Smart product-service systems in interoperable logistics: Design and implementation prospects

To deal with the increasing complexity of customer demands, supply chain (SC) and logistics organisation and management have been constantly moving towards collaboration, intelligence, and service-orientation. The importance of service-oriented design for SC and logistics systems has been stressed, especially with regards to interoperability and sustainability. In this context, the recent intelligent interoperable logistics paradigm has been increasingly studied and the Smart Product-Service System (PSS) concept seems interesting for the paradigm. Smart PSS are characterised by their ability to collect and process information autonomously and subsequently make decisions and self-act/evolve. Interested in the potential for tackling complex logistics systems, this paper investigates how smart PSS could be considered and designed for service-oriented, intelligent interoperable logistics. A recent breakthrough logistics paradigm called the Physical Internet (PI) is taken as a practical example in this research. We present and discuss key design issues and innovative business models associated with smart PSS in PI. The results clearly indicate the promising potential of smart PSS in PI and the need for further research. Consequently, new research avenues leading to a new era of intelligent interoperable logistics are outlined. This paper intends to contribute to two main areas of research: the design and implementation of smart PSS in PI, and functional and conceptual research on PI and intelligent interoperable logistics.     

基于头脑风暴算法的电动货车路径优化问题

针对电动货车路径优化问题,应用物流网络以及电动货车电量消耗等方面的知识,研究了电动货车的智能调度方法,构建了带时间窗的电动货车路径优化模型(electric vehicle routing problem with time window,EVRPTW)。该模型考虑了耗电量与电动货车行驶速度、载重量之间的关系,客户满意度与软时间窗之间的关系。同时,引入了计算机智能算法,充分利用了遗传算法、头脑风暴算法等优化算法的智能化特征,有效提高了电动货车的配送效率。仿真结果表明:该模型运用头脑风暴算法的最优值精确度和收敛速度都优于遗传算法,可以有效解决EVRPTW问题。所提出的模型和算法能明显提高配送中心的配送效率,节省充电成本,提高顾客满意度。针对配送中心电动货车运营调度管理的特点,借助计算机技术以及自动控制技术,进一步提高了电动货车的配送效率,为物流网络系统的智能化调度提供技术准备。     

RFID together with multi-agent systems to control global value chains

Nowadays, the cooperative intelligent transport systems are part of a largest system. Transportations are modal operations integrated in logistics and, logistics is the main process of the supply chain management. The supply chain strategic management as a simultaneous local and global value chain is a collaborative/cooperative organization of stakeholders, many times in co-opetition, to perform a service to the customers respecting the time, place, price and quality levels. The transportation, like other logistics operations must add value, which is achieved in this case through compression lead times and order fulfillments. The complex supplier's network and the distribution channels must be efficient and the integral visibility (monitoring and tracing) of supply chain is a significant source of competitive advantage. Nowadays, the competition is not discussed between companies but among supply chains. This paper aims to evidence the current and emerging manufacturing and logistics system challenges as a new field of opportunities for the automation and control systems research community. Furthermore, the paper forecasts the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies integrated into an information and communication technologies (ICT) framework based on distributed artificial intelligence (DAI) supported by a multi-agent system (MAS), as the most value advantage of supply chain management (SCM) in a cooperative intelligent logistics systems. Logistical platforms (production or distribution) as nodes of added value of supplying and distribution networks are proposed as critical points of the visibility of the inventory, where these technological needs are more evident.     

物联网情景感知技术在智能仓储领域的应用展望

智能仓储系统中最为关键的是对于仓储流程中的情景信息的应用,其中RFID等情景感知技术在仓储领域的应用已经帮助该领域得到了快速发展。文中对物联网和相关情景感知技术在仓储业的应用进行了分析和研究,给出了情景感知在智能仓储和物流系统中的应用现状和发展趋势。     

Consumer decision-making and smart logistics planning based on FPGA and convolutional neural network

In the fourth Industrial Revolution, cost-effective planning and rational management were the key to the success of the revolution. This paper mainly studies the development and application of models in machine learning technology. The abnormal activities monitored in real time are rectified so that the customer's electronic orders can be displayed through the support of big data, thus laying the foundation for the development of intelligent logistics. Under the data system, an exception model is created and classified and regressed. In this model, the security and stability of customer orders in the network can be automatically detected, and the abnormal data can be analyzed and evaluated. Unusual circumstances of this kind need to be in an intelligent logistics environment, and delivery tasks must be called intuitive for special care. Early detection of abnormal order events is expected to improve the accuracy of delivery planning. To enable new technical solutions, the logistics industry and economic decision-makers often lack the IT background and expertise needed to start developing new systems and technical solutions. Evaluate the benefits of using. Implementation and integration complexity is seen as one of the three major obstacles to the success of the IoT above. This is by hindering long-term investment in new technologies from slowing down digitization.     

Supply chain product visibility: Methods,systems and impacts

Supply chain product visibility may be defined to mean the capacity of the supply chain to have a view of a product’s lifecycle, from its conception, manufacturing, distribution, delivery to the end customer, customer’s experience of the product, and the product’s end-of-life activities and processes. This implies developing and keeping a record of the product’s materials and components, its physical state throughout the supply chain, the product’s forward movement to the user-customer, customer’s experience of the product, and the reverse logistics and reuse or termination of the product. The aim of visibility is to foster planning, control and agility of operations associated with the product and to improve customer experience of the product. “Tracking” is the term often used to describe the determination of the identity and state of a product in the forward direction (from manufacturing to the end user), while “tracing” is used to infer the product’s path and history from downstream to upstream of the supply chain. In recent times there has been an upsurge of academic and commercial interest in product visibility. This interest has translated into numerous architectures, technologies and software for product visibility, both at the atomic (item) and composite (or aggregate) levels. Based on an extensive content analysis of academic and trade literature, including websites and documents of vendors and users of the technologies, this paper captures, analyses, compares and contrasts the design choices, essence, results and current and potential future impacts of some of the recent developments. The study also used survey by questionnaire across industries to assess user requirements of tracking and tracing systems and structures. The paper also charts future research directions for end-to-end visibility of product classes and their instances in supply chains.     

The digitization of a food package’s life cycle: Existing and emerging computer systems in the logistics and post-logistics phase

At present, the food and food packaging industry is increasingly confronted with and gently forced by consumers and governmental organizations to resolve issues related to food fraud, counterfeit, theft, food quality and safety, and package reuse and recycling. This requires the development and/or integration of new or existing technologies such as intelligent food packages or wireless sensor networks to improve monitoring capabilities during logistics and sales and consumption, allow interaction with consumers, and improve the reuse or recycling of food packages. In this review paper, an extensive overview is provided of computer systems that are used in the logistics and post-logistics phase of a food package’s life cycle and that to a certain extent integrate the aforementioned technologies. These systems offer the perspective to improve the efficiency of logistics operations on food packages to reduce food loss, better inform consumers through food packages, and support package reuse and recycling. The main purpose of this review paper is to encourage the academia and engineers to tackle existing research challenges and resolve technical issues related to the development of new integrated computer systems.     

Design of a case-based logistics strategy system – an integrated approach

Abstract: Logistics service providers are professionals who serve clients such as manufacturers, raw material suppliers, distributors, retailers and shippers within the supply chain. Traditionally, the formulation of logistics strategies to execute various logistics services has been based solely on experience. In this paper, an intelligent case-based logistics strategy system (CLSS) is designed to help logistics service providers to develop strategies under various customers' demands. The proposed system, which is suitable for use in warehouse operations in the Hong Kong/Pearl River Delta region, enhances the effectiveness of logistics strategies formulations by integrating case-based reasoning technology seamlessly with various data management software such as a data warehouse, on-line analytical processing and a multidimensional database management system. Through applying CLSS in Eastern Worldwide Company, the resource utilization is maximized while work efficiency is greatly enhanced. As a result, the overall logistics operations are smoothened significantly.     

A methodology to map customer complaints and measure customer satisfaction and loyalty

In this study, an analysis was conducted for the relationships between the main components of customer relationship management (CRM) and customer complaints in the domain of logistics and transport. Today, complaints and the handling of complaints play a pivotal role in customer relationships. Moreover, companies are reluctant to admit that they have difficulties with customers’ complaints, but as yet there appears to be no complete solution to this issue. To remedy this situation, customer complaints must be comprehensively collected and analysed. Issues must be classified, and timely solutions must be developed. In this paper, a conceptual framework is proposed including mathematical models, hypothesised relationships, perceived value and interactivity between customer, business and the system, as well as customer satisfaction analytics. The framework will address the relationship between customer satisfaction issues, loyalty and customer acquisition and estimate customer satisfaction and loyalty. For the purpose of analysis, this study uses both qualitative and quantitative approaches. For data collection, a survey questionnaire was distributed to 60 Fremantle Port logistics and transport customers. For the quantitative approach, linear and nonlinear modelling is adopted. Using the model, we are able to address the shortcomings of CRM technology, and tackle the issues of loyalty improvement and customer acquisition. Finally, based on nonlinear modelling and using a fuzzy inference system, namely the Takagi–Sugeno-type approach, we defined fuzzy rules, by means of which we ascertain the relationship between customer satisfaction and the main relevant variables.     

Design and development of logistics workflow systems for demand management with RFID

This paper discusses demand and supply chain management and examines how artificial intelligence techniques and RFID technology can enhance the responsiveness of the logistics workflow. This proposed system is expected to have a significant impact on the performance of logistics networks by virtue of its capabilities to adapt unexpected supply and demand changes in the volatile marketplace with the unique feature of responsiveness with the advanced technology, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Recent studies have found that RFID and artificial intelligence techniques drive the development of total solution in logistics industry. Apart from tracking the movement of the goods, RFID is able to play an important role to reflect the inventory level of various distribution areas. In today’s globalized industrial environment, the physical logistics operations and the associated flow of information are the essential elements for companies to realize an efficient logistics workflow scenario. Basically, a flexible logistics workflow, which is characterized by its fast responsiveness in dealing with customer requirements through the integration of various value chain activities, is fundamental to leverage business performance of enterprises. The significance of this research is the demonstration of the synergy of using a combination of advanced technologies to form an integrated system that helps achieve lean and agile logistics workflow.     

Requirements for intelligent network service operations

A service operation architecture and operation system platform are proposed that separate commonly used information from operations functions, and that use access control functions. This enables new applications to be developed more easily and increases operating efficiency. The operation system platform is related to several surrounding platforms, and requires standardized reference points such as CMIS/P and managed objects. A managed object methodology is a suitable approach for accessing the operation system platform, and managed object classes and methods are proposed for intelligent network service operations. This architecture and platform will allow telecommunication to meet the demands created by intelligent networks for enhanced customer services, more reliable operation systems, and lower development costs. On the basis of proposed platform, service surveillance prototype systems for free-phone services have already been developed, and the next versions of the service operations systems for virtual private networks services are being developed.     

Human performance and embedded intelligent technology in safety-critical systems

Information technology continues to evolve rapidly. We see this particularly in the evolution of embedded intelligent systems—knowledge-based systems deployed in larger hosts with real-time response requirements, which provide real-time advice, guidance, information, recommendations and explanations to their users. These systems have recently been deployed in safety-critical large-scale systems, where humans and technology are jointly responsible for executing tasks, monitoring operations, and providing system safety. Thus, human interaction with intelligent technology in safety-critical systems has important implications. Those interactions can enhance or reduce system efficiency, enhance or compromise safety, and augment or negate the other benefits that technology provides. In this paper, we focus on interactions between human operators and embedded intelligent systems. We first consider the role of technology in safety-critical systems, and discuss studies of the impact of technology on human operators in such systems. We then describe embedded intelligent systems, and studies of their impacts on human operators. To illustrate these points, we consider the case of embedded intelligent technology introduction in one such setting, and the results of an empirical investigation of the impact of the technology on human performance in that system. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of the study and of the importance of understanding the impact of embedded intelligent technology on human operators in safety-critical systems.     

The role of the customer order decoupling point in production and supply chain management

In order to compete successfully, operations in any type of firm need to be strategically aligned to the market requirements. This concerns both manufacturing and supply chain operations. The customer order decoupling point (CODP) is getting increasing attention as an important input to the design of manufacturing operations as well as supply chains. This paper investigates the impact of the position and role of the CODP on issues of concern for production and supply chain management. The focus is on the design and strategic planning aspects of the supply chain, and the design of manufacturing planning and control systems. The paper proposes a dual design approach for production and supply chain planning systems; one type of system for operations upstream the CODP and another type of system for downstream operations in order to fully support the characteristics and objectives of each respective part of the supply chain.     

An evaluation approach to logistics service using fuzzy theory,quality function development and goal programming

Logistics customer service is an important factor in the success of supply chain management. The aim of this study is to propose a novel approach for customer service management. For the improvement of logistics service operations, the proposed method integrates quality function development (QFD), fuzzy extended analytic hierarchy process (FEAHP), and multi-segment goal programming (MSGP). The advantage of the method includes the consideration of various logistics goals and the flexibility of setting multi-aspiration levels of evaluation criteria.     

Multi-agent system and reinforcement learning approach for distributed intelligence in a flexible smart manufacturing system

Personalized production has emerged as a result of the increasing customer demand for more personalized products. Personalized production systems carry a greater amount of uncertainty and variability when compared with traditional manufacturing systems. In this paper, we present a smart manufacturing system using a multi-agent system and reinforcement learning, which is characterized by machines with intelligent agents to enable a system to have autonomy of decision making, sociability to interact with other systems, and intelligence to learn dynamically changing environments. In the proposed system, machines with intelligent agents evaluate the priorities of jobs and distribute them through negotiation. In addition, we propose methods for machines with intelligent agents to learn to make better decisions. The performance of the proposed system and the dispatching rule is demonstrated by comparing the results of the scheduling problem with early completion, productivity, and delay. The obtained results show that the manufacturing system with distributed artificial intelligence is competitive in a dynamic environment.     

An intelligent logistics support system for enhancing the airfreight forwarding business

Abstract: Recent research related to the aircraft container loading and scheduling problem for airfreight forwarding business has seen significant advances in terms of load plan optimization, taking into account the cost and volume of packed boxes. In today's competitive industrial environment, it is essential that freight forwarders are able to collaborate with carriers (airline companies) to achieve the best possible selection of logistics workflow. However, study of contemporary research publications indicates that there is a dearth of articles related to the design and implementation of an intelligent logistics system to support decision‐making on carrier selection, aircraft container loading plans as well as carrier benchmarking. This paper presents an intelligent logistics support system (ILSS) which is able to provide expert advice related to the airfreight forwarding business, enhancing the logistics operations in relevant activities within the value chain of tasks. ILSS comprises a heuristics‐based intelligent expert system which supports carrier searching and cargo trading planning as well as load plan generation. The proposed approach is meant to enhance various operations in the airfreight forwarding business, adopting computational intelligence technologies such as rule‐based reasoning to provide domain advice and heuristics to support the generation of load plans. After potential outcomes are generated by the heuristics‐based intelligent expert system, a neural network engine is applied to support prediction of unexpected events. To validate the viability of this approach, a production system using the ILSS has been developed and subsequently applied in an emulated airfreight forwarding environment. The application results indicate that the operation time from searching for potential carriers to the execution of the order is greatly reduced. In this paper, details related to the structure, design and implementation of the ILSS are also covered with the inclusion of the actual program codes for building the prototype.     

Manufacturing in the Digital Age: Exploiting Information Technologies for Product Realization

Information technology (IT) is both the key enabler for future manufacturing enterprises and a transformer of organizations and markets. By reducing barriers to collaboration, compressing lead time, eliminating physical movement, and enriching decision-making, IT helps manufacturers achieve their goal of meeting customer needs better, quicker, and cheaper. By providing global reach and easy connectivity, information technology has fostered cooperation while increasing market competition, and heightened customer expectations. Advances in computer and communication technologies combined with rapid changes in organizations have created new opportunities for exploiting information technologies in the entire product realization process. This paper explores these opportunities, and identifies promising directions for both basic and applied research. We first review important trends in organizations, markets, and information technologies—from increasing customer involvement and opportunistic organizational alliances to global reach and connectivity, enterprise integration, and virtualization. Adopting a process viewpoint of the product realization cycle, we translate these trends into high-impact IT applications in design and operations that offer rich potential for applied research and development. Underlying these applications are four broad classes of intelligent information processes—intelligent search, diagnosis and prognosis, collaboration, coordination, and negotiation, and understanding and learning. And, software agents provide an ideal platform to implement these processes. We briefly review developments in these basic research fields, and identify necessary scientific advances that are most important from the manufacturing perspective. Our goal is to synthesize streams of thought from many related disciplines in engineering, science, and management, and develop a framework for examining how information technologies can facilitate and influence manufacturing.     

A generic framework for multi-criteria decision support in eco-friendly urban logistics systems

In this paper, we present a multi-objective shortest path evolutionary algorithm for comprehensive solutions to real-world manifestations of the classical vehicle routing problem. The shift from being a purely academic pursuit is highlighted by the introduction of a generic optimization framework which accommodates a variety of attributes that commonly occur in industrial applications. Specifically, the paper's main contribution are as follows: (1) consideration for the following real-world constraints: (a) time windows at customer locations, (b) simultaneous pickup and delivery demands, (c) a heterogeneous fleet of vehicles, and (d) the heterogeneity of traffic congestion levels in urban transportation networks; (2) assimilation of all the above attributes into a multi-objective program which aims to minimize environmental impact, while simultaneously addressing the overall operational costs of the routing solution and service quality concerns; a feat that has not been fully realized by known intelligent systems according to the authors’ best knowledge. In order to showcase the efficacy of the proposed algorithm, it is first tested on existing benchmark instances and then applied on a pair of real-world industrial examples from Singapore. These industrial examples serve as a source of new benchmarks which facilitate the study of different routing constraints and their effects on the economic and environmental viability of urban logistics systems.     

Integrated Vehicle Configuration System—Connecting the domains of mass customization

Configuration design for mass customized vehicles necessitates the coordination of customer requirements, product characteristics, production processes, and logistics networks, in order to achieve rapid response to customer orders. Existing product configurators are mainly used as sales tools, and fail to account for the requirements of the entire customer order fulfillment process. In this regard, this paper proposes an Integrated Vehicle Configuration System (IVCS) to facilitate customer order processing based on information from multiple domains in a mass customization environment. An IVCS business model is proposed to incorporate the decision factors for configuration design related to different planning stages. The business model is supported by a comprehensive ontology framework, which enhances communications between different stakeholders involved in the order fulfillment process. The configuration approach is based on combinations of selective and generative rules and can be integrated with existing ERP systems. It also provides mechanisms to handle configuration rules that allow users to convert soft preferences into product specifications, bill-of-materials, and, furthermore, into logistics configurations. An example of a computerized configuration system showcases the process from customer engineering to design and production.     

新奇检测综述

能够对异常信息进行检测是智能控制系统的基础能力,新奇检测是一类特殊的异常检测方法,其充分利用了正常数据来构建模型,在诸多智能系统中发挥着重要作用。该领域的综述,能够方便科研人员快速了解新奇检测领域的发展情况,找到适合自己的方法进行应用研究。根据新奇检测方法的基本原理,从基于距离、基于概率、基于域和基于重构四个方面进行了阐述。此外,还介绍了各方法的具体应用以及在经典数据集上的性能表现,并在最后进行了总结分析。研究结果表明,新奇检测方法在工业制造、网络安全、医疗等领域得到了较多应用,具有较好的适应性和广阔的应用前景。