INTEROPERABILITY CHALLENGES FOR

CONTEXT AWARE LOGISTIC SERVICES

-THE CASE OF SYNCHROMODAL LOGISTICS

Prince Singh Marten van Sinderen

BDEI@IWEI Workshop Nîmes, France 27th May 2015

Context Logistics Context-awareness

Interoperability challenges Disruptions Common data format

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AGENDA

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ACTORS IN LOGISTIC DOMAIN

4PL - a non-asset owning service provider

image source: www.cerasis.com

Combined use of transport modes, decisions based on balancing time, cost and service levels Situation dependent

SLS is an important EU goal (source: EU white paper over Logistics, 2011)

Benefits Less CO2 emission Optimal use of infrastructure Less congestion of roads Faster delivery times Increase cooperation between LSP’s

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SYNCHROMODAL LOGISTICS SERVICES (SLS) THE FUTURE OF LOGISTICS

Using information on the environment in which logistics activities are happening to support decision making

Situation detection with big data analytics

Benefits Better planning Real-time adaption of planning, disruption handling

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CONTEXT-AWARE LOGISTIC SERVICES

• Location • Construction • Weather • Accidents • Traffic • Resources

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ACTORS IN LOGISTIC DOMAIN

4PL - a non-asset owning service provider

image source: www.cerasis.com

CASM-4PL 4PL - context-aware synchromodal decision-making

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BUSINESS CASE? VALUE MODELLING

E-3 value model of synchromodal logistics

Mutual beneficial value exchanges imply co-operation between actors, based on trust, willingness to share, and ability to interoperate

Different actors have to work together, e.g. planning and delivering a shipment by the 4PL orders from customers offers from LSPs/carriers context information from data providers assigments to LSPs/carriers etc.

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CO-OPERATION BETWEEN ACTORS

Interoperability challenges exist at different levels

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INTEROPERABILITY CHALLENGES LEVELS

Strategic

Process

Application

Information

Technology

Security

Strategic interoperability is concerned with the responsibilities that partners assume, and whether they live up to these responsibilities, in accordance to expectations/agreements and in line with business goals Financial aspects – division of profit/loss among partners. SLAs – common understanding on the quality and content of the

service(s) each partner provides or consumes Security interoperability is not confined to one layer, but requirements on

CIA stem from strategic and business layer Data sharing policy, e.g. an LSP should not see the status of

resources of another LSP if not intended/agreed Concensus regarding where and how long data from partners can be

stored

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STRATEGIC AND SECURITY INTEROPERABILITY

Process interoperability is concerned with linking partners’ processes with through a choreography such that processes can proceed in synchrony Planning process – requires input in terms of available infrastructure,

cost, capacity etc. from the partners Bidding process – needs bids from partners who can fulfill a shipment

(or a part of it) Tracking Process - requires information from different databases and

information sources regarding location and process status Process tasks can be automated with IT applications - if applications are

directly connected (not hidden behind public process interfaces), there interoperability depends on API and software compatibility

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PROCESS AND APPLICATION INTEROPERABILITY

Information (semantic) interoperability is the ability to share intended meaning between partners

Information exchange requires data transfer, i.e. technical (syntactic) interoperability Agreed formats and codings

Various standards exist governing information exchange in the logistics domain, but often companies have their own additions, versions and variations to these standards

Context-awareness may imply large amounts of data coming from various sources – apart from resolving heterogeneity, real time processing and quality of such data poses a challenge.

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INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY INTEROPERABILITY

Starting from the value model, an enterprise architecture can be developed as reference for high-level interoperability Processes and collaboration functions assigned to actors Applications realizing these functions Servers hosting these applications and networks providing connectivity

Focus on interoperability with context information providers to enable context-aware synchromodality Assumptions: TCP/IP connectivity, REST over HTTP, simple

processes for subscription, query, and notification Challenge: information interoperability, esp. concerning disruprions

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TOWARDS INTEROPERABILITY SOLUTIONS

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DISRUPTIONS

Disruptions are events in the domain (internal and external) which would delay delivery of the shipment Examples: slow traffic movement, rail accident, extreme weather

conditions.

Update event

Data Source Situation

Weather Data

Sensors, 3rd Party website, Control Tower, Board Computer,

Government Data Snow, Rain, Poor Visibility

Location GIS website, Sensor on the vehicle or Ship, LSP Inaccessibility

Traffic Information

Government Data, Websites. Snow, Blockage, Accident, Traffic Jam, Slow moving

Traffic, Diversion

Water Level Government Data, Public Data, 3rd Party sources. LSPs

The water level is too low or too high.

Disasters News, Websites Fire, accident, police action etc.

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SOURCES OF DISRUPTIONS

Message ID Time Stamp Type

Source Source ID Source Location

Location Geo Location or Location

Name or PIN Location Type

Time Start time Duration End time Priority High/Low

Uncertainty High/Low Value <numeric>

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DATA FORMAT FOR A DISRUPTION MESSAGE

For uniquely identifying this disruption Type of

disruption message

Information about the

source

Terminal, Hub, Road,

Pick up point, etc.

Used by planning module

E.g. visibility is 900m.

Information about the

event

Information about the message

Financial benefit of using context-aware synchromodal logistics is necessary for shipper to prefer it over current transportation techniques

Mutual trust between partners is important

Our data format does not contain underlying cause of the disruption. Can be difficult to determine Patterns for recurring disruptions can be identified and appropriate

actions taken to avoid it

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DISCUSSION

Context-Aware Synchromodal Logistics Services contribute to efficient and green transport solutions There are many interoperability challenges for SLS at various levels

We investigated the concerns at information level for interoperability with context information providers

We proposed a provisional format and interpretation for disruption information from different sources

We will use this format for prototype development Improvements are to be made via discussion, questionnaires and

interviews with industry representatives and in our consortium (Synchromodal-IT project)

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CONCLUSION

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OUR PARTNERS

Thank You !

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