Improving logistical efficiency through better connectivity
Improving logistical efficiency through better connectivity
This anecdote shows what a tightly woven web global trade really is, and the far-reaching consequences of an interruption, let alone a break, in the logistics chain. According to forecasts by the EU Commission, road, rail and maritime freight traffic is set to increase by 25 percent between 2010 and 2030. In light of this, logistics specialists are calling for urgent action. “The logistics system and freight traffic as a whole can only work efficiently if it’s sufficiently well connected,” says Majid Sarvi, Professor of Transport Engineering at Melbourne University.
Boosting communication between the means of transportation, the goods and the infrastructure is among the core tasks of a new discipline dubbed “smart logistics”. Smart logistics aims to help meet the challenges posed by a growing number of unknowns and an increasingly complex transportation chain. The transportation chain is made up of the collection chain (the “first mile”), the transit chain and the delivery chain (the “last mile”). The Department of Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences at Eindhoven University of Technology has defined the intricacy of this challenge in no uncertain terms. According to the Dutch researchers, smart logistics implies synchronizing four domains: a logistics system only works efficiently if scheduling, ICT, personnel and legislation are well aligned.