Oct/Nov 2006

IBM may be a latecomer to the mobile IT market, but as the name Intelligent Transport Strategy suggests, it has ambitious plans. m.logistics has been finding out what's involved

At first glance, IBM's Intelligent Transport Strategy seems similar to many other supply-chain solutions using mobile IT and wireless data. It integrates various existing technologies - systems that let a company know, for instance, what goods are on each lorry, when they were loaded, where they were unloaded and so on - and it also incorporates tracking of loads and driver efficiency metrics.

Where the initiative differs from the norm is in its sheer scale and compass. It targets businesses that operate several hundred lorries, deliver to and pick up from many locations, have already invested in electronic tracking, and want to eliminate manual validation procedures in the supply chain - barcode scanning, for instance. It's telematics taken to the next stage.

"This breakthrough goes much further than the transport tracking systems that have been around for some time now," says Doug Clark, in charge of the ITS initiative at IBM.

 

"In effect, the vehicle is transformed into a mobile logistics centre with the ability to deliver and collect from any location, and provide real-time tracking information and validated collection and delivery data of both goods and the re-usable transport assets themselves. This unobtrusive and flexible application of technology offers great scalability to the enterprise and a crucial competitive advantage."

To achieve its ambitions, IBM has teamed up with Microlise and Intermec to develop an RFID-based solution. It combines Microlise's Fleet and Distribution solution, Intermec RFID tagging and mobile tag-reader technology, and IBM's WebSphere business integration (WBI) and MQ Telemetry Transport (MQtt) applications.

A key role is played by Microlise's RFID Trailer Portal solution and RFID-enabled in-cab computers. The trailer portal utilises standard ultra-high-frequency (UHF) technology and components. "The portal reduces capital investment on an RFID solution and allows RFID technology to be integrated along the supply chain within multiple customer and supplier companies," says Microlise director Bob Harbey.

"By RFID-enabling the vehicle, we can provide proof of delivery or collection for any destination, as well as warning messages to notify the driver that a package is not intended for a particular destination."

So why not position RFID installations on the dock doors of warehouses? "They can be very expensive to install and run," Harbey says, "and there can be radio interference between units, which has an impact on accuracy." The Trailer Portal solution is more flexible, he believes, because it allows new routes to be added without new equipment being installed.

The on-board technology can be linked into multiple customer and supplier companies via IBM's WebSphere suite. IBM has developed a derivative of its SOA-based MQ middleware that is designed to work in mobile environments, where memory and bandwidth are scarce.

MQ is scaleable and is designed to integrate field data with other business processes with minimum human intervention, providing complete data on operational performance in real time. MQtt and MQ broker are designed to provide an enterprise-strength basis for communication with a large number of remote vehicles and readers.

MQtt allows flexible integration with multiple host management and legacy systems via a single infrastructure. It has low power consumption, and its small footprint is said to make it easy to embed in small items and devices.

IBM's WBI provides enterprise adapters for a variety of ERP applications including SAP and legacy systems. IBM has used commercial off-the-shelf components to keep development and maintenance costs as low as possible.