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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