Sustainable warehouse management: Consideration of economic, ecological and social sustainability in logistics

It has been shown that almost every area of warehouse management offers opportunities for sustainability-oriented design. The results of these measures are cost savings, increased economic efficiency, energy efficiency and warehouse utilisation, as well as a reduction in waste and raw material consumption. However, not all actions have positive economic effects; some also lead to efficiency losses. The integration of sustainability considerations makes the overall warehouse management system more complex. This results in increased planning, organisation and monitoring costs, which can offset the cost savings. In summary, sustainability-oriented warehouse management is an area of sustainable logistics that has not yet been extensively researched in the literature. This paper can also only offer partial solutions or approaches. It can be assumed that this area will become more important in the coming years, as environmental protection is becoming increasingly important and should therefore be integrated into all areas of the economy.