Editor's note: This paper, and the attendant Edition 81, is the first to feature video optimization. We’re really excited to launch this new initiative in which you can click on the main image of each piece and watch related video from our author(s), as well as click on links throughout the paper to view pertinent and helpful content. We really hope you enjoy this new function as it’s something we plan to build on even more.
Some say the technological revolution is going ever-faster. Although we have to realize that in the last 100 years, the amount of technological innovations has been enormous, we have to maintain a helicopter view on the world. In recent years, we have seen the latest hypes follow each other quite rapidly, with the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, blockchain, and artificial intelligence (AI) as buzzwords. The latest addition to this grouping is ‘the digital twin’. Although all of these technologies seem to offer great opportunities to the industry, and certainly to the logistics industry, the amount of clear success stories or largescale implementations is lacking. Some may point to the conservatism in the logistics business, but others may also question the true business case of these technologies. Moreover, some of these hypes are repetitions from the past, the digital twin not in the least. After all, a digital twin is a model of the physical reality, albeit with a great level of detail. But it will always remain a model, leaving away irrelevant details…
