Title: Smart freight to enhance control of supply chains

Authors: Kenth Lumsden, Gunnar Stefansson

Addresses: Division of Logistics and Transportation, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96, Goteborg, Sweden. ' Division of Logistics and Transportation, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96, Goteborg, Sweden

Abstract: Companies face different problems in planning their logistics operations. One major problem is linking the product information to complex supply network activities. A potential solution to improve the management of items is to decentralise the information on individual products and access the relevant information directly from a carry-on information tag based on RFID. In this paper, the meaning of smart freight is clarified and classifications are made to compare traditional systems for controlling the freight flow with a Smart Supply Chain. In a study that has been carried out in preparing this work, the advantages and disadvantages of the different smart freight models and ideas proposed are analysed and evaluated by several systems developers. The results of the study show that smart freight systems will emerge in the near future and will partially be decentralised.

Keywords: smart freight; information decentralisation; supply chain management; SCM; logistics planning; transportation; freight flow; smart supply chains; information tags; RFID; radio frequency identification.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLSM.2007.012996

International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management, 2007 Vol.3 No.3, pp.315 - 329

Published online: 03 Apr 2007 *

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