Contributions to Conferences

Ubiquitous logistics: a business and technology concept based on shared resources

Abstract

The paper addresses the topic of urban logistics concepts (city-logistics). Many of these concepts have failed in the past. In survey literature, financial and collaboration issues are considered as the most important reasons for the failure. Based on these findings, an approach is suggested in this paper to especially address the identified collaboration problem. For this purpose, potential private and public vehicles of an urban area are treated as logistics resources. The concept proposed in this paper is based on packages that decide on their own which logistics resources they take to reach their target destination. Decision-making abilities are realized through intelligent agents attached to packages and logistics resources. In order to deploy the concept, it will be critical to find approaches that encourage citizens to offer their own vehicles as logistics resources. Additionally, the concept needs governance structures that maintain relations with political stakeholders.