Software AG's technologies for serviceoriented architecture (SOA) and business process management (BPM) are supporting a project by the Hamburg University of Technology and the Kühne School of Logistics and Management. The research project-SOA in Maritime Container Logistics - From Process Analysis to Implementation-is headed up by Professor Dr. Thorsten Blecker of the Institute for Business Logistics and General Management. Researchers and software engineers working on the project are using solutions from Software AG's webMethods product suite to develop process models. The project objective: to implement research findings from academia in real-world applications, such as container logistics. The researchers recently presented initial project results in Hamburg.
The research project is based on real operational processes in maritime container logistics.Participating students received a meta-process at the beginning of the semester representing all the transhipment processes along an entire transport chain. They had to implement 14 detailed transhipment processes supplied with process descriptions using webMethods technologies from Software AG. The assigned processes first needed to be implemented, then optimized. In addition to the actual physical transhipment, each transhipment process also includes preliminary and subsequent IT processes, which were also represented with webMethods.
The current scenario will be extended to cover RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology components in the months ahead. Placing RFID transponders on maritime containers presents a broad range of potential uses. For example, automated transponder reading identifies containers faster, thereby accelerating transhipment processes and making transhipment a more effective and efficient component of container logistics. Likewise, where the 11-digit number identifying the container is currently checked manually and then entered in the IT system, in the future this information could be saved on an RFID transponder and read automatically. The process step of manual identification is no longer necessary, and the container can be reloaded without delay in this case. A broad array of optimization to existing business processes arise from the implementation of this technology. Software AG's webMethods solutions enable companies to make these modifications securely and efficiently.
"The webMethods suite enables students at Hamburg University of Technology to implement real logistics scenarios in a controlled environment and gain experience in implementing software with a real-world application," comments Prof. Blecker on the technological possibilities studied in the project.
Jürgen Powik, who heads up the university program at Software AG, adds: "This practical collaboration between business and science impressively demonstrates the advantages of service-oriented architecture in application development and process design."
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References:
Will, T. and Blecker, T., 2008. Benefits of Standardised RFID Transponders in Container Logistics. In T. Blecker, W. Kersten, & C.Gertz, eds. Management in Logistics Networks and Nodes - Concepts, Technology and Applications. Operations and Technology Management. Hamburg: Erich Schmidt Verlag & Co., pp. 335-352.Will, T. and Blecker, T., 2009. Precarriage in Container Logistics -Analysis and RFID-Driven Modifications in Transshipment Processes. In Proceedings of the 18th IPSERA Conference: Supply Management - Towards an Academic Discipline? Wiesbaden: European Business School, pp. 1554 - 1569.
Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) | Schwarzenbergstraße 95 | 21073 Hamburg | Germany
TUHH is one of Germany's newest and most successful universities. Plans for a technical university in the southern part of Hamburg were laid clear back in the 1920s. 50 years later, in 1978, the TUHH became a reality with the goal of promoting and developing the regional structure.TUHH's fundamental principles are unique in Germany: Priority is given to research, interdisciplinary studies, innovation, regional focus, and-as of recently-international focus. The Leitmotiv guiding the University's research, teaching and technology transfer is the development of technology for the benefit of humankind.TUHH is a competitive entrepreneurial university focusing on high-level performance and high quality standards.
Kühne School of Logistics and Management GmbH | Schwarzenbergstraße 95 | 21073 Hamburg | Germany
The Kühne School of Logistics and Management emerged from the enlargement of the HSL Hamburg School of Logistics on October 1, 2007, and is the business school of Hamburg University of Technology. The business school offers both a full-time and part-time in-service MBA study program in Logistics Management, and Master of Science degrees in Logistics, Infrastructure and Mobility as well as International Industrial Engineering. The Kühne School further offers continuing education and training sequences in the form of single-day forums, seminars and Germany's only Logistics Management Summer School. In addition to its own research activities, the school also collaborates with businesses on projects with real-world applications. For further information about the Kühne School of Logistics and Management and its partners, please visit: www.kuehneschool.de - www.kuehne-stiftung.de - www.tuhh.de
Prof. Dr. Thorsten Blecker
<blecker@ieee.org>
Institute of Business Logistics and General Management
Hamburg University of Technology
Tel: +49-(0)40-42878-3524
Fax.: +49-(0)1803-551800956
Thomas Will
<will@tuhh.de>
Institute of Business Logistics and General Management
Hamburg University of Technology
Tel: +49-(0)40-42878-3995
Fax: +49-(0)40-42878 – 2200
The research project is based on real operational processes in maritime container logistics.Participating students received a meta-process at the beginning of the semester representing all the transhipment processes along an entire transport chain. They had to implement 14 detailed transhipment processes supplied with process descriptions using webMethods technologies from Software AG. The assigned processes first needed to be implemented, then optimized. In addition to the actual physical transhipment, each transhipment process also includes preliminary and subsequent IT processes, which were also represented with webMethods.
The current scenario will be extended to cover RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology components in the months ahead. Placing RFID transponders on maritime containers presents a broad range of potential uses. For example, automated transponder reading identifies containers faster, thereby accelerating transhipment processes and making transhipment a more effective and efficient component of container logistics. Likewise, where the 11-digit number identifying the container is currently checked manually and then entered in the IT system, in the future this information could be saved on an RFID transponder and read automatically. The process step of manual identification is no longer necessary, and the container can be reloaded without delay in this case. A broad array of optimization to existing business processes arise from the implementation of this technology. Software AG's webMethods solutions enable companies to make these modifications securely and efficiently.
"The webMethods suite enables students at Hamburg University of Technology to implement real logistics scenarios in a controlled environment and gain experience in implementing software with a real-world application," comments Prof. Blecker on the technological possibilities studied in the project.
Jürgen Powik, who heads up the university program at Software AG, adds: "This practical collaboration between business and science impressively demonstrates the advantages of service-oriented architecture in application development and process design."
# # #
References:
Will, T. and Blecker, T., 2008. Benefits of Standardised RFID Transponders in Container Logistics. In T. Blecker, W. Kersten, & C.Gertz, eds. Management in Logistics Networks and Nodes - Concepts, Technology and Applications. Operations and Technology Management. Hamburg: Erich Schmidt Verlag & Co., pp. 335-352.Will, T. and Blecker, T., 2009. Precarriage in Container Logistics -Analysis and RFID-Driven Modifications in Transshipment Processes. In Proceedings of the 18th IPSERA Conference: Supply Management - Towards an Academic Discipline? Wiesbaden: European Business School, pp. 1554 - 1569.
Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) | Schwarzenbergstraße 95 | 21073 Hamburg | Germany
TUHH is one of Germany's newest and most successful universities. Plans for a technical university in the southern part of Hamburg were laid clear back in the 1920s. 50 years later, in 1978, the TUHH became a reality with the goal of promoting and developing the regional structure.TUHH's fundamental principles are unique in Germany: Priority is given to research, interdisciplinary studies, innovation, regional focus, and-as of recently-international focus. The Leitmotiv guiding the University's research, teaching and technology transfer is the development of technology for the benefit of humankind.TUHH is a competitive entrepreneurial university focusing on high-level performance and high quality standards.
Kühne School of Logistics and Management GmbH | Schwarzenbergstraße 95 | 21073 Hamburg | Germany
The Kühne School of Logistics and Management emerged from the enlargement of the HSL Hamburg School of Logistics on October 1, 2007, and is the business school of Hamburg University of Technology. The business school offers both a full-time and part-time in-service MBA study program in Logistics Management, and Master of Science degrees in Logistics, Infrastructure and Mobility as well as International Industrial Engineering. The Kühne School further offers continuing education and training sequences in the form of single-day forums, seminars and Germany's only Logistics Management Summer School. In addition to its own research activities, the school also collaborates with businesses on projects with real-world applications. For further information about the Kühne School of Logistics and Management and its partners, please visit: www.kuehneschool.de - www.kuehne-stiftung.de - www.tuhh.de
Prof. Dr. Thorsten Blecker
<blecker@ieee.org>
Institute of Business Logistics and General Management
Hamburg University of Technology
Tel: +49-(0)40-42878-3524
Fax.: +49-(0)1803-551800956
Thomas Will
<will@tuhh.de>
Institute of Business Logistics and General Management
Hamburg University of Technology
Tel: +49-(0)40-42878-3995
Fax: +49-(0)40-42878 – 2200
