2009-04: Case F - Elbe:Project cargo is a logistic challenge

Lars Källström, BMT

FREIGHTWISE Elbe Business Case looks into new ways of visualizing the progress of the complex pattern of items arriving by road, rail and inland waterway from production sites in Eastern Germany and the Czech Republic to the export terminal of Wallmann in Hamburg. The terminal cooperates with Deutsche Binnenreederei and Sächsiche Binnenhäfen Oberelbe to improve their service to shippers like Siemens and to specialized overseas shipping lines as Rickmers. A great number of parts of different sizes and different weights – some weighing more than 100 tonnes – from different manufacturers around Europe must be brought together by different modes on time for shipment to their final destination. During a workshop in Dresden at the end of January the Elbe Business Case demonstrated the LogIT D2D transport chain management tool with an implementation of the status messages as defined in the FREIGHTWISE Framework. It was shown how the tool could be used to assist the project manager to follow up the status of all transports converging on the terminal in Hamburg. Status information contained not only actual time in relation to schedule but also updates on weight and size of every item. The latter information is required to assess if the complicated stowage plans for the overseas vessel are still valid.

The demonstration was well received and the Elbe Business Case is now looking into the realization of the tool in a “real” running project. Internet-technology in combination with the FREIGHTWISE Framework promises to make it easy to include new partners providing or receiving information directly from/to their in-house systems, thus efficiently assisting stressed project managers.