A Case study on the impact of environmental taxes on investment profitability when introducing automated guided vehicles to factories

Kimura, Tomiya (author), Sugihara, Midori (author), Čok, Vanja (author)

Automated material handling systems, such as automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), are becoming increasingly popular in the manufacturing industry because of their potential to improve operational efficiency and reduce labor costs. However, as these systems consume electricity, the return on investment needs to be examined due to the carbon tax being levied to become carbon neutral by 2050. This study examines the investment profitability of deploying automated factory systems when carbon taxes are taken into account, including the initial investment, power consumption, energy costs, and labor costs at the time of installation. Using simulation models and case studies, the study evaluates the return of investment (ROI) of deploying automation systems in manufacturing industries in different countries (Thailand, Japan, Germany and USA) under current conditions, in 2030, and with a carbon tax to become carbon neutral in 2050. The results of the study show that developed countries are already preparing for carbon neutrality in 2050 by transferring from fossil fuels to non-fossil fuels, while emerging countries will not be able to make the ROI not only because of the low cost of labor, but also because of their reliance on fossil fuels, which will result in a larger carbon tax in 2050 The company has already begun to prepare for the transfer of non-fossil fuels.

• Language: English
• Keywords: supply chain management, smart factory, sustainability, carbon pricing
• Typology: 1.08 - Published Scientific Conference Contribution
• Organization: FS - Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: 9 str.
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-175170
• UDC: 502.131.1
• DOI: 10.3233/ATDE251119
• COBISS.SI-ID: 253839363
• Publication date in RUL: 20.10.2025

Record is a part of a monograph

• Title: Transdiciplinarity for a better world : proceedings of the 32nd International Society of Transdisciplinary Engineering (ISTE) Global Conference
• Place of publishing: Amsterdam
• Publisher: IOS Press, Sage
• Year: 2025
• ISBN: 978-1-64368-624-0
• COBISS.SI-ID: 253825795
• Collection title: Advances in transdisciplinary engineering (Online)
• Collection numbering: ǂvol. ǂ40
• Collection ISSN: 2352-7528

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
• Description: A creative commons license that bans commercial use, but the users don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: upravljanje dobavne verige, pametna tovarna, trajnost, cene ogljika