Interconnected architecture leads to better services in logistics.

One of the biggest barriers in logistics is the lack of harmonized information exchange. This makes it difficult for market participants to better connect and optimize their planning and services to offer efficient and robust transport chains.

The EU supported the projet FENIX, which brought together 46 project partners under the leadership of Ertico to address these challenges.
The aim of FENIX is to develop the first European interconnection architecture for data exchange to enable interoperability between the existing and future platforms of the European logistics community of shippers, logistics service providers, mobility infrastructure providers, cities and authorities along the nine major EU transport corridors.
The specialty of this interconnection architecture is to connect existing services and approaches for data and information exchange instead of creating a new competing service. This creates new opportunities by extending the networks of all connected partners without replacing any of them.

Rail-Flow is one of the project partners. Together with PTV Group, Jan de Rijk Logistics, T-Systems, TX Logistik AG, TU Eindhoven, GS1 and UnionTransporti we developed a significant interconnection architecture along the Rhine-Alpine corridor. In doing so, Rail-Flow linked its Intermodal Capacity Broker (ICB) to the FENIX network and provides information on available intermodal capacities and status information on transports for the partners.

Source: https://www.egtc-rhine-alpine.eu/de/

The objectives were:
• Improve corridor management, in particular by increasing the visibility of capacity.
• Optimizing freight capacity along the corridor
• Offer corridor-based planning and optimization services
• Demonstration of the interconnection architecture

With the completion of this project in the first quarter of 2023, it became clear that harmonized connectivity can optimize information flows to ultimately offer a better logistics service. Free capacities are more visible to forwarders at a short notice and can be booked, and status information can be exchanged efficiently.

The results of the project provide a good basis for the further expansion of the interconnected architecture. Together with its project partners, Rail-Flow will further promote this approach in the market.