Internet of Things - or rather LAN of Things?

The Internet of Things. Big advantages were promised to us for the logistics industry. But what has actually come true so far? Impressions from the viewpoint of a Supply Chain Manager

Smart Warehouse

When I completed one of my study modules at Fraunhofer IML in 2010, the Internet of Things was still an expression for Tekkies, but already visible and tangible on the campus in Dortmund. In a large test facility, warehouse shuttles drove around, fetched boxes from shelves and drove them to various picking and packing places, where goods could then be retrieved. The special thing about it? There was no centralized control. It was an IoT system. The shuttles were intelligent and independently obtained both the boxes with the goods as well as their next order as soon as the previous one was completed. They were programmed to take an efficient route and communicate with each other. An efficient track did not necessarily have to be the fastest. If the target position, i.e. the corresponding picking point of the goods, was still occupied, the shuttle knew that it could take its time and, if necessary, took a slightly longer route to leave room for other shuttles that were more "under pressure". Being equipped with all kinds of sensors, the shuttles were able to orient themselves and avoid collisions. This shuttle ballet was a great spectacle. The system was commercialized by Dematic and can now be purchased under the name "MultiShuttle" and is in use in many warehouses. In my opinion, the example of a really good application.

Smart City

When I think of a smart city, I automatically think of Singapore. Because of my many years of working there, I see the city-state a little as a second home and have been able to experience the developments in the last 10 years up close. Singapore decided early on to become a smart city and because of the small country size and comparatively low hurdles in data protection, this can be approached with a speed that one can only dream of in Switzerland or other European Countries. Depending on the personal mindset, these can be deemed good or bad dreams. As an example, Singapore has been monitoring traffic flow almost entirely for years with cameras and sensors and redirects traffic dynamically according to the information from this network. Emphasis is placed not only on a fast flow of traffic but also prioritizes the noise emitted or the reduction of CO2 emissions depending on the time of day and checked by appropriate measuring stations. This is what I call really smart. And these are just small examples. Since Singapore is not only a city but also a country, they are already on the way to becoming a smart nation. Other countries are still far from being able to move towards that because of their sheer size.

Smart Shipping

I am a little more disappointed with the results on the big scale. I remember a technology day a little over ten years ago when the representatives of the big consulting houses outperformed each other with promises for a great future. At that time it was predicted that from 2020 (!) all shipping containers in the world will be "smart", and we will have a large IoT consisting of containers, cranes and ships that do the work almost on their own. The container would not only report itself to the crane for loading but would also ensure that it is in the right position on the ship. Its correct fixation would be checked by sensors, its condition (e.B. humidity and temperature) as well and its position would be reported at any time to the owner of the goods, which are currently located inside. The container also organises the customs clearance directly itself and without the appropriate approval, the crane would not load it at all. Problems in the flow of goods would be a thing of the past, as they would either be solved by the IoT devices themselves or would immediately generate an alert. Knowing how many containers exist worldwide (more than half a billion) and how difficult it is to establish standards across countries, I honestly never believed that we would really have such a network in 2020. But I would have expected at least a few first steps. In fact, I see nothing useful. Some companies offer smart containers for special applications. However, I don't really consider these to be IoT solutions, as they only include individual sensors for themselves, but do not communicate with other system participants.

Quintessence

And that is where the question arises for me. Is the case with the warehouse shuttles more of a LAN of Things and the upraising Smart City Singapore would be a WAN of Things at best? I certainly do not want to trivialise these solutions or call them simple, but I simply still do not yet see such a real Internet of Things. For me, an "Internet" is global, largely standardized and interoperable. However, I do not yet see such applications and this despite the fact that the buzzword "IoT" is no longer entirely new. So I think it will take us quite a while to make these more local solutions really big, regional and global. Hopefully, by then, we will not be too bogged down in many different technological approaches, so that it is not already too late for the much-needed standardisation. On the other hand, the current state of play also means that the potential of IoT is far from being exhausted. If the existing solutions are standardized and connected step by step, we will eventually get our big, global solutions. Rome was not built in one day, and for all the love for Rome, many imagined IoT solutions are even quite a bit larger.

Publication information: The original version of this article (in German) was published in April 2020 as part of the publication series "The Voice of IoT" of switzercloud and Brunata AG.

#IoT #InternetOfThings #Singapore #SupplyChain #SupplyChainManagement #Logistics #Shipping #BRUGGMANNAGEMENT