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Purpose: Cross-docking deals with the goals of lean supply chain management. It is a distribution strategy. In this structure, goods are shipped from inbound to outbound trailers on the same day or overnight without putting them into storage. Cross-docking can realize transport efficiencies at reduced material handling and storage costs by eliminating the storage and order-picking activities from the main warehouse operations. These advantages make cross-docking an interesting logistic strategy that can give companies considerable competitive advantages. This paper aims to introduce cross-docking, its characteristics and its problem types, comprehensively. The focus of this study is on distinguishing research gaps. Design/methodology/approach: Systematic review is "review research by explicit, rigorous and accountable methods". Reviews and their findings can vary on many aspects of the 'dimensions of different'. One such review is the 'review of reviews'. A systematic review of primary research is the second level of research analysis. A review of reviews (sometimes called 'overview' or 'umbrella' review) is a tertiary level of analysis. It is a systematic map and/or synthesis of previous reviews. The 'data' for such reviews of reviews are previous reviews rather than primary research studies. This can be an efficient method for examining previous research. In this paper, cross-docking literature systematic review (review of reviews method) has been discussed by introducing, clustering crossdocking decision problems, and drawing future research directions. Findings: Bibliography, cross-dockings, and classified characteristics of cross-docking based on the decision levels (strategic, tactical and operational levels) were the major findings of this study. Also, the cross-docking problem types were addressed and the gaps in the field of cross-docking were determined. This study highlighted two frequent gaps that would need to be filled by focusing on the research areas of taking deadlines for the trucks into account and dealing with uncertainty. Research limitations/implications: Book chapters and conference papers were excluded from this research. Reviewed papers were published in a certain period and the English language. Practical implications: Today firms use different types of distribution strategies. Cross-docking with eliminating the storage and order-picking activities from the main warehouse operations is an interesting logistics strategy. products with predictable, high cubic volume flow, and perishable products are ideal candidates for cross-docking. Cross-docking is nowadays used by many companies and industries such as the retail industry, automotive industry, telecommunications and electronics industries. Social implications: Cross-docking results in smaller volumes of more visible inventories that are delivered faster and more frequently. Several other advantages of cross-docking are addressed in the literature compared to traditional distribution centres. Some advantages are reduced cost (warehousing costs, inventory-holding costs, handling costs, labour costs), shorter delivery lead time (from supplier to customer), improved customer service, reduced storage space, faster inventory turnover, fewer overstocks, and reduced risk for loss and damage. Originality/value: Due to the advantages and extensive applications of cross-docking, in this paper a "review of reviews" was performed, and after introducing cross-docking terminals and their problem types, distinguish research gaps were determined for the future research study. Therefore, researchers were suggested to concentrate on the addressed gaps in their models to get closer to real-life constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Today, the manufacturing industry, with the expansion of the physical constraints of trade worldwide, has adopted modern information technologies to optimize the business process and achieve integration with geographically dispersed supply chain partners. Traditional supply chain models focus on optimizing physical flows. However, it is equally important to ensure that physical units can process appropriate information. This paper aims to propose a model for the optimization of information process performance in the IoT-based virtual supply chain. Design/methodology/approach: In this study, information processing performance in the closed-loop virtual supply chain has been optimized to maximize profit and information processing speed by considering costs of virtual, information security, and energy consumption. The final programming model has been optimized using meta-heuristic algorithms, the Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II), and the Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm (SPEA-II). Findings – The results indicated that there is an inverse relationship between virtual supply chain profit and information processing speed (delay). The results of model solving using NSGA-II and SPEA-II algorithms underlined the virtual supply chain profit of 9.93×106 and 4.23×106, and the data processing speed of 337.48 and 94.07, respectively. Thus, the NSGA-II algorithm contributes more to the supply chain profitability. Research limitations/implications - The proposed model can be used in manufacturing industries equipped with IoT. Unavailability of practical examples and insufficient data are the two main limitations of the study. Practical implications:- The proposed model improves the production process and helps managers to plan better for their supply chain management and make timely decisions by sharing information across the supply chain and being aware of the flows of products and associated parts. Social implications - The Internet of Things in the virtual supply chain provides an opportunity to manage logistics systems and results in efficient online delivery with minimal cost. The information flow integrates all links and participants in the virtual supply chain. It enables each member to obtain the accurate information needed for logistics capability, reduces resource wastage, and improves customer satisfaction. Originality/value: One of the innovative aspects of this research is the use of IoT in the virtual supply chain for the integration and transparency of information in the supply chain, considering the importance of information in the virtual supply chain and examining the impact of IoT usage on closed-loop virtual supply costs and target functions. In addition to considering the physical flow costs of the closed-loop, including production costs, separation costs, repair, disposal, recycling, etc., in the cost objective function, virtual flow costs included IoT usage costs and information security costs. Energy consumption was also included in the objective function. Also, due to the virtualization of the supply chain and the significant role of information, optimization of information processing speed was considered in modeling the supply chain performance, which is another innovative aspect of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]