“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

2

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

11

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-

14

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

15

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.

24

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