Semantic technology for enabling logistics innovations – towards Intelligent Cargo in the Physical Internet

Supply visibility is a prerequisite for increased capacity utilization, avoiding unnecessary bottlenecks, supply chain resilience, and compliance. Capacity utilization is both on the level of transport means such as trucks, trains, and barges, as well the optimal usage of the underlying infrastructure. Hubs like terminals, railway stations, locks in inland waterways, and warehouses, have to accommodate a potential large number of transport means and cargo thus increasing turnaround times and delays. Utilizing infrastructure, capacity, distribution, and movement data in planning is commonly denominated as synchromodal planning. Supply chain resilience implies predictive actions on handling exceptions like accidents and (major) incidents. Compliance implies timely access to data to assess potential risks and take corrective measures. In such a complex environment, data sharing has to be configured dynamically. Semantics is a prerequisite to address these issues. It requires the support of an infrastructure. To enable, to increase, and to improve the level of cooperation between enterprises, the ability to share data between organizations is crucial. Ontologies can lower the semantic barriers between organizations and enable IT infrastructures to support new business relations faster at lower cost.