Dear all,

I would like to ask you for feedback for validation of the schemes of
implementation scenarios which are listed below. They belong to the work of
THEMIS that is a 4-year thematic network funded by the European Commission,
DG Energy and Transport (http://www.themis-network.org/). The main
objective of THEMIS is to understand and define the position of freight
transport within the future European Intelligent Transport System (ITS).
THEMIS also aims to best organise the freight ITS components (or modules)
in an architecture that will achieve the most effective result for the
users and the society as a whole.

One approach is the creation of implementation scenarios of the integration
of freight transport management systems (FTMS) and transport management
systems (TMS).The requirements of the integration of FTMS and TMS have been
derived from the questions about
- which traffic information are needed by rail, road and waterborne
transport?
- which freight information do rail, road and waterborne transport offer
and provide?


RAIL TRANSPORT

The first example is an implementation scenario for rail transport. This
transport mode is said to make mobility sustainable. Rail transport is a
typical example for how useful the exchange of traffic and freight
information can be because there are private cargo owners who have to deal
directly with public administrations that own the tracks.


Which information?
receipt and dispatch of rail consignments, tracking and tracing data (of
the whole train and/or one single freight unit or wagon), arrival time
(ETA/ATA), departure time (ETD/ATD), hazardous goods information

Which parties communicate directly or indirectly with each other (provider
and recipient of information)?
small traders, forwarders, consolidators, contractors, transport operators,
dispatcher, customer (in general, e.g. 3PL, 4PL), railway administrations,
train operators

What kind of technology is applied?
online access to the internet as a basic platform, translation of data into
several formats, GSM, signalling systems

Are there any standards by which it is possible to integrate?
internet, computers

What has to be taken into account for a legislative integration?
cooperation between several authorities, access restrictions or
authorisation, regulated ownership of data

How is the integration organised?
internet platform (one entry platform that combines several databases/add-
ons) will be provided by a neutral facilitator, integration has to be
performed safe, common, transparent, effective, useful and easy to use

How does the operational integration work?
Availability, transparency and reliability of data

Which economic advantages will appear due to integration?
cost savings (resulting from improved documentation accuracy and minimised
rekeying of data), improved customer service (because of better control
over the transport process)

Where are gaps, barriers and missing links? And how could they be solved?
costs -> ?;
format of the data -> standards;
complexity -> transparencystandards of different transport modes


ROAD TRANSPORT

Another example is an implementation scenario for road transport (s. list
below).


Which information?
ETA/ATA, ETD/ATD,  transport status, hazardous goods information

Which parties communicate directly or indirectly with each other (provider
and recipient of information)?
transport company, truck (driver), dispatcher, customer (in general, e.g.
3PL), small traders, (TIC)

What kind of technology is applied?
internet, satellite navigation (GPS), floating car data, mobile phone,
faxes, computers, barcodes, EDI (EDIfact), GSM

Are there any standards by which it is possible to integrate?
satellite navigation, mobile phones, computers, DATEX, RDS/TMC

What has to be taken into account for a legislative integration?
authorisation of access, regulated ownership of data

How is the integration organised?
one entry platform (e.g. an Oracle data base) that combines several
databases and/or “add-ons” ad hoc according to individual needs, available
on the internet

How does the operational integration work?
(permanent) availability of data, reliability, training and e-learning for
e.g. truck drivers, concise institutional levels/responsibilities, systems
must be easy to use, modular concepts (not one big system)

Which economic advantages will appear due to integration?
cost reduction (because of minimisation of waiting times and reduction of
on-route times), increased competitiveness, inventory reduction, more
efficient capacity utilisation, improved safety

Where are gaps, barriers and missing links? And how could they be solved?
reliability of information (e.g. topical information about congestion
prediction) -> computer simulation of traffic;
protected access -> encryption;
many different systems -> e-business via internethigh costs (esp. for SME)
-> e-business via internet, ASP standards of different transport modes;
ecological aspects -> combined transportdifferent systems/standards
compared to other transport modes


WATERBORNE TRANSPORT

There are several requirements for the implementation of FTMS and TMS in
the waterborne sector. We investigated two business cases and transport
related EU-projects as well as two examples from existing implementations.
One example is from the port of Piraeus and deals with the integration of
PMIS and VTMIS in deep and short-sea shipping. A second example is about
the integration of a River Information Service (RIS) in The Netherlands.


Which information?
ETA/ATA, ETD/ATD, tracking and tracing (status) of cargo, transmission of
container movement, customs manifests, safety information (e.g. hazardous
goods information), fairway information, ship mooring, ship
destinations/origins

Which parties communicate directly or indirectly with each other (provider
and recipient of information)?
ship owner, forwarder, ship (via captain e.g.), dispatcher, shipping
companies, terminal operators, customer (in general, e.g. 3PL, 4PL),
harbour authority, VTS, authorities, tug companies, pilotage organisations,
port police

What kind of technology is applied?
ECDIS, EDI, XML, middleware, VTMIS, AIS, RIS, internet, radar, dGPS

Are there any standards by which it is possible to integrate?
ECDIS, computers, transponders, radar

What has to be taken into account for a legislative integration?
harmonisation of data from different authorities, access restrictions,
regulated ownership of data, guaranteed privacy of skippers

How is the integration organised?
access to an internet platform (one entry platform that combines several
databases/add-ons)

How does the operational integration work?
availability of data, reliability of information, identification of each
ship must be possible

Which economic advantages will appear due to integration?
improved customer service (because of better control over the transport
process), improved safety at sea (e.g. less pollution, less accidents),
lower operational costs, decreased lead times, increased revenues

Where are gaps, barriers and missing links? And how could they be solved?
cross-over of seaside and landside maps;
human factor -> training (e.g. CBT), standards of different transport
modes;
AIS equipment on all ships -> obligation (this could lower the
price);acceptance of RIS -> subsystems/modules of RIS



Thanx in advance for feedback!

Sabine