Technological Readiness and Innovation as Drivers for Logistics 4.0

The research purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the effects of technological readiness and innovation on logistics performance. To build up and maintain an important role in global supply chains, nowadays it is obvious that countries and logistics providers need to achieve competitive advantage in terms of digitalization. However, there is a lack of empirical studies about the impacts of information technologies and innovation potential on the logistics efficiency of countries. Hence, the study analyzes whether the corresponding pillars of the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) matter for the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) and its dimensions. For determining the effects, the pooled regression approach is applied. The results show that technological readiness and innovation are positively and statistically significantly correlated with logistics performance: competence and quality of logistics services, efficiency of customs clearance processes, ability to track and trace consignments, frequency with which shipments reach consignee within scheduled or expected time, and ease of arranging competitively priced shipments. The findings of this study suggest that investments in innovations and technology progress improve countries’ logistics efficiency, which is an important prerequisite for enabling Logistics 4.0 and thus, Industry 4.0 and the digital transformation of the economy and society.