Barriers to automation of logistics inventory management in an unstable external environment

Abstract

The purpose of the research. To identify the key barriers to automation of logistics inventory management at industrial enterprises under external shocks (war, pandemic, logistical constraints) and to outline ways to overcome them on the example of the mining and metallurgical group Metinvest. Methods. The study is based on the analysis of the company's annual reports for 2020–2024 (six thematic groups), processing of open data on the implementation of IT solutions, as well as generalization of the results of a questionnaire survey conducted among heads of logistics and IT departments. The methods of comparative analysis, grouping, tabular data presentation and expert assessments were used. Results. It was found that the most critical problems are external shocks: demand forecasting due to war/pandemic and logistical constraints (100% of mentions in reports). Despite a high level of inventory accounting automation (85%), end-to-end automation of the entire enterprise is only 40% due to loss of assets in the conflict zone. The main obstacle to further IT implementation is not technological but external factors – war, port blockade, infrastructure destruction and power outages (100%). At the same time, the company continues to invest in cloud solutions (Microsoft Azure, SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud), staff training and pilot projects with artificial intelligence. Conclusions. To ensure the resilience of logistics inventory management in crisis conditions, a transition to "resilient" IT systems capable of operating with unstable power supply, lack of communication and frequent changes in logistics routes is necessary. Phased implementation of automation for critical inventories, the use of cloud platforms and mandatory staff training are proposed.