Post on 03-Aug-2020
“La Sapienza” University of Rome
Department of Civil, Transportation and
Infrastructures
Doctorate in Infrastructures and Transportation XXXIV cycle
END OF YEAR EXAMINATION
ACADEMIC YEAR 2018/2019
Tutor: Prof. Luca Persia
Co-tutor: Dr. Davide Shingo Usami
Student: Anastasiya Shevchenko
Academic year 2018/2019
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Contents
I. SECTION A: DOCTORAL RESEARCH ............................................................................................ 3
1.1. ADDITIONAL PRELIMINARY KNOWLEDGE ACQUIRED .................................................. 3
1.1.1. Courses, Seminars and conferences attended ...................................................................................... 3
1.1.2. Individual study and knowledge acquired ........................................................................................... 4
1.1.3. Books and software ............................................................................................................................. 4
1.2. BIBLIOGRAPHY COLLECTED RELATED TO THE RESEARCH TOPIC ..................................... 4
1.2.1. Collection of scientific literature and publications for the purposes of the proposed research ........... 4
1.2.2. Summary comment on the collection of scientific literature for the purposes of the proposed
research ......................................................................................................................................................... 6
1.3. STATUS REPORT OF SCIENTIFIC REFERENCE FRAMEWORK, IN RELATION TO THE
PROPOSED RESEARCH TOPIC .............................................................................................................. 12
1.4. IDENTIFICATION OF ONGOING SIMILAR RESEARCH ACTIVITIES AT NATIONAL AND
INTERNATIONAL LEVEL ....................................................................................................................... 13
1.5. RESEARCH PROPOSAL.................................................................................................................... 13
1.5.1 The formulation of the Theme for the final Thesis ............................................................................ 13
1.5.2 Objectives ........................................................................................................................................... 14
1.5.3 Methodology ...................................................................................................................................... 14
ANNEXES .................................................................................................................................................. 15
II. SECTION B: COLLABORATION AND SUPPORT ACTIVITIES ..................................................... 15
2.1 TEACHING SUPPORT ........................................................................................................................ 15
2.2 TRAINING ACTIVITIES..................................................................................................................... 16
2.3 COLLABORATION WITH STUDIES, RESEARCH, PROGRAMS ................................................. 16
3
I. SECTION A: DOCTORAL RESEARCH
1.1. ADDITIONAL PRELIMINARY KNOWLEDGE ACQUIRED
The additional preliminary knowledge acquired within this first year comprise of the
following:
• City logistics issues, measures and connected impacts
• Relevant aspects of today’s logistics business related to space and time, systems,
structures and processes, networks and supply chains, economics and technology,
micrologistics and macrologistics, intralogistics and extralogistics, planning, scheduling
and control, management, organization and operation.
• Automation distribution technologies and existing innovations applied for freight
transport and logistics.
• Technological aspects of service modularity and its patterns influencing on the system
efficiency.
• Knowledge of service-oriented architecture and cloud-based services, examples of
implementation, general functionality of the systems.
• Logistics as a Service model, its characteristics, studies and researches, adaptation for
automotive environment, challenges and difficulties of implementation.
• Analyses of existing projects related with automation and urban freight.
1.1.1. Courses, Seminars and conferences attended
The courses, seminars and conferences attended are as follows:
• Courses attended
I. Prof. Andrea Campagna – Freight Transport and Logistics
• Seminars attended
I. Paolo Delle Site - Stima di modelli logit e probit con dati best, worst, e best-worst.
Valutazione multi-criteri di interventi sui sistemi di trasporto: la multi-attribute value theory.
II. Giuseppe Cantisani, Paola Di Mascio - Analisi del rischio delle infrastrutture viarie.
III. Antonio Cappuccitti - Infrastrutture, Pianificazione e mitigazione delle vulnerabilità
territoriali e urbane.
IV. Claudia Mattogno, Antonio Cappuccitti, Fabiola Fratini, Giuseppe Cantisani - Scenari per
l'Europa.
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V. Guido Gentile - Public Transportation Modelling in the era of ITS
VI. Laura Moretti, Antonio D’Andrea - Radiological Assessment of Construction Materials
VII. Alberto Budoni - Infrastrutture e territorio: una visione bioregionale e transdisciplinare.
VIII. Stefano Ricci, Gabriele Malavasi - Tecnica della circolazione ferroviaria: principi e
applicazioni a linee e nodi.
IX. Dr. Mauro Salazar - Autonomous Mobility-on-Demand
1.1.2. Individual study and knowledge acquired
The individual studies and knowledge related to the scope of research including
automation and automated technologies, urban freight transport, innovative solution and
its implementation, approaches of impact assessment.
1.1.3. Books and software
Books:
• Gudehus, T., Kotzab, H. (eds.): Comprehensive Logistics. Springer, Heidelberg (2012)
• In Business Information Systems, Wil van der Aalst, John Mylopoulos, Michael
Rosemann, Michael J. Shaw, Clemens Szyperski, Witold Abramowicz, and Angelika
Kokkinaki (Eds.) (2014).
1.2. BIBLIOGRAPHY COLLECTED RELATED TO THE
RESEARCH TOPIC
1.2.1. Collection of scientific literature and publications for the
purposes of the proposed research
The scientific literature and publications, useful links for the purposes of the research
proposal were collected and presented below:
[1] Russo F., Comi A.,: A classification of city logistics measures and connected impacts (2010)
[2] Gudehus, T., Kotzab, H. (eds.): Comprehensive Logistics. Springer, Heidelberg (2012)
[3] Granlund A., Wiktorsson M.,: Automation in Internal Logistics: Strategic and Operational
Challenges (2014)
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[4] Logistics-as-a-service: Ontology-based architecture and approach. 34. 188-194. - Sandkuhl,
Kurt & Lin, F & Shilov, N & Smirnov, Alexander & Tarasov, Vladimir & Krizhanovsky,
Andrew. (2013).
[5] Handfield, R., Straube, F., Pfohl, H.C., Wieland, A.,: Trends and Strategies in Logistics and
Supply Chain Management (2013)
[6] The Cloud - Logistics for the Future? Discussionpaper. Werner Delfmann and Falco Jaekel.
[7] Go with the Flow - Design of Cloud Logistics Service Blueprints. In Proceedings of the 50th
Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) 2017. - Michael Glöckner, André
Ludwig, and Bogdan Franczyk.
[8] Prof. Dr.-Ing. Fabian Behrendt, Lina Katrin Lau , Marcel Müller , Tom Assmann , Niels
Schmidkte: Smart logistics maturity index (2018)
[9] Ralf Baron, Michael Zintel, Marten Zieris, Dennis Mikulla, Digital platforms in freight
Transportation (2017)
[10] Rusul Abduljabbar , Hussein Dia , Sohani Liyanage and Saeed Asadi Bagloee: Applications
of Artificial Intelligence in Transport: An Overview (2019)
[11] ITF report: Driverless Road Freight Transport (2017)
[12] White paper, TMW Systems, Inc. : Blockchain for transportation (2017)
[13] Logistics as a service. BluJay Solutions Ltd. Source the Internet. www.blujaysolutions.com.
- BluJay Solutions (2017)
[14] Matthias Heutger, Dr. Markus Kückelhaus, DHL research: Self-driving vehicles
[15] Brian Odongo: How crowdsourcing is transforming the face of last mile delivery ‘Crowd
logistics’ (2018)
[16] Andrea Campagna, Roberto Carroccia, Riccardo Licciardello, Luca Persia, Marco Borasio,
Luigi Maritano, Alessandra Raffone: Towards a conceptual data model for Freight Transport
Services in a LaaS logic (2019)
[17] Andreas Metzger, Rod Franklin, and Yagil Engel: Predictive Monitoring of Heterogeneous
Service-Oriented Business Networks: The Transport and Logistics Case. In Annual SRII global
conference (SRII, 2012)
[18] Michael Glöckner, Christoph Augenstein, André Ludwig: Metamodel of a Logistics Service
Map (2014)
[19] Aldo Gangemi: Ontology Design Patterns for Semantic Web Content (2005)
[20] Valentina Presutti and Aldo Gangemi: Content Ontology Design Patterns as Practical
Building Blocks for Web Ontologies (2008)
[21] Michael Glöckner: Ontological structuring of logistics services (2017)
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[22] Martin Joerss, Jürgen Schröder, Florian Neuhaus, Christoph Klink, Florian Mann: Parcel
delivery. The future of last mile. Travel, Transport and Logistics (2016)
[23] www.transporeon.com.
[24] https://www.acommerce.asia/
[25] www.canalys.com
[26] Tilo Böhmann, Helmut Krcmar, Modular service architectures: a concept and method for
engineering IT Services (2003)
1.2.2. Summary comment on the collection of scientific literature for the
purposes of the proposed research
On the basis of collected scientific literature and publications the research report
was written and an additional comments of the presented concepts were made in
accordance with research purposes. Moreover, during the further year, it would be
expanded. Table 1-1 – Summary comments of observed literature reviewwith a given
comments is shown below:
Table 1-1 – Summary comments of observed literature review
Authors,Year Scope of research Methodology and Research
Design Outcome
Francesco
Russo and
Antonio
Comi, 2010
City logistics
measures and
connected impacts
The proposed classification is based
on the combination of two criteria:
what is regulated (e.g.
infrastructure, logistics platforms,
operative times, vehicles and
transport efficiency); how to
regulate, by ordering the measures
according to a more or less a
“interventionist” style (e.g. by
restrictive measures, by pricing
measures; by permissive measures;
by exchange of information
between Public Administrations and
those who actually are providing the
transport services and by the setting
up or management of certain
services/infrastructures; by
incentive measures).
Proposed classification of city
logistics measure, reported
examples of implementation
from many cities around the
world. The framework can be a
useful tool for city authorities
when designing measures,
which ideally should be done in
co-operation with freight
operators and needing to verify
whether their expected
results match the results obtained
in the other cities.
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Gudehus, T.,
Kotzab, H,
2012
The book presents the
scope, variety and
importance of modern
logistics. It
deals with all relevant
aspects: space and
time; systems,
structures and
processes; networks
and supply chains;
economics and
technology;
micrologistics and
macrologistics;
intralogistics and
extralogistics;
planning, scheduling
and control;
management,
organization and
operation
The book presents options for
action, offers methods for solution
and optimization and supports
decision making in logistics. It
contains rules and tools for logistic
planning and consulting, helps to
avoid common errors and indicates
the dangers of standard programs
and methods. Results are design
rules, operating strategies and
scheduling principles as well as
general formulas for computer-
aided design, dimensioning,
simulation and optimization of
logistic networks, systems and
supply chains
This book gives a comprehensive
and consistent presentation of all
relevant
aspects of modern logistics
Anna
Granlund and
Magnus
Wiktorsson,
2014
Automation in
internal logistics
A three-phased empirical study
been has been conducted, including
case studies and a survey. The
findings reveal a lack of
responsibility for, and insight in
current state of logistics operations
as well as a lack of vision and
strategy giving directions for
desired future state of operations.
It is concluded that functional
strategies for internal logistics
and automation can give the
support needed along with
process models for automation
projects. The content and
application of these strategies
and models are suggested.
Factors for succesful automation
projects
Kurt
Sandkuhl,,
Feiyu Lin,
Nikolai
Shilov,
Alexander
Smirnov,
Vladimir
Tarasov,
Andrew
Krizhanovsky,
2013
Ontology-based
archtecture and
approach
Ontology matching is the process of
finding corresponding elements
between ontologies to allow them
tocinteroperate. In the LaaS context,
ontology matching can be used as a
part of the process of configuration
and finding resources. A relatively
new direction is concerned with an
alignment of ontologies presented in
different languages, i.e. multilingual
ontology matching, which is needed
in the context of logistics networks
with partners
from different countries since such
networks are potentially including
resource description in different
languages
Generic archtecture, the
integration of information
systems and production planning
systems in enterprises with
physical systems, like
automation and control systems,
into CPSs with focus on the
logistics domain and on a
service-oriented approach.
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Handfield, R.,
Straube, F.,
Pfohl, H.C.,
Wieland, A.,
2013
Trends and Strategies
in Logistics and
Supply Chain
Management
Phase 1: Literature Review and
Content Analytics, Phase 2:
Executive Interviews Phase 3:
Survey Analysis and Report.
The observation from both the
interviews and the study results
is that logistics complexity in the
form of fragmented channels,
increased product variations, and
consumer demands for
customized solutions has
increased. They are based on
1757 responses collected in an
international survey from supply
chain executives (including
logistics service providers
(LSPs), retailers, and
manufacturing companies).
Detailed Discussion of Top
Trends has been done. Increased
customer expectations are being
driven by consumers or
marketing experts down to
retailers, who are passing on
these requirements on to
manufacturers. Logistics service
providers are being pressured to
provide more and more
customer- specific delivery
solutions to meet a variety of
customer demands. E-commerce
is also driving increasing
fragmentation of supply chain
networks, further complicating
the job of logistics providers to
meet
these needs.
Werner
Delfmann, and
Falco Jaekel.
A new concept
denoted as “Cloud
Logistics” is
introduced and
conceptualized. It
follows the principal
development towards
increasingly
cooperative,
distributed,
autonomous logistics
systems.
“Cloud puting is a model for
enabling ubiquitous, convenient,
on*demand network access to a
shared pool of configurable
computing resources (e.g.,
networks, servers, storage,
applications, and services) that can
be rapidly provisioned and released
with minimal management effort or
service provider interaction. This
cloud model is composed of five
essential characteristics, three
service models, and four
deployment models.”
The methods available in related
research fields show that there is
no need to start from scratch
when approaching this task but
rather that there exists a fruitful
basis from which future research
can set off.
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Michael
Glockner,
Andre Ludwig
and Bogdan
Franczyk,
2017
Cloud logistics The design-science paradigm as
leads the design oriented research
frame with invoked methods.
Method for Designing Cloud
Oriented Service Blueprints,
DESIGNING A CLOUD
LOGISTICS SERVICE
BLUEPRINT
Cloud Logistics is a model, based
on and inspired by
the paradigm of cloud
computing, for enabling
ubiquitous,
convenient, on-demand network
access to a shared pool of
configurable and virtualized
logistics resources (e.g. means
of transportation from different
modes of transport, warehouses,
domain-specific knowledge,
logistics applications,
and services) that can be rapidly
provisioned and released
with minimal management effort
or service provider interaction.
This cloud model is composed of
the five essential
characteristics of cloud
computing (on-demand self-
service,
broad network access, resource
pooling, rapid elasticity,
measured service) but is adjusted
in consequence of logistics’ more
physical character. This
comprises: a location
dependency of services, the need
of knowledge about that
current location as well as a
lower elasticity due to slower
allocation of physical resource.
The domain-specific layer
Logistics as a Service (LaaS) is
added to the CC service
models. The capability provided
to the consumer is to
provision transport, storage,
handling, knowledge and other
fundamental logistics resources
where the consumer is able
to ship and convey and transform
logistics entities, which
can be of physical or non-
physical character.
Prof. Dr.-Ing.
Fabian
Behrendt,
Lina Katrin
Lau , Marcel
Müller , Tom
Assmann ,
Niels
Schmidkte,
2018
Smart logistics
maturity index
The Industrie 4.0 Quick CheckUp is
a method specially developed for
SMEs. The method assesses the
maturity of Industrie 4.0 of a
company. It is used for an initial
self-assessment and is also a cost
and time efficient alternative to the
Industrie 4.0 CheckUp by
Fraunhofer IFF. It identifies
economic, ecological and social
improvement potential in a
company
Concept for a smart logistics
maturity index
Ralf Baron,
Michael
Zintel, Marten
Digital platforms in
freight
transportation
Overview of smart new business
models on the market and potential
development in the freight industry
Key (digital) archetypes in
transportation & logistics
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Zieris, Dennis
Mikulla, 2017
Rusul
Abduljabbar ,
Hussein Dia ,
Sohani
Liyanage and
Saeed Asadi
Bagloee, 2019
Applications of
Artificial Intelligence
in Transport
AI in Planning, Designing and
Controlling Transportation
Network Structures, Predictive
Models
Application of AI in Aviation
and Public Transportation,
Intelligent Urban Mobility,
overview of the applications of
AI to a variety of transport-
related problems
ITF report,
2017
Driverless
Road Freight
Transport
Scenarios for uptake of driverless
trucks, Policy considerations
There is a possible intermediate
scenario where the driver in a
“trailing
vehicle” would be able to rest
(sleep, recreation, etc.), so as to
stagger active driving shifts in
the leading
vehicle. While this could offer
some improved range for long-
distance trucks in a given day,
there would
still be labour expense and labour
constraints on the number of
operating hours per day
(constraints
would be more permissive than
for the case with all members of
a platoon being “active”
drivers).The shift towards
computer-based driving systems
introduces new risks that will be
hard for the
public to assess
White paper,
TMW
Systems, Inc. ,
2017
Blockchain for
transportation
Hyperledger’s architectural design
for Blockchain,overview of exising
applications of blockchain
Building a Blockchain system
that provides high availability,
performance and security
services
is a challenge. It requires
extensive planning and design.
TMW Systems, with its
transportation
expertise and technical
knowledge, can help its partners
get there faster, and thus deliver
a
clear competitive advantage.
White paper,
BluJay
Solutions,
2017
LaaS There are three basic business
model
differences depending on how the
LaaS manages a customer’s freight
(Non-Asset Based (Business
Process Outsource), Brokerage
Based, Asset Based)
Identifyed areas for
improvement for freight
transportation, advantages of
using LaaS
Matthias
Heutger, Dr.
Markus
Kückelhaus,
DHL research
,
Self-driving vehicles Overview of key benefits using
Self-Driving Vehicles , USE
CASES FOR THE LOGISTICS
INDUSTRY
Current Deployment and Best
Practice, Implications for
Logistics for last mile delivery
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Brian Odongo,
2018
Crowdsourcing for
last mile delivery
Multiple case study method, Data
collection - through desk research
based on an extensive litera-ture
review, Evaluation of study
limitations
In crowd logistics, it has been
proven without a doubt that the
rapid pace of technol-ogy and
social change are powerful
drivers of this business model,
Nearly 35%picture growth
potential through better
technology and in-creased
international delivery, which
may be strengthened by
investment in further delivery
options. 28.3% are concerned
about increased delivery by
retailers’ delivery services, and
33.8% are concerned by
increasingly price-sensitive
consumers, which may result in
online shoppers opting for
cheaper, retailer-led services.
Andrea
Campagna,
Roberto
Carroccia,
Riccardo
Licciardello,
Luca Persia,
Marco
Borasio, Luigi
Maritano,
Alessandra
Raffone, 2019
Data modul for freight
transport
MOP: a Mobility Operation
Platform for passengers and freight,
Laas and ontology
A comprehensive conceptual
framework model
Andreas
Metzger, Rod
Franklin, and
Yagil Engel,
2012
Heterogeneous
Service-Oriented
Business Networks
The design of a novel, cloud- and
services-based collaboration and
integration platform
Short-term prediction
capabilities allowing to
proactively manage and mitigate
the identified issues in the
transport & logistics industry,
thus promising to increase
business efficiency and
sustainability.
Michael
Glöckner,
Christoph
Augenstein,
André
Ludwig, 2014
Logistics innovations The approach of meta-beased model
service map
Such an integration platform is
currently developed in the
research project Logistics
Service Engineering &
Management. Crucial to such a
platform is the ability to maintain
a complete catalog and to
efficiently identify and choose
appropriate services.
Aldo
Gangemi,
2005
Ontology Design
Patterns
Conceptual Ontology Design
Patterns, Features of Conceptual
Ontology Design Patterns
Conceptual Ontology Design
Patterns (CODePs) have been
introduced as a useful resource
and design method for
engineering ontology content
over the Semantic Web.
CODePs are distinguished from
architectural, software
engineering, and logicoriented
design patterns, and a template
has been proposed to describe,
visualize, and make operations
over them.
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Valentina
Presutti and
Aldo
Gangemi,
2008
Content Ontology
Design Patterns
how to extract and describe
emerging content ontology design
patterns, and how to compose,
specialize and expand them for
ontology design, with particular
focus on Semantic Web
technologies. CPs are distinguished
ontologies. They address a specific
set of competency questions, which
represent the problem they provide
a solution for. Furthermore, CPs
show certain characteristics i.e.,
they are: computational, small and
autonomous, hierarchical,
cognitively relevant, linguistically
relevant, and best practices.
In this paper had been described
content ontology design patterns,
which are beneficial to ontology
design in terms of their relation
to requirement analysis,
definition, communication
means, related work beyond
ontology engineering,
exemplification, creation, and
usage principles.
Michael
Glöckner,
2017
Ontological
Structuring of
Logistics Services
The developed ontology design
pattern for domain-specific
structuring of logistics services can
help to close the semantic gap as
well as to enable the concept of the
logistics service map. Structuring
data and information (of services)
from different providers can be
made available, linked and
interchanged easily within the
network. Digitalized collaboration
is supported and the disruptive
paradigm of cloud logistics is
enabled.
Ontological Modeling of the
Logistics
Domain’s Structuring
Martin Joerss
Jürgen
Schröder
Florian
Neuhaus,
Christoph
Klink, Florian
Mann, 2016
The future of last mile Overview of innovative
technologies using in last mile,
principle scheme of future last mile
, crowdsourcing, agv.
Identified delivery models
Tilo
Böhmann,
Helmut
Krcmar, 2003
Modular service
architectures: a
concept and method
for engineering IT
services
Methods for designing IT services
need to take into account the
implications of the business models
on which the modular service
architecture is based.
Integration of applications by
modules, Principles of
Modularity, Modular Service
Architectures
1.3. STATUS REPORT OF SCIENTIFIC REFERENCE
FRAMEWORK, IN RELATION TO THE PROPOSED RESEARCH TOPIC
The report has been done based on the literature review in the relevant research
areas as automation, innovation, ontology and modular patterns in the freight sector and
cloud-based infrastructure for logistics. The data received from the literature review was
applied for developing the Automated logistics as a Service (ALaaS) model to receive
services autonomy, abstraction, standartization, reusability and based on Service-Oriented
architecture using automotive modularity of the logistics services.
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The future work would be continued in the deep analyzes of the existing LaaS, cloud-based
systems to define the composition of Automated Modular Services that would be applied for
ALaaS model. The methods and approaches of the evaluation and implementation of the model
would be considered.
1.4. IDENTIFICATION OF ONGOING SIMILAR RESEARCH
ACTIVITIES AT NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEVEL
Connected and automated transport plays a key role in European strategies for clean and
efficient transport, as well as safe transport (“vision zero”) and towards the development of the
Digital Single Market. All Automated Driving-related Roadmaps and position papers, such as
those of ERTRAC, EPoSS and ECSEL agree that electrified and automated mobility in cities is
one of the most challenging milestones to be achieved; being typically pushed towards 2030 and
beyond.
Several projects are ongoing in the development of automation environment as follows:
SHOW (SHared automation Operating models for Worldwide adoption) supports the
deployment of shared connected and electrified automation in urban transport chains through
demonstration of real-life scenarios to promote seamless and safe sustainable mobility.
1.5. RESEARCH PROPOSAL
1.5.1 The formulation of the Theme for the final Thesis
An efficient freight distribution system is required as it plays a significant role in the
competitiveness of an urban area, and it is in itself an important element in the urban economy.
Achieving excellence in city logistics involves working collaboratively with others to optimize the
flow of physical goods as well as the complex flow of information. The importance of keeping
costs low in order to stay competitive is ever increasing, companies are forced to look into every
part of their organisation for possible improvements. One possible way to improve
competitiveness in operations is by automation. Automation in logistics is growing in importance
and in applications in case of urban freight distribution. Automation refers to three logistics
domains: inner (warehousing and terminals management), outer (transportation management and
shipment procedures), and integrated (Information and Communication technology (ICT)
innovations).
To guarantee a sustainable deployment, new business schemes and even roles (i.e. that of
the automated fleet and services aggregator) need to be developed, including the offer of big data-
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based added value services to the traveler and connected third parties to result in emerging
services marketplace. The solution development is to design Automated Logistics as a
Service model for urban freight distribution which is able to simulate and deploy automated
services according to a multi-tier architecture based of the model of Logistics as a service.
The ALaaS model aims to choose the best available option for each task of a customer
request. Thus, in order to plan and operate a complex logistics service the ALaaS model
would be able to manage a variety of providers, their services and to integrate with at least
parts of each of their custom IT-systems. The idea of the model is that each service provider
is able to maintain its own systems, is capable of delivering a specific set of services and
owns a specific set of resources in order to fulfill customer requests.
1.5.2 Objectives
The proposed research study aims at:
• Identifying and describing the key model logistics applications and their features for
urban freight distribution.
• Studying the basic concepts, metrics and technics of cloud-based technology in order
to design a cloud-based model. Consider the technical concepts of Logistics as a Service to
understand the consequence of the various architecture models with respect to regulation,
security, performance and privacy.
• Designing Automated Modular Services for urban freight distribution
• Developing Automated Logistics as a Service model to receive services’ autonomy,
abstraction, standartization, reusability.
• Defining the impact assessment of the developed ALaaS model.
The result of this study will be valuable to the City Logistics industry as well as
related logistics cloud-based providers in developing better practice and tools for constraint
management and look-ahead scheduling.
1.5.3 Methodology
In order to fulfil the overall aim of the research and answer the research questions
at hand, an empirically based study with multiple steps was found to be necessary.
Current-state analysis: The importance of knowing the current state of operations
before implementing automation is needed. In this stage the current situation is reflected
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and the needs and requirements to evaluate different solutions, and hence to find an appropriate
solution for given circumstances.
Solution development: The second phase aims at developing possible ways to automate the
activities identified. Information and design and solution ideas were collected though literature
review analysis both in the same line of business and in other business areas.
Implementation phase: During the third and final stage, the selected design would be
constructed, tested, implemented and demonstrated trough the existing projects in automation.
Since automation in freight distribution is becoming more and more relevant and is pushing
towards a specific LaaS environment, the research project will design and develop a so-called
ALaaS – Automated LaaS concept framework.
The ALaaS framework will model and deploy automated services according to a multi-tier
architecture. Based on the LaaS architecture, the new ALaaS will be introducing the new concept
of Automated Modular Service (AMS), in order to model logistics services based on automation
in the specific context of urban freight distribution.
ANNEXES
• Research report
II. SECTION B: COLLABORATION AND SUPPORT
ACTIVITIES
2.1 TEACHING SUPPORT
Teaching support was carried out for «Transport Policies and Terminals Design» course and
«Road Safety» course in the University of Sapienza.
The provided lectures for Transport Policies and Terminal Design course are described below:
- Module 3.1 Classification of transport policies: Land Use
- Module 3.1 Classification of transport policies: Road safety measures
- Module 3.1 Classification of transport policies: Pricing
- Module 3.1 Classification of transport policies: City Logistics
- Module 5.4 The sectorial plans: City Logistics Plan
The provided lectures for Road Safety course are as follows:
- Module 3.2 Countermeasures for Road Safety (1/2)
16
- Module 3.2 Countermeasures for Road Safety (2/2)
2.2 TRAINING ACTIVITIES
Workshop and Training on road safety risk assessment tool according to the
international project “Development of simplified road safety assessment methodology
using automated image analysis and pilot study of National highways in Mozambique and
Liberia” were attended.
The workshop and training were carried out on 21.05.19 in Maputo, Mozambique
and on 24.05.19 in Monrovia, Liberia.
Art-04 SHOW Proposal workshop was carried out on 13-14.03.19 in Brussels,
Belgium.
2.3 COLLABORATION WITH STUDIES, RESEARCH,
PROGRAMS
The principal collaboration has been done on the international projects which
includes development of automation at different level and impact. The projects and their
description, objectives and research design are presented below:
The preparation of the proposal of SHOW (SHared automation Operating models
for Worldwide adoption) project has been done for three months. The Art-04 SHOW
proposal workshop in Brussels was attended where the proposed ideas and the role of each
participants while preparation of the proposal have been discussed. The workshop lasted 2
days. The description and objectives of the project are as follows:
SHOW (SHared automation Operating models for Worldwide adoption) project
aims to support the migration path towards affective and persuasive sustainable urban
transport through technical solutions, business models and priority scenarios for impact
assessment, by deploying shared, connected, electrified fleets of autonomous vehicles in
coordinated Public Transport (PT), Demand Responsive Transport (DRT), Mobility as a
Service (MaaS) and Logistics as a Service (LaaS) operational chains in real-life urban
demonstrations all across Europe.
The objectives of the project are the following:
• To identify and specify priority urban automated mobility Use Cases (UCs) to guarantee
high user acceptance, true user demand and cost-efficiency
17
• To identify novel business roles and develop innovative business models and exploitable
products/ services for sustainable automated fleet operations in urban and peri-urban
environments
• To develop an open, modular and inclusive system architecture and the enabling tools
for it;
• To improve the necessary functionalities to all vehicle types (shuttles and pods, buses
and cars)
• To deploy demonstration fleets, infrastructure elements and connected services (DRT,
MaaS, LaaS)
• To assess the impact at city level of shared automated cooperative and electric fleets
through holistic impact assessment
• To transfer the outcomes across Europe and beyond
• To support evidence-based deployment of urban traffic automation, through replication
guidelines, road-mapping, police recommendation
The collaboration on the international project “Development of simplified road safety
assessment methodology using automated image analysis and pilot study of National highways in
Mozambique and Liberia” was carried out. During the project the following activities have been
done: the simplified methodology for road risk assessment and the web-based software were
developed and implemented, workshop and training were arranged, the final report was written.
The web-based software aimed to:
• Automatic recognition of road infrastructure features from video images.
• Calculate risks for road users (motor-vehicles, cyclist, pedestrians) and the Global Risk
Score (GRS) according to the developed methodology.
• Provide outputs on assessed risks (every 100m) both graphically and through table
values.
• Simulation the impact of countermeasures before the implementation.
• The computed outputs for further analysis could be downloaded.
• There are no specific requirements for software installation and it is compatible with all
operating systems (Windows, OS, and Linux).
• Standards procedures for video analysis and collection of other information are also
provided, as well as manuals for installation and use of the software.
18
During the first year of the Ph.D. the several activities have been done as follows:
participation in the 5th Consortium Meeting, Steering Committee & Scientific Committee in
Stuttgart, Germany; preparation of the proposal “Improving Road Safety, Republic of Serbia”;
preparation of the proposal “ Design and implementation of database of accidents and an
information system on Road Safety in Cameroon”; participation in the 3d Italy-Belarus
Forum on the green economy in Minsk, Belarus.
ANNEX I
Code 11042 INFRASTRUTTURE E TRASPORTI (Scuola di dottorato i
n Ingegneria Civile e Architettura)
Curriculum: b) PIANIFICAZIONE DEI TRASPORTI E DEL
TERRITORIO
Automated Logistics as a Service model in urban
freight distribution
Ph.D Student: Anastasiya Shevchenko
Tutor: Prof. Luca Persia
Co-tutor: Dr. Davide Shingo Usami
2
Contents
BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................. 3
LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................................ 8
Automated distribution and existing innovations in freight transportation ................................. 8
Information and communication technologies .......................................................................... 10
Cloud logistics ........................................................................................................................... 12
Ontological structuring of logistics services .............................................................................. 14
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY ......................................................................... 15
Current-state analysis ................................................................................................................. 15
Solution development ................................................................................................................ 17
Implementation fase ................................................................................................................... 21
CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK .................................................................................... 23
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................. 24
3
BACKGROUND
The rapid increase in freight vehicles in urban and metropolitan areas contributes to
congestion, air pollution, noise and increased logistics costs, and hence the price of products. In
addition, a combination of different types of vehicles on the road increases the risk of crashes. An
efficient freight distribution system is required as it plays a significant role in the competitiveness
of an urban area, and it is in itself an important element in the urban economy, both in terms of the
income it generates and the employment levels it supports [1].
City Logistics is described as the science on performing orders by leading physical goods
in a matter of space and time [2]. City logistics deals with the concepts of planning, operating and
monitoring the systems that create physical goods and immaterial services. Achieving excellence
in city logistics involves working collaboratively with others to optimize the flow of physical
goods as well as the complex flow of information. The flow of physical goods and complex flow
of information need to be considered in a comprehensive logistics system.
Nowadays mobility demand and freight services demand are significantly growing in the
world. Freight services are challenged by the growth of customized demand of the e-Commerce
sector.
The importance of keeping costs low in order to stay competitive is ever increasing,
companies are forced to look into every part of their organization for possible improvements. One
possible way to improve competitiveness in operations is by automation [3].
Automation in logistics is growing in importance and in applications in case of urban
freight distribution. Automation refers to three logistics domains: inner (warehousing and
terminals management), outer (transportation management and shipment procedures), and
integrated (Information and Communication technology (ICT) innovations) (see Figure 1).
Figure 1 - Logistics Automation scheme
4
The consolidated shipment of many small procurement orders in large load quantities via
a logistic center reduces the costs for the suppliers. Inner automation aims to simplify scheduling
and improves the utilization of production facilities. The costs for order processing, operations,
storing, commissioning and dispatch also decrease [2]. Inner automation determines to create
development among traditional equipment used to move goods throughout a warehouse known
collectively as automated guided vehicles (AGVs). The key differentiator is that these automated
vehicles follow digital paths through the facility to load and unload pallets, boxes, and other
containers without human operators. As to the process of picking is a clear example of a repetitive
and time-consuming process allowed by picking automation. Modular shelving systems combined
with warehouse robotics are making it possible to automate the picking process, which once
depended entirely on humans. The principle scheme describing the inner domain represented in
Figure 2.
Figure 2 - Characteristics of inner domain
For what concerns the outer domain (see Figure 3), one of the automation technologies
most promising is augmented reality. It may be applied to delivery processes and specifically to
parcel loading and drop-off, to support last-meter navigation and to secure deliveries, providing
efficiency and benefit to the growing home delivery/e-commerce segment. Vehicles and transport
systems are also concerned with automation technologies. Droids, drones, robovans are being
tested and will be promisingly adopted in niche applications for urban distribution substituting the
use of manned vehicles and thus reducing congestion and logistics inefficiencies (low load
factors). In specific contexts, “tube logistics” is being experimented to move freight underground
and using dedicated pipelines not interfering with passenger traffic and livability of a city.
5
Automating home deliveries, remote area deliveries are the main concern of all these applications.
A specific technique to reduce cost of transport is platooning for automated vehicles for
distribution. In this case combination of wagons can be moved in a platoon and then distributed in
several areas of the distribution zone to last-meter deliver goods. Interaction between freight and
passengers flow is not frequently considered. Crowdshipping and automation should be
investigated more, as long as safety of interaction of automated vehicles with people (e.g.
pedestrians).
Figure 3 - Characteristics of outer domain
For what concerns Integrated automation (see Figure 4) the accent made on ICT
innovations. Modern information and communication technology (ICT) open up new possibilities
and saving potentials for logistics [5]. However, they also imply a danger for misinterpretation,
exaggerations and misuse.
The application of modern ICT in logistics, somewhat misleading also called e-logistics,
offers the following potentials:
• The transaction costs for orders, data and information are reduced substantially by
Electronic data interchange (EDI) and Internet.
• Based on article data, inventory information and orders, efficient scheduling
strategies can be realized, and quick decisions are possible.
• EDI enables the advanced shipping notification of the receivers.
• Electronic ordering systems, order acknowledgement and invoicing speed up and
simplify the order processing between industry and retailers.
6
• Errors are reduced, response times are shortened, and multiple data collection is
avoidable by integrated C- and I-points.
• Continuous Replenishment Programs (CRP) of the manufacturers enable
automated replenishment based on agreed delivery abilities and lead times.
• Demand forecast can be improved by computer integrated merchandising systems,
which connect widely distributed and far away point of sales (POS) with the
production and replenishment systems.
• The actual information about locations and loads of transport units, send via
satellite, per Internet or by EDI, enable dynamic transport scheduling and effective
control of transport fleets.
• Advanced application, allocation and operation strategies can be realized.
• The order and load information gathered on the I- and C-points can be used for
logistic controlling and for reimbursement of logistics services.
• Tracking and tracing of shipments can be realized, e.g. with the help of
transponders and RFID.
• Based on the current utilization of resources and networks intelligent booking
systems and pricing models are possible. The application of ICT in logistics has
just started. The consequent realization of these potentials and further possibilities
will influence the development of logistics.
Figure 4 - Integrated automation level description
7
Automation in urban freight distribution is helped to achieve the sustainability of the
existing systems in the focus of described above domains and guarantee a sustainable deployment,
new business schemes and even roles (i.e. that of the automated fleet and services aggregator) need
to be developed, including the offer of big data-based added value services to the traveler and
connected third parties to result in emerging services marketplace.
8
LITERATURE REVIEW
Automated distribution and existing innovations in freight transportation
Logistics automation includes automation of each part of Supply Chain Management.
To discover the best practices required to achieve logistical excellence across your delivery
system is required to make innovative interventions which could help increase the effectiveness of
supply chain management.
The speed at which the outlined last-mile delivery scenarios can be reached will vary,
depending on public sentiment, regulation, and labor costs. Early adoption of these new
autonomous delivery models will concentrate in developed countries, where labor costs are high
enough to make the return on investment significant. In the developing world, however, labor costs
will likely remain low enough to prevent any major technology change impacting the last mile
over the next five to ten years. In any event, regulation will need to change significantly (e.g.,
liability for damages caused by autonomous vehicles), but such regulatory challenges will be
overcome in the next ten years, driven by the influence of the large automobile companies. At the
same time, public opinion concerning autonomous vehicles including drones has already started
to shift – with 60 percent of consumers indicating that they are in favor of or at least indifferent to
drone delivery. Therefore, there is very little to suggest that the transformation will not kick in
over the next ten years, at least in the developed world [22].
Out of the seven general home delivery models identified (see Figure 5), four delivery
models clearly dominate the others, when it comes to cost and fulfilling customer preferences, i.e.,
regular parcel, high reliability of timing, same-day and instant delivery: AGVs with lockers,
drones, bike couriers (or potentially droids), and today’s model. It is already evident from our
current cost estimates1 that drop density plays a major role in the cost of different delivery models.
We have therefore introduced drop density as a second dimension to our matrix, along with general
customer preferences [22].
9
Figure 5 - Delivery models. Source: Travel, Transport and Logistics, September 2016
Apart from regular parcels, AGVs with lockers will also prove the delivery model of choice
for same-day and time-window items. A key prerequisite for same-day delivery is a fast fulfillment
process, but even more importantly, the logistics center needs to be close to the recipient to allow
coverage of the last mile within a reasonable time. Speed likely restricts any form of driving-based
same-day and time-window delivery to larger urban areas. Same-day items will probably require
a separate network from regular parcels though, as regular delivery tours have typically long left
the depots by the time same-day delivery items are ready for dispatch. In contrast to same-day
items, the regular parcel network can be leveraged for time-window parcels, as they arrive
sufficiently early in the delivery bases and detours in urban areas are small.
Drones turned out to be surprisingly cost-competitive in rural areas with their higher
speeds it’s even better suited for same day and time-window delivery of smaller items in rural
areas (see next section). Together with time-window delivery, the network for these two products
will carry 75 percent of all X2C last-mile items in the future, i.e., by far the largest network by
volume. Of course, many companies will want to play a major role in a combined segment this
size. However, to do that, they will need to get quite substantial prerequisites in place. First of all,
they will need a fully-fledged parcel network that allows for a high degree of consolidation.
Secondly, they will need to have an IT infrastructure in place that can handle several thousand
AGVs and guide them through daily traffic while regularly optimizing the routes. The third is that
a couple of thousand qualified employees will be needed to supervise the fleet. Recruiting and/or
retaining the experts needed will be critical. Just like regular parcels and time-window items, same-
day delivery will also rely on AGVs with lockers, but the same-day vehicles will leave their bases
later and product streams will not mix.
10
Beyond the delivery services AGVs with lockers enable service providers to create superior
value for customers and earn additional rents from new services, e.g.:
• Overnight pickup. AGVs loaded with parcels that could not be delivered during the
day could park in their delivery districts and serve as regular parcel lockers, from
where customers could pick up their items overnight. That would also allow parcel
service providers to save on the high real estate cost of today’s parcel lockers.
• Sunday delivery. AGVs could provide Sunday delivery, even in countries with tight
labor laws such as Germany, where work on Sundays is forbidden in most
professions.
Information and communication technologies
The development of a set of information and communication technologies (ICT) to
improve the speed, efficiency, safety and reliability of mobility, is aiming at a complete or partial
automation (driving assistance) of the vehicles and terminals (ports, airports, rail stations and
distribution centers). These systems could involve the improvement of existing modes such as
automated highway systems, or the creation of new modes and new transshipment systems such
as for automated vehicles public transit and freight transportation (automated terminals).
Automation remains a highly disruptive force that has the potential to impact
negatively employment in transportation and related sectors.
The diffusion of global positioning systems, sensors and mobile communication
technology has already resulted in substantial benefits in terms of improved navigation and
congestion mitigation. A network of connected and identifiable devices is commonly labeled as
the Internet of Things is taking shape. These devices can be embedded in transportation modes,
such as vehicles and containers, which then can be more effectively managed and routed. This
reliance on large volumes of data which provides effective support for better routing and demand
forecast. A vehicle can thus be rerouted if congestion or another form a disruption takes place and
any transport asset can be better maintained through predictive analysis and reports from sensors.
The table of existing application for Augmented Reality in last mile deliveries is presented
below.
11
Table 1 - Applications for Augmented Reality for freight transport
Application field Benefits
Parcel Loading
and Drop-off
• Wearable AR devices for parcel handling, loading, and delivery
processes
• All parcels are overload with critical information (contents, weight and
destination) and handling instructions
• Parcels are intelligently loaded into the vehicles
• Improved handling, avoiding improper handling, ensuring load
optimisation
Last-meter
navigation
• AR-supported identification of buildings and entrances, as well as indoor
navigation for faster delivery
• A learning system that is able to add user-generated content, particularly
when public databases are unavailable
• Efficient indoor navigation, reduce search and delivery time, especially
for first-time deliveries
AR-secured
delivery
• AR-based unambiguous identification of the parcel receiver using face-
recognition technology
• Visual approval/refusal instead of ID card or signature
• Improve security of registered letters, speed up the delivery process
The existing and relevant innovations involving automation are described below. The
description reflects the nature, effects and potential impacts on the freight distribution that are
related with the scope of the research.
Table 2 - Relevant innovations involving automation technologies
Innovation Nature Effects Impacts
Drones Unmanned transport of
smaller shipments
reachable for the
masses.
Automating home
delivery, warehouse
towers, remote area
deliveries.
Fast deliveries of
single shipments.
Efficient if no
personnel needed.
Low DC floor space.
Platooning Connected driving for
trucks, combined with
partial automation of
driver tasks (up to SAE
level 4).
Savings in fuel costs,
increased driver
productivity and
reduced terminal or
Cost reductions of up
to 25% for road
transport.
12
warehouse costs,
increased safety.
Underground
transport
Tube systems for unit
loads.
Adds new
infrastructure.
Faster access for urban
freight and reduced
congestion on roads.
Autonomous
trucks
Truck without a driver
(automation level 5).
Labour cost reduction,
higher reliability.
Strong reduction of
road transport costs,
no driving time
limitations.
Robotised
warehouses
and terminals
Automated order
picking, container
transshipment and/or
movement.
Labour cost reduction,
higher reliability,
increased capacity.
Reduced unit costs.
Autonomous
rail wagons
(rail AGV)
Individual rail wagon
equipped with
automatic route control
system.
Increased flexibility,
higher utilization of
rail.
Flexible container
transport by rail at
costs below road
transport.
Autonomous
vessels
Vessel without a
captain.
Smaller, flexible
vessels become
economically viable.
Possible competition
for road transport.
Cloud logistics
Cloud Logistics (CL) is a model, based on and inspired by the paradigm of cloud
computing, for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of
configurable and virtualized logistics resources (e.g. means of transportation from different modes
of transport, warehouses, domain-specific knowledge, logistics applications, and services) that can
be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider
interaction. This cloud model is composed of the five essential characteristics of cloud computing
(on-demand self-service, broad network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity, measured
service) but is adjusted in consequence of logistics’ more physical character. By extending the
existing definition of Cloud Computing (CC) for CL purpose, the definition of CL is formed and
builds up the basis of the CL framework presented in Fig. 6 that combines both layer perspectives.
The virtualization of computing resources is adapted to (mostly physical) logistics resources. By
encapsulating them, logistics services are shaped, that can be freely combined [7].
13
Figure 6 - Framework of Cloud logistics [7].
While developing a new comprehensive logistics model as known as Automated logistics
as a service (ALaaS) it is important to identify the existing Cloud based services in the market.
Market Analysis for Cloud based Logistics as a Service (LaaS) includes the following systems:
• Transporeon: Transporeon, a cloud-based logistics platform offers an end to end
supply chain management solution right from ordering to tracing the shipment till
the last mile delivery, thus simplifying the communication between all the parties
helping them streamline production, distribution and pick up slots. More than 1,000
shippers, 55,000 carriers, and 150,000 users in over 100 countries are currently
connected to the platform. Transporeon Group offers 3 SaaS-based logistics
platforms: TRANSPOREON for transportation management; TICONTRACT for
e-sourcing, procurement, and freight bill auditing; MERCAREON for retail-
specific dock scheduling [23].
• aCommerce: aCommerce is a leading retail solutions provider present in Thailand,
Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore, bringing global brands and
retailers online. They are a single platform that offers end to end solutions for e-
commerce industry like inventory management, smart shipping solutions, online
store content and they are compatible with major e-commerce platforms in Asia.
They also offer fully integrated e-commerce business management solutions with
supply chains and business intelligence dashboards [24].
14
Ontological structuring of logistics services
The concept of Ontology Design Pattern (ODP) represented by logistics services map was
found in the research of Michael Glöckner (see Figure 7). The attention is given to the pattern of
LogisticsService (light blue). This pattern describes logistics services in terms of their essential
flows, capabilities as well as the consumed resources for their operation [21]. Logistics services
are structured by the logistics service map by three main concepts as Condition of goods and
customer requirements, functional Character, and Dimension.
Figure 7 - Schematic view of the ontology design pattern for logistics service maps [21].
The presented ODP is derived from existing concepts of the logistics domain and able to
structure logistics services within the concept of the logistics service map.
15
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
In order to fulfil the overall aim of the research and answer the research questions at hand,
an empirically based study with multiple steps was found to be necessary. A three-phased
empirical study was designed as shown in Figure 8.
Figure 8 - The three-phased empirical study
Current-state analysis: The importance of knowing the current state of operations before
implementing automation is needed. In this report is reflected the current situation and the needs
and requirements to evaluate different solutions, and hence to find an appropriate solution for
given circumstances.
Solution development: The second phase aimed at developing possible ways to automate
the activities identified. Information and design and solution ideas were collected though literature
review analysis both in the same line of business and in other business areas.
Implementation phase: During the third and final stage, the selected design would be
constructed, tested, implemented and demonstrated trough the existing projects in automation.
Current-state analysis
Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is the integration of various forms of transport services for
passengers into a single mobility service accessible on demand. To meet a customer’s request, a
MaaS operator facilitates a diverse menu of transport options, be they public transport, ride-, car-
or bike-sharing, taxi or car rental/lease, or a combination of them. For the user, MaaS can offer
benefit through use of a single application to provide access to mobility, with a single payment
Current-state
analysis
Solutiondevelopment
Implementation phase
16
channel instead of multiple ticketing and payment operations. For its users, MaaS should be the
best value proposition, by helping them meet their mobility needs and solve the inconvenient parts
of individual journeys as well as the entire system of mobility services. Alongside the MaaS model
that is increasingly asserting itself in the world of passenger transport, the LaaS (Logistics as a
Service) model for freight is now emerging and is rapidly spreading [16].
Logistics as a service (LaaS) providers employ logistics professionals to manage a
company’s transportation network including truck, rail, ocean and airfreight, and
inbound/outbound logistics from production facilities to warehouses, retailers, and end
users/consumers. The logisticians are experts at efficiency - always looking for ways to do it better,
faster, and for less money. They understand how ever-changing market conditions are evolving,
such as capacity issues, driver shortages, rising carrier costs, and customer service demands that
can affect the supply chain [16].
These complex but globally consistent trade environments can be managed through cloud
computing by offering Logistics as a Service. This type of business model can provide modular
services to various stakeholders on demand. As these services are cloud-based, they don’t need
traditional IT infrastructure to scale up and can be centrally managed or upgraded.
The top four cloud service providers accounted for 61% of the total market in 2018.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) remained the leader on 32%, followed by Microsoft Azure with
17%, Google Cloud in third place with 8% and Alibaba Cloud with 4%. Cloud infrastructure
services are in a period of sustained growth, with spending up 46% in 2018 to more than US$80
billion. Expenditure is forecast to surpass US$143 billion in 2020 [25].
The main idea of the approach is to develop models and methods that would enable self-
configuration of resources for decision support in ad-hoc sustainable logistics. The decision
support is planned to be based on dynamic optimization of the route and transportation means (thus
providing for the multimodal logistics) as well as to take into account user preferences (using
competence supply methods) together with unexpected and unexpressed needs (on the basis of the
profiling technology).
Logistics as a Service (LaaS) provides a conceptual framework to efficiently deploy
modern IT based logistics services to the whole supply chain, permeating transportation network
truck, rail, ocean and air freight, and inbound/outbound logistics from production facilities to
warehouses, retailers, and end users/consumers. Starting from abstraction of service requirements
to classification in a service-oriented architecture, LaaS environment distributes interoperable
available, accessible services to the different fields of the logistics business, including urban
freight distribution [4].
17
Figure 9 - Generic architecture of the approach [4].
Figure 9 illustrates the generic architecture of the approach. The main idea of the approach
is to represent the logistics system components by sets of services provided by them. This makes
it possible to replace the configuration of the logistics system with that of distributed services. For
the purpose of semantic interoperability, the services are represented by Web-services using the
common notation described by application ontology (AO) [4].
Solution development
Since automation in freight distribution is becoming more and more relevant and is pushing
towards a specific LaaS environment, the research project will design and develop a so-called
Automated LaaS concept framework (ALaaS).
Many processes of service delivery use the principles of modularity to some extent. For
developing (physical) products, however, various authors have underscored the strategic
implications of how a product is split into modules. The boundaries that designers and engineers
define during product development can have long term implications. Among other things, modular
designs create options for recombining modules within or across generations of a product.
There are three areas of strategic decision making on the architectural level: the
specification of boundaries for service modules, the specification of interfaces of service modules,
and the specification of integration processes and tests that measure performance and quality both
on the level of the modules and on the level of the entire service composed from modules. [26].
18
Standardised boundaries clarify which services a module provides in the context of a
service architecture. This information can prevent overlaps and makes it easier to select a module
for reuse. Compatible interfaces allow modules to be designed for interacting with other modules
that are not known at the time of development.
Standardised interfaces define a protocol for interaction that, if followed, enables new
modules to interact with existing ones. The service architecture is the expression of an agreement
about interfaces and boundaries that is enforced throughout service engineering and operations. It
comprises those architectural decisions that guide the development and operational efforts within
individual modules and that cannot be changed unilaterally.
Furthermore, the service architecture establishes an integration framework for service
modules through which they can be combined into new or improved services.
The description of a service module needs to contain a specification of the services that the
module provides. The list of features of the module also defines the options and values that specify
the level of service performance for these features. Selecting specific options or values for all of
the features is then part of defining service products or service configurations. Typically, services
do not only flow from the service provider to the customer. When the service provider integrates
external factors into service operations, the scope of services also defines the services that the
customer needs to provide for successfully delivering the service. Often, such a detailed
description of the scope of services is also an important part of the contract governing the service
relationship [26].
The ALaaS framework will model and deploy automated services according to a multi-tier
architecture (see Figure 10). Based on the LaaS architecture, the new ALaaS will be introducing
the new concept of Automated Modular Service (AMS), in order to model logistics services based
on automation in the specific context of urban freight distribution [16].
Each AMS is defined by a series of classes and includes specific automation enabling
paradigms: Artificial Intelligence, to include the process optimization engines to logistics services;
Internet of Things, to include all the sensors and connections to the logistics objects (items,
vehicles, processes, messages etc.);
Physical Internet, to include cargo-matching modularity in autonomous shipment
assignment and dispatching.
AMS will be collected and available in the ALaaS environment, acting as a repository, and
will be deployed in automated logistics application in the context of a urban distribution integrated
network.
19
Figure 10 - ALaaS architecture based on the LaaS architecture [16].
The ALaaS concept provides the following benefits (see Figure 11):
1. Service Autonomy. Services engineered for autonomy exercise a high degree of control
over their underlying run-time execution environment. Autonomy, in this context, represents the
level of independence which a service can exert over its functional logic. With regard to logistic
networks the autonomy also reflects independence of the network members, which are
independent companies in real life [4].
2. Service Abstraction. Further supporting service autonomy and service-oriented
architecture advocates the scope and content of a service’s interface to be both explicitly described
and limited to that level, which is absolutely necessary for the service to be effectively employed.
Beyond the service interface, abstraction applies to any information, in any form, describing
aspects of the service’s design, implementation, employed technologies, etc. This principle helps
to abstract from real services provided by the logistic network and concentrates on their modelling
via Web services [4].
3. Service Standardisation. As services are typically distributed throughout networks, they
must be easily accessible by other entities in terms of discoverability and consequential invocation.
Given this requirement, service-oriented architecture recommends that services adhere to
standards, including, for example, standards for the language used to describe a service to
prospective consumers. In the proposed approach the standardisation is achieved via usage of the
common standards such as WSDL (Web Service Description Language) and SOAP (Simple
Object Access Protocol), negotiation protocol, as well as common terminology described by AO.
As a result the services constituting the network are fully interoperable and can communicate with
each other without any problems [16].
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4. Service Reusability. Reusability is a central property of any successful service. It denotes
the capacity of a service to be employed in support of not just one but rather a variety of business
models. Service-oriented architecture promotes such functional reuse through stipulations for
service autonomy and interface abstraction. With these features, the same service can be invoked
by multiple consumers, operating in various business domains, without requiring the service
provider to re-code service internals for each application domain. Service reusability significantly
facilitates the modelling process and decreases the amount of the work required for building a
model for further configuration. Besides, the existing services of logistic network members can be
used [4].
Figure 11 - Services benefits of ALaaS environment
Key features of Automated Logistics as a Service are described as (see Figure 12):
• Higher level of service, more reliability and cost-effective control over automated
or partly-automated movement of product
• Deep expertise in continuous automated transportation network improvement
• Robust performance management and reporting
• Standardized and automatized operating procedures based on leading practices
across various industries
• Visibility into carrier and supplier planning performance through user-friendly
dashboards and detailed reports
• Vendor-neutral, carrier-agnostic platform featuring easy onboarding process for
new carriers
• Service Abstraction
• Service Standardizations
• Service Reusability
• Service Autonomy
ALaaSbenefits
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• Complete transparency into operations and cost (no hidden brokerage fees),
allowing 10% calculation of true cost-to-serve
Figure 12 - Key features of ALaaS model
Implementation fase
During the research activity would be developed a framework platform based on Logistics
as a Service (LaaS) to allow the definition and efficient implementation of automated urban freight
and logistics transport. Interactions between components of architectural design would be given
by the platform which will be designed using open source solutions, models and enabling
technologies and Service-Oriented architectures (SoA) that will guarantee flexibility, modularity,
scalability, security and interoperability with local legacy and national logistics systems and
platforms. The applying of SOA architecture would allow the creation of services and composite
applications that could be existed independent of the underlying technologies. Services would be
designed to be autonomous and loosely coupled, they could be readily combined and recombined
into composite applications in accordance with changing needs of the automated LaaS
environment. A well-executed SOA framework aligns IT resources more directly with business
goals, helping arrangement to build stronger connections with customer and suppliers providing
more accurate and more readily available business intelligence with which to make better decision
and helping businesses streamline business processes and information sharing for improved
efficiency and effectiveness in automated last mile distribution. Such an ALaaS platform will be
implemented and tested to achieve the following progresses:
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• Utilization of automated platforms for the joint application of city logistics and
individual transportation, such as a 24/7 operation with a modular vehicle and
the operation of common control stations for several users;
• Improved integrated urban freight transport planning and monitoring;
• Possibility of real time and dynamic management of goods delivery, suppression
of numerous polluting vehicles on the site also by means of automated vehicle
platooning;
• Integration of automated passenger/cargo vehicles in urban transportation
systems;
• Integration of automated shuttle fleets into the digital traffic system C2X of
automated fleets;
• More effective use of Traffic Management for automated fleets strategic and
operational Fleet Management optimized and system aware Routing, scheduling
and disposition;
• More Connectivity, usage of C-ITS technologies, end-user services/apps
integration, fleet management, traffic management, standardized messaging/data
exchange and communications, trusted services & secure environment.
• Innovative business models for automated urban freight distribution services.
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CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK
The report has been done based on the literature review in the relevant research areas as
automation, innovation, ontology and modular patterns in the freight sector and cloud-based
infrastructure for logistics. The data received from the literature review was applied for developing
the Automated logistics as a Service model to receive services autonomy, abstraction,
standardisation, reusability and based on Service-Oriented architecture using automotive
modularity of the logistics services. The future work would be continued in the deep analyzes of
the existing LaaS, cloud-based systems to define the composition of Automated Modular Services
that would be applied for ALaaS model. The methods and approaches of the evaluation and
implementation of the model would be considered.
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