Mag. Bernd Stadlhofer IT Services Project Management

1. Mag. Bernd Stadlhofer IT Services Project Management

2. EURIDICE • EURopean Inter-Disciplinary Research on Intelligent Cargo for Efficient, Safe and Environment-friendly Logistics www.euridice-project.eu • EU Integrated Project (FP7-ICT-2007)

3. Agenda • Need for Real Time Traceability? • Real Time Traceability / System Architecture • Software Agents • Outlook / Limitations • Transparency in Supply Chains Through Real Time Traceability

4. Need for Real Time Traceability? Peak of Information Peak of Information Peak of Information • How we track goods today… ? ? The Virtual World The Real World

5. Need for Real Time Traceability? Peak of Information Peak of Information Peak of Information • How we track goods today… ? ? The Virtual World Loading Transport Handling Transport Handling Business processes are not transparent – information is not available in real time.

6. Need for Real Time Traceability? • Monitoring and information in real time. • Proactive information in case of events/ exceptions. • Local intelligence and context awareness of goods. • Use of robust, fail-safe technology to track goods. • Integration of all stakeholders along supply chain. • Standardized protocols for B2B communication. • What do we expect from our supply chain?

7. Agenda • Need for Real Time Traceability? • Real Time Traceability / System Architecture • Software Agents • Outlook / Limitations • Transparency in Supply Chains Through Real Time Traceability

8. Real Time Traceability Stream of Information • How we will track goods tomorrow… The Virtual World The Real World

9. Real Time Traceability Enterprise Environment Transport Management System ESB Warehouse Management System ERP System … Customer / Partner ESB ERP System

10. Agenda • Need for Real Time Traceability? • Real Time Traceability / System Architecture • Software Agents • Outlook / Limitations • Transparency in Supply Chains Through Real Time Traceability

11. Software Agents • A piece of software • Fulfilling jobs for a user • Acts on behalf of an agency • Uses services and resources on several hosts • Is autonomous • Has a certain degree of intelligence • Is able to react to events • One agent fulfils only one small function, all agents together build a whole complex system • What is a software agent?

12. Software Agents • Agents use sensors to interpret their environment and react appropriately. • Agents offer real time access to service values (temperature, humidity, etc), real time anomaly detection and real time alarming. • Agents cooperate by using standard communication protocols. • Agents are robust because they are distributed and thus avoid a single point of failure • Local computation disburdens back-end systems and communication channels. • Characteristics of Agents:

13. Why software agents? • Intelligence instead of communication • Distributed Intelligence: • Event-based communication • Local decisions • Customised • Fail-safe through decentralisation • Central Intelligence: • Central Control • Communication overhead • Communication congestion • Monolithic • Single point of failure

14. Why software agents? • From centralized to decentralized intelligence Server SW Client SW Client SW Client SW Client SW

15. System Architecture Operational Cargo Agent Business Applications Assisting Cargo Agent Business Services Track & Tracing Taxes & Clearing Freight Tender & booking … • Distributed Representation • Sensor Access • Local Reasoning • Centralized Representation • Business Service Interface • Reasoning

16. Service Subscription Assisting Cargo Agent Agent A Is a temperature sensor available? On Agent B Alert me if T>0°C Roger that Agent B

17. Agent Architecture Cargo Agent Layer • Architecture Layers: • Long range communication • Reliable power supply • Communication with headquarters • Tracks data for all items • Sensors Container Agent Layer • Short-range communication • Long time power supply • Communication with items in container • Tracks item-common data • Sensors Item Agent Layer • Passive communication • Tracks item specific data

18. Agenda • Need for Real Time Traceability? • Real Time Traceability / System Architecture • Software Agents • Outlook / Limitations • Transparency in Supply Chains Through Real Time Traceability

19. Outlook • The internet of things will become a reality in the next few years – goods and technology will become aware of their environment and interact with it. • The integration and exchange of information with partners and customers will become increasingly important. • A seamless overview of supply chains and business processes will become a must – all relevant information should be available along the whole supply chain. • The trend from centralized, monolithic systems towards process aware, distributed systems will continue. • What can be expected from the future?

20. Outlook • Large investments in infrastructure and technology necessary. • The cost savings/ process improvements for the mass market are still unclear – mainly for niche markets. • Research is still ongoing and further developments are unclear at this time. • Available software mainly from research and open source projects – large vendors not present yet. • IT- and communication standards are not established at this time – unclear which standards will prevail in the end. • What are the current limitations?

21. Experience for yourself how www.gw-world.com