and even measuring the concentration of ethylene in food for human consumption (fruits and vegetables mainly), avoiding that it ultimately harms the health of consumers.

As can be seen, logistics activity in the 4.0 company, a clear expression of the fourth industrial revolution, by dynamically and advancedly combining digital and physical systems, unprecedentedly drives the organization of production, distribution, and offering of goods and services, improving the quality of life of citizens in an economy that is constantly growing and that requires greater participation and integrality from consumers.