KOMODA - Co-modality – towards optimised integrated chains in freight transport logistics |
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Logistics activities are becoming increasingly important in the market. Efficient logistics is equally important feature of competitive advantage of each enterprise as the price or technology. Growing customers requirements challenge the manufacturers and logistics operators. Production of goods in many variants in short series, decreasing size of the average shipment and requires shortened delivery time means fulfilment of logistics tasks in an increasing time pressure. Logistics is becoming more complicated and requires sophisticated management with the use of information and communication technologies. The market situation of large and small enterprises in terms of adoption of advanced ICT solutions is definitely different. Large companies can afford to create proprietary information systems to manage logistics while SMEs have to rely on the basic solutions. The information gap between large and smaller companies is rising. The market position of SME is getting worse as their financial potential is much lower what determines the quality of their logistics. It refers to wide group of stakeholders including the in-house logistics of production or trading companies as well as to enterprises offering transport or warehousing services. Whatever development strategy is being adopted by SMEs, the success driver remains the access to information systems supporting in managing offered logistics services. In response to this common situation the KOMODA project came with the idea of creating the guidelines for possible future e-Logistics system throughout Europe with the specific target to support the co-modal approach. The idea was to identify and define the requirements, needs, technological potential of enterprises for creation of appropriate architecture for future e-Logistics system and possibly design and provide SMEs with optimization tools and software elements through a comodal e-Logistics platform. In the first stage, user requirements and needs were identified and defined, based on extensive survey of potential customers and freight and logistics operators representing both large companies and SMEs. About 100 SMEs were involved in completing the survey. The information collected, investigated and searched in the project could then be used as the basis for the creation of the European wide e-Logistics system aimed at facilitating the companies cheaper access to applications through web-based platform. The applications would enhance co-modal approach of the freight decision makers. The companies deciding on modal choice would take into account all available transport alternatives including these “environmentally friendly” transport modes as rail freight, inland water or short sea shipping. One of the available application would be the intermodal transport management system with the functionality of ranking different transport alternatives on defined routes according to transit time or expense criterions. It would allow further on in freight transaction execution i.e. booking, delivery on line monitoring and financial clearance. e-Logistics system would deliver also many optimization tools supporting freight decisions being often of multi-objective type. It refers to for instance to defining of size and time of shipment, routing, calculation of freight rate, determining freight transaction conditions, modal and final service provider choice, assets and crew scheduling, consolidation of shipments etc. All these decisions require considering a few criterions or contradictory interest of the transaction parties. The system would be also equipped with the expert tool supporting companies in modelling their relations with partners co-operating in the supply chains by recommending suitable business models, communication standards or forms of electronic documents and messages. In case all these tools proposed in KOMODA project would be implemented this would be helpful for the SMEs in enhancing their logistics activities or services increasing their competitive powe power. |
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Added value for SMEs In response to this common situation the KOMODA project came with the idea of creating the guidelines for possible future e-Logistics system throughout Europe with the specific target to support the co-modal approach. The idea was to identify and define the requirements, needs, technological potential of enterprises for creation of appropriate architecture for future e-Logistics system and possibly design and provide SMEs with optimization tools and software elements through a comodal e-Logistics platform. In case all these tools proposed in KOMODA project would be implemented this would be helpful for the SMEs in enhancing their logistics activities or services increasing their competitive power. |
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Download the project description in PDF |
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More information: http://www.komodaproject.com/ |
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