In an interview published in the Spring edition of the TNT Logistics Benelux magazine Hans van Grieken, corporate innovation officer at Capgemini, says that the future of supply chain management (SCM) will certainly be vibrant. He discusses a number of innovations including adaptive networks, integrated Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), sensor networks, grid computing and agent technology.

While RFID applications will identify objects in the physical world, agents will represent them in the virtual world, says Hans. He says that agents will be the key to integrating people, business processes, machines, systems and services into a single hybrid network.

Hans explains what agents are. ?Agents are small pieces of software that carry out tasks within a system on behalf of people or objects. They communicate with other agents and with the network in which they exist as representatives of a specific user. They can communicate fast with an almost unlimited number of other agents, and cooperate with others to carry out complex tasks.?

With the help of agents and sensory technology, RFID tags will have the capacity to monitor a product?s status including transportation intentions and attributes such as temperature and humidity. Another example is a photocopier. With sensors they will be able to register when preventive servicing might be needed. A message will then be sent to the electronic diary of an engineer who might be the closest in terms of location and availability.

Agents will function within an adaptive supply chain as a ?swarm behaviour? that relies on real-time connectivity, clearly defined goals, and a flexible distribution of roles. Hans gives the example of a clearly defined goal being the transportation of a product using the fastest route possible but a temperature not exceeding a certain temperature. A flexible distribution of roles is possible with the multi-functionality of the RFID tags. And, real time connectivity is possible with an assigned IP address to all objects connected by a wireless network.

Hans says that it will take time before an adaptive supply chain approach is more globally accepted. The cost of technology would need to decrease; increased standardization; greater transparency between organizations; and that there would need to have human anxieties about the role of technology to be overcome.

He thinks that it will begin with perishable goods where a loss of 20 percent can mean huge business potential. The IT architectures would need to change into real Service Oriented Architectures (SOA). Data would inevitably increase and computer power would be needed leading to grid computing or distributed computing. There would no longer be a reliance on a central server but would draw upon the calculating power wherever it is available on the network.

One of the features of all these trends is that agent-based service models will involve near simultaneous events and reactions to those events. He recommends that logistic service providers invest with partners in adaptive logistic networks. He urges them not to wait for the trends to develop.

?Logistics service providers must get themselves their own structural radar for the detection of innovation. Which doesn?t necessarily have to be focused on their own industry. In the US military for instance, there have been some interesting lessons learned in the use of agent technology and RFID. There is a growing need for players who can fulfill the role of 4PL (fourth party logistics) integrators.

?Get in the learning curve before it is too late. This is a set of technologies that you need to understand, that have consequences for your processes, your organizational structure and ? most of all ? the way in which you interact with the partners (present and future) in your supply chain.?

Hans is part of Capgemini?s innovation network which provides new knowledge and insights for management in the future particularly around business and IT developments in a global context. He is a regular speaker at conferences on a range of diverse subjects: hyper sensitivity of IT, corporate portals, digital nomads, mobile workers, in-car telematics, Network Centric Warfare, Extended Retail Solutions, RFID, bio-technology and nanotechnology.

Source: CapGemini

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