Evaluation of a Service System for Smart and Modular Special Load

Carriers within Industry 4.0

Johannes Zeiler

, Anja Mecklenburg and Johannes Fottner

Chair of Material Handling, Material Flow and Logistics, Technical University of Munich, Garching, Germany

Keywords: Evaluation, Smart and Modular Special Load Carrier, Cloud-based Service System, Internet of Things, Supply

Chain Management.

Abstract: Current research approaches in the field of logistics discuss the transformation of load carriers into smart

objects. These so-called cyber physical systems collect data, aiming for process optimisation and increased

transparency. Though special load carriers are commonly used in the automotive industry and have great

potential in terms of digitalisation, they are mostly neglected. Understocking and overstocking, as well as

production stops due to missing or damaged containers can result from insufficient transparency in supply

chains. This paper presents the benefit and usability evaluation of a service system with smart and modular

special load carriers, which aims to counteract this lack of transparency by providing databased services. In

the therefore concluded web-based survey, experts evaluated the identified benefits in terms of impacts on

the process, the customer and the environment. The presented results show that the benefits generated by the

service system are suitable for optimising the conditions for the logistic process, the customer, the

environment and the transparency within the supply chain. Although the already implemented functionalities

of the service system are still limited in usability, the theoretical concepts and its functionalities have great

potential in terms of future applications.

1 INTRODUCTION AND

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Nowadays the consumer expects broad variety and

individuality in products. This diversity, combined

with shorter product life cycles, requires sophisticated

production environments and supply chain processes.

In addition, the number of companies participating in

a supply chain is increasing, and mutual dependencies

are intensifying in order to achieve customer

satisfaction (Handfield et al., 2013). Due to the

increasing complexity, the coordination of supply

chains poses a significant challenge for

manufacturing companies. The keywords Industrial

Internet, Internet of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0

summarise new approaches, which aim to develop

more flexible and adaptive logistics systems by

integrating innovative technologies into logistics

objects (Porter & Heppelmann, 2014). Improvements

in the latest communication and computer

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8878-1101

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6392-0371

technologies, minimising the size of devices while

ensuring high connectivity and computing power,

make these smart logistic objects – capable of

collecting process-relevant data – possible. Process-

relevant data, combined with smart software services

can be used to increase the transparency, efficiency

and flexibility of the supply chain (Kagermann et al.,

2013).

This paper discusses the supply chain within the

automotive industry, where suppliers and Original

Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) use special load

carriers for transportation. Manufacturing companies

use special load carriers for the transportation of

complex shaped or sensitive parts such as interior

door panels for cars. Parallel to the development

process of the product, these containers are developed

and designed to transport and protect the product.

Only small quantities of special load carriers are

needed, a fact which (along with economic reasons)

favours a simple, welded-steel construction with a

complex interior product mounting. Normally the

Zeiler, J., Mecklenburg, A. and Fottner, J.

Evaluation of a Service System for Smart and Modular Special Load Carriers within Industry 4.0.

DOI: 10.5220/0010055700760086

In Proceedings of the International Conference on Innovative Intelligent Industrial Production and Logistics (IN4PL 2020), pages 76-86

ISBN: 978-989-758-476-3

OEM pays for all special load carriers within a supply

chain and provides a pool of containers, normally

located at the premises of the OEM, for the other

supply chain partners. An example of a delivery

process could be as follows: When a supplier’s

container stock is running low, it requests a delivery

of empty special load carriers from the pool. After the

delivery of empties, the supplier fills the requested

containers with the manufactured parts. A truck

transports the filled special load carriers to an interim

storage facility run by a logistics service provider. As

soon as the logistics service provider receives an

order from the OEM, it re-sequences the parts and

refills the special load carriers in the requested

sequence according to the production line. The

logistics provider delivers the refilled containers

directly to the assembly line of the OEM. There, the

workers install the parts and transport the empty

special load carriers back to the OEM’s empties

storage facility (Zeiler & Fottner, 2019).

One of the main problems with the current

container management is the lack of transparency

concerning the flow of special load carriers within the

supply chain. The containers pass through the

participating companies mostly without any

identification process, which poses a significant

challenge for the control and monitoring of container

loops. Furthermore, employees sometimes remove

special load carriers from the regular process due to

maintenance or other purposes, without

documentation or notification of the supply chain

partners. Due to this lack of transparency, the stored

number of containers often deviates from the numbers

logged in the container management system, which

leads to over- and understocking. It is also common

for this shortage of stock to result in costly special

deliveries and additional carton packages, in order to

guarantee uninterrupted production. To increase

transparency, employees perform a weekly count of

special load carriers and save the numbers into

proprietary container management systems which are

not synchronised between the partners in a supply

chain (Zeiler & Fottner, 2019).

One way to address these challenges is the

transformation of special load carriers into Cyber

Physical Systems (CPS). This transformation allows

the collection of relevant data on the shop floor level

and opens up new possibilities for data-driven

services to optimise the supply chain (Geisberger &

Broy, 2015). The joint project iSLT.NET (network

for smart and modular special load carriers),

described in more detail in (Zeiler et al., 2018), was

dedicated to the transformation of special load

carriers into smart and connected containers. Among

other things, the project investigated the potential of

innovative product- and databased services based on

the integration of technology (such as sensor,

identification and communication technology) and

the modularity of the physical special load carrier. In

(Zeiler & Fottner, 2019) we also introduced the

architecture of a cloud-based service system for smart

and modular special load carriers. This architecture

was designed to achieve a cross-company integrated

communication and identification system for smart

and modular special load carriers, so as to enable

data-driven services to be used throughout the supply

chain. Subsequently we present the range of services

based on data collected by smart and modular special

load carriers in (Romer et al., 2018).

This paper presents the evaluation of the service

system with smart and modular special load carriers

within an industrial environment. Therefore, the

following chapter briefly addresses the existing

research approaches around smart and modular load

carriers, including the methods to evaluate their

benefits. Afterwards we present the services offered

by the service system that are relevant for our study.

Based on these introductions we describe and

categorise the benefits provided by the service

system, as well as our evaluation approach.

Subsequently we introduce the conducted survey and

discuss our findings concerning the service system

with smart and modular special load carriers. The last

chapter summarises the present paper and contains

suggestions for possible future work.

2 REVIEW OF EXISTING

RESEARCH APPROACHES

In recent years, different studies and projects

developed modular concepts for special load carriers.

These concepts allow the dismantling at the end of the

first utilisation cycle, and the reconfiguration and

reuse of individual modules for the next cycle. Within

the research project ReBox-Pool (Schuh, 2012),

selected benefits of modular special load carriers

were evaluated. In this, the research work assessed

the modular special load carrier in terms of a

reduction of logistics costs, by introducing an

exemplary application. In order to measure its savings

potential, a case study in the form of expert interviews

with users and manufacturers of the modular special

load carrier – using a qualitative and quantitative

method approach – was conducted. Furthermore,

field reports from some of the project participants

provided further insight into the concept's prospects

Evaluation of a Service System for Smart and Modular Special Load Carriers within Industry 4.0

of success in real-life applications. The results show

a possible cost reduction, but also make clear that

further aspects and possible challenges, such as a high

cost-price of the special load carrier and short-term

changes in process requirements, must be considered.

Two other pieces of research, carried out by Attig

(Attig, 2011) and Rosenthal (Rosenthal, 2016),

investigated to what extent the modularisation of

special load carriers is reasonable and cost-efficient

and what the economic potential of this

modularisation is. Attig for example developed a

model for the evaluation of load carriers with a focus

on life-cycle costs. In his model, the author uses

various case studies, expert interviews and an

analysis of potentials to illustrate the benefits of a

modular special load carrier. The application of this

evaluation model has shown that modularity and the

pooling system show potential for successful and

expedient use within the producing industry (Attig,

2011). However, the described research approaches

concentrated on the physical container, and neglected

the challenges of modularity when integrated into a

service system, which provides databased services

such as automated damage reporting. This integration

may require, for example, the digital traceability of

the individual modules.

The first step towards a smart container can

already be realised with a simple AIDC (Automatic

Identification and Data Capture) procedure such as

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification). As early as

2006, Volkswagen AG investigated the potential of

special load carriers equipped with passive RFID tags

(Pelich, 2006). By implementing a prototype during

the evaluation process, Volkswagen automated the

event-based tracking of containers on the plant

premises, and demonstrated an increase in process

transparency. A further step towards a smart

container was made by the FORFood project, which

developed a smart thermal container for fresh and

frozen food logistics (Prives, 2016). In this case, the

focus was on the efficient traceability of the

containers throughout the entire supply chain, and on

monitoring the closed cold chain. To achieve this

goal, the containers were equipped with RFID and

temperature sensors, which enabled them to record

the internal container temperature and transmit the

measured values automatically to the back end. Using

this setup, temperature changes inside the container

could be detected along the supply chain and

evaluated by the user via a developed Android app.

During the evaluation of the smart thermal container,

the researchers assessed the functional and non-

functional system requirements via laboratory tests,

field tests and computer simulations. Besides this, the

feature-based comparison was used to analyse the

effectiveness of the thermal container. The evaluation

methods indicated that the developed concept meets

the relevant industrial requirements and is feasible

within cold chains. It was also shown that the smart

thermal container increases food safety and makes the

logistics process more efficient (Wang, 2014).

Another type of smart container is the “inBin”

(Emmerich et al., 2012). The “inBin” is a load carrier

equipped with an energy harvester, energy buffer,

microprocessor, radio module, display and sensors.

These features enable the container to communicate

with people and machines in its environment, and to

monitor the ambient conditions. For example, the

smart container supports the human user during

order-picking via its display (Roidl et al., 2014). In

order to evaluate the behaviour of many “inBins”

(1000 to 20000), the researchers performed

simulation experiments using the implemented

“inBin” platform as an example. The results showed

that to ensure no negative effects on radio traffic, the

upper limit on the maximum number of “inBins” for

a warehouse depends strongly on the communication

strategy. In addition, several economic calculations

were carried out to evaluate different energy-

harvesting methods. The research project "Service-

oriented logistics concept for a multifunctional

container system" developed a further concept for a

smart load carrier equipped with identification

technologies and sensor systems (Lammers et al.,

2013). Among other things, the user could monitor

the temperature and identify the last location in case

the container became lost. For a first prototype, the

identification technologies RFID, barcode and QR-

Code (Quick Response Code) as well as sensors for

pressure and temperature were attached to a universal

load carrier. With this prototype, the researchers

carried out experiments to evaluate and confirm the

reachability of their targeted benefits. Another

interesting use case of a smart container is the

"Intelligent Fruit Logistics" by Verdouw et al.

(Verdouw et al., 2019). In this project, IoT devices

with an LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network)

module, a GPS (Global Positioning System) chip and

a QR code were integrated into the fruit crates of the

Euro Pool System. With this setup, the author

evaluated the functionalities of the developed IoT

platform. The results showed that the platform

successfully processed the collected position data and

enabled the user to track the fruit crates along the fruit

supply chain. In a further research project on smart

special load carriers, the scientists concentrated on a

smart returnable transit item (smaRTI) which, as part

of Industry 4.0, can interact with its load

IN4PL 2020 - International Conference on Innovative Intelligent Industrial Production and Logistics

(components), machines and smart production

systems, and is able to make independent and

decentralised decisions (Neal et al., 2019). For the

experimental part, a RFID reader was attached to the

container to identify the loaded components, as well

as a WIFI communication unit to transmit data to the

back end or to another CPS. On top of that, a large

number of sensors, a battery, an OLED display and a

data processing unit were installed. For the hardware

and software, the researchers carried out a suitable

proof of concept under laboratory conditions, to

investigate the identification of loaded components

via RFID, and to monitor the handling process steps

using the sensor system of the smaRTI.

As previously shown, different research projects

have already investigated and evaluated individual

aspects of smart load carriers. In spite of this, there is

still a lack of a holistic system that combines the

technical dimensions of a smart and modular special

load carrier (e.g. identification, sensor integration and

reconfiguration) with a cross-company and databased

service system (e.g. container stocks monitoring,

condition monitoring and process optimisation).

Therefore, the previously mentioned project

iSLT.NET developed and implemented a cross-

company service system based on smart and modular

special load carriers for the supply chain. This paper

presents the still missing categorisation and

evaluation of the service system’s benefits, which

were conducted within the scope of the “Mittelstand

4.0 Kompetenzzentrum Augsburg”.

3 DESIGNED SERVICE SYSTEM

WITH SMART AND MODULAR

SPECIAL LOAD CARRIERS

The designed service system, which was conceived to

meet the challenges of the classic container loop,

offers data, load-carrier and finance-based services in

addition to the physical smart and modular special

load carrier. For this purpose, the special load carrier

– consisting of standardised individual modules – is

equipped with identification, communication and

localisation technologies as well as sensors (e.g. to

measure temperature, acceleration and tilt) to monitor

the surroundings. Only the data and load-carrier-

based services, shown in Figure 1, are briefly

explained below. The financial services, which aim to

transform investment costs for the physical containers

and services into running costs by using approaches

such as pay-per-use, can be found in detail in (Zeiler

& Fottner, 2019). In the ensuing section, the potential

Figure 1: Extract of services offered by the designed service

system (Zeiler & Fottner, 2019).

benefits of the presented services for the container

loop are discussed in detail.

The designed databased services build on the

digitalisation of the information flow and the

recording of process-relevant data, which is made

possible by the identification, communication and

sensor technology integrated in the smart and modular

special load carrier. Hence, with the order tracking

service, the user can monitor the production status of

the containers ordered from the load-carrier

manufacturer. In addition to the production status

(from order received to order delivered), customers

can also view the current number of smart and

modular special load carriers already produced. The

automated identification and authentication service

offered by the service system can, for example, be

used for logging purposes (e.g. for quality control), for

the automatic comparison of delivery quantity and

content, or for monitoring the sequence of products in

just-in-sequence processes. Furthermore, the tracking

service enables the identification of the current

position of smart and modular special load carriers

within the supply chain. Based on the collected data,

the digital service called load carrier management

allows a cross-company live monitoring of stocks in

the container loop. Another service offered by the

service system is the automated inventory

management service, which in combination with the

built-in identification technology, enables automatic

goods receipts and goods issues of smart and modular

special load carriers. Similar to the tracking service,

the tracing service provides the history of position

data for each container, and analyses and evaluates the

idle time of smart and modular special load carriers

within the supply chain. A further data-interpreting

service is the circulation optimisation service, which

collects and analyses all available data to avoid, for

Evaluation of a Service System for Smart and Modular Special Load Carriers within Industry 4.0

example, bottlenecks in the supply chain. The service

system also provides a condition monitoring service.

It enables the customer to retrieve relevant data about

the surroundings of the smart and modular special load

carriers. For this service, information on ambient

temperature, transport acceleration (e.g. for vibration

measurements) and tilt are collected. Requirement-

dependent threshold values (e.g. for impact shock or

temperature) can be activated, and corresponding push

notifications triggered when exceeded. To improve

the management of damaged containers within the

supply chain, the service system offers a damage

report service. It allows the digital documentation of

the damage suffered by the container, and the

initiation of repair measures. Here, the focus lies on

the digitalisation and efficient storage of damage

reports. Directly profiting from these digitalised

reports, the analysing service damage tracking helps

the customer easily identify patterns of damage to

containers. In this sense, the user can detect a non-

optimal configuration of special load carriers or other

problems in the supply chain. The service system also

provides a web-based product configurator, which

supports the customer during the development and

design of the smart and modular special load carrier,

aiming to simplify and accelerate these processes with

an easy-to-use online configurator. It also allows the

costumer to select his services and suggests the

therefore required hardware.

Load-carrier-based services are also a part of the

service system and build on the modularisation of the

container and its standardised modules. One of these

services is the configuration and reconfiguration

service (e.g. for modification purposes). It enables the

customer to assemble the smart and modular special

load carrier from standardised modules according to

their requirements within the web-based product

configurator. Subsequently, the containers’ supplier

can easily assemble the order since the modules are

kept in stock. The modular design and return options

permit the simple and flexible adaptation of stocks of

smart and modular special load carriers during the

utilisation cycle (flexibility of quantities). Besides this,

the standardised modules (in combination with

sufficient stock levels) permit ad hoc deliveries, which

increases the availability of containers within the loop.

The traditional range of services for special load

carriers include maintenance (e.g. oiling of hinges),

cleaning and repair. The designed service system

extends these classical services by digitalising the

documentations, allocating the containers more easily

and by continuously monitoring the maintenance

intervals and usage for each individual container.

4 DESCRIPTION OF THE

IDENTIFIED BENEFITS

Based on the presented services of the smart and

modular special load carrier, the provided benefits for

the container loop were grouped into process-related,

customer-related, ecological, economic and safety-

related categories. In this contribution, we refer to the

evaluation of potential benefits with effects on the

process, the customer (OEM) and the environment.

4.1 Process

Potential benefits with effects on the process not only

influence the procedures and structures in the

individual logistics process steps, but also enable

changes in their quality. Some services of the service

system increase transparency of current stocks,

locations, movements and conditions of the

containers. The so-called load carrier management in

particular ensures a transparency of stocks and helps

to avoid temporary under- and overstocking. The

common problem of load carrier loss can also be

minimised, as the tracking service continuously

tracks the location of the containers.

In addition, the smart and modular special load

carrier with its service system enables increased

automation and standardisation of processes. This

means specific services replace or supplement

manual tasks. As a result, activities and processes can

be simplified for the employee, thus leading to a

reduction in errors. An example of this is provided by

the services tracking, tracing and automated

inventory management, which can avoid the time-

consuming manual counting of containers and

incorrect inventory accounts. In addition, deviation

from standardised process steps or handling errors,

such as unauthorised outdoor storage, can be detected

automatically. The modular structure of the special

load carrier with the services configuration and

reconfiguration can also contribute to the

standardisation of process sequences, such as the

repair process, and reduce construction defects

through gained experiences with standardised

modules. Furthermore, a standardised digital damage

report and product configurator can considerably

simplify the damage-rectification and ordering

process.

A further potential benefit is the assurance of

delivery times and product condition within the

supply chain, via the tracking and tracing of

containers and continuous condition monitoring. This

means that if thresholds are exceeded, the affected

companies can take countermeasures to ensure that

IN4PL 2020 - International Conference on Innovative Intelligent Industrial Production and Logistics

undamaged goods are delivered on time. Exemplary

measures include replacement deliveries and repairs

to avoid an interruption of the supply chain. Another

service that can contribute towards ensuring the

required product conditions is the regular and

digitally supported cleaning of containers to prevent

contamination of the load carrier and thus of the

products.

Furthermore, the service system of the smart and

modular special load carrier has the potential to

reduce damage and repair costs in the long term. For

example, the subsequent analysis of the location and

condition data helps to identify the causes of

malfunctions and any damage that occurs. In the end,

the damage and consequently the repair efforts can

thus be reduced. In addition, utilisation time

measurement, i.e. a measurement of the frequency of

use of individual load carriers, can help to enable a

consistent use of all load carriers. Moreover, the

digital documentation of the damage and

maintenance process can help to identify the causes

of damage, avoid long-term serious damage, enable

the optimisation of load carriers and increase the

efficiency of the repair process.

4.2 Customer (OEM)

The smart and modular special load carrier aims,

among other things, to increase customer

satisfaction. The order tracking service creates a

communication interface between the load-carrier

manufacturer and the customer, which increases the

customer's confidence and their planning reliability.

The product configurator can increase customer

satisfaction with its intuitive and easy-to-use online

order-creation process and the configuration of the

special load carrier. In addition, the standardised

ordering process speeds up the entire process and thus

leads to shorter procurement times. Regular

maintenance, cleaning and repair can also contribute

to customer satisfaction.

A further potential benefit is the clear assignment

of responsibilities, which can also be proven

retroactively. This changes the approach in the case

of incidents and damage, as the service system can

determine the company causing the damage based on

the collected data. Consequently, the companies can

better allocate the costs and determine the resulting

obligations for all parties involved. In addition, they

can easily identify and remedy the causes of damage.

4.3 Environment

The third considered category of potential benefits

relates to the environment. The service system can

calculate a CO

balance from recorded data collected

from the production, use and recycling of the load

carriers. Thanks to this balance, the companies can

measure their sustainability. This means that

appropriate measures can be taken and validated in

order to improve the balance. One of the main aspects

of the project is the reconfiguration of load carriers.

By reusing the modules for other transported goods,

the involved parties generate a contribution to

sustainable logistics. The regular maintenance and

repair of the load carriers can support sustainability.

This prevents or delays serious damage, and thereby

often the scrapping of the load carrier. In the long

term, this method extends the lifetime of the load

carriers and saves materials.

In order to evaluate the fulfilment of the identified

benefit potentials, an evaluation concept was

developed. The concept uses various methods, e.g.

laboratory experiments, surveys and checklists, to

assess the suitability and applicability of the service

system for smart and modular special load carriers.

Within the scope of this publication, the results of a

conducted survey are presented.

5 CONDUCTED SURVEY TO

EVALUATE THE SERVICE

SYSTEM

Figure 2 shows the design and the basic structure of

the survey for the qualitative evaluation of the service

system, which was an internet-based expert

interview. Since the experts must be familiar with the

service system, and have at best already used the

implemented prototype, only a limited group of

people exist that can answer the required questions in

full. Therefore, only 12 persons could be identified

for the interview, most of them experts from the

automotive industry. At the time of the survey, 11 of

the 12 people interviewed were in contact with the

service system on a daily basis, or at least very

frequently. The aim of the survey was to evaluate the

potential benefits of the service system with smart

and modular special load carriers, based on the

experiences, assessments and opinions of the group

of experts. They evaluated the conceived services as

well as the prototypically implemented service

system. The expert interview used the mixed-methods

approach,

which combines a qualitative and

Evaluation of a Service System for Smart and Modular Special Load Carriers within Industry 4.0

Figure 2: Design of the conducted survey.

study. The survey started with introductory questions

concerning person and attitude towards digitalisation.

These questions served to typify the respondents and

helped to classify and justify further answers. The

questionnaire continued with questions about the

conventional special load carrier to obtain a general

assessment of the performance of the previous

system. The next section addressed the smart and

modular special load carrier to specifically assess the

identified potential benefits and possible future

scenarios. To finish the survey, the established

System Usability Scale (SUS) was used to evaluate

the usability of the already implemented services of

the system. Due to the extent of the paper, only an

excerpt from the survey’s results is presented below.

Since not all experts have always answered each

question, the results of the survey are presented in

percentage, with the number of answers given per

question (n) varying between 10 and 12.

5.1 Potential Benefits with Effects on

the Process

The results of the survey show that the increase in

transparency of logistics processes using smart and

modular special load carrier promises great benefits

and, according to the experts, forms the basis for many

other potential benefits. In this context, the experts

evaluated the benefits of monitoring the temperature,

degree of vibration (including impact shock) and

location. Eighty percent of the interviewees (n = 10)

saw a large to very large benefit for the transparency

of the supply chain by continuously monitoring the

location as well as by monitoring the degree of

vibration. For temperature monitoring only 20 % of

the experts saw the same extend of benefit. The

comments showed that they were not completely

convinced of the temperature monitoring, as only a

few temperature-sensitive goods are transported in the

automotive industry. Regarding the monitoring of

vibrations (including impact shocks), the experts

mentioned several times that damaged containers or

transported goods can thus be more easily noticed and

(e.g. by reordering) replaced. Concerning automation,

80 % of the experts (n = 10) believed the replacement

of the manual inventory by an automated inventory

management based on location tracking to be quite

likely to happen. In their opinion, this system could

also achieve error-reducing effects in the operational

process.

To monitor and therefore assure delivery times and

product condition, the service system offers, amongst

other things, the functionality to send a notification

when a set threshold for the previously discussed

status values is exceeded. The experts (n = 11)

considered this message useful for all three status

values: idle time (82 %), vibration (82 %) and

temperature (73 %) (see Figure 3). As far as

temperature is concerned, the experts mentioned the

fire hazard during battery transport as a valid example

within the automotive industry. The experts also

added that a threshold message is particularly useful

in the event of excessive vibration of fragile

transported goods (e.g. glass). With regard to the

threshold notification for idle time, they remarked that

inventory management could be improved, and that

forgotten and thus unused containers could be

detected.

When threshold notifications are triggered, a

company can take different measures in order to

ensure delivery times and product conditions along

the supply chain. In this context, the interviewees

were asked what action(s) they would take if they

were noticed that the threshold was exceeded.

IN4PL 2020 - International Conference on Innovative Intelligent Industrial Production and Logistics

Figure 3: Threshold message for idle time, vibration and temperature.

Regarding the available options, the experts

mainly tended to choose measures that intervene less

strongly in the logistics process. These include, for

example, waiting for subsequent cause analyses or

contacting the supplier to obtain more information.

On the other hand, the experts avoided choosing the

two most interventionist options: stopping the

transport process to check the transported goods, and

reordering the shipment immediately. Experts also

noted that the behaviour depends strongly on the

situation and the area of application. Overall, all

experts would take measures based on the status

information provided by the service system. In the

following questions, the interviewees were asked, if

they see further use for the location and condition

monitoring with a view to a reduction of damages and

repair costs. Most of them concurred that short-term

damage prevention is not possible with the available

data. However, they all agreed upon a possible benefit

for the long run, by analysing the data and therefore

preventing future damage by optimising the load

carrier or handling steps.

5.2 Potential Benefits with Effects on

the Customer

Customer satisfaction generally depends on the

quality of the product and the associated processes.

The first customer-contact is the order of the load

carrier via the product configurator. Seventy-three

percent of the respondents (n = 11) rated a

simplification of the ordering process due to the

product configurator as possible. However, they

emphasised that special requests must nevertheless be

still discussed individually. This means that the

product configurator simplifies the ordering process

only to a certain degree and, therefore, coordination

loops between customer and manufacturer cannot be

completely avoided. Another service, which aims to

increase customer satisfaction, is the order tracking

service during the production of the load carriers. The

survey’s results show that order tracking can increase

planning security and customer confidence and

therefore rise customer satisfaction (see Figure 4).

However, some interviewees mentioned that because

of the increased transparency there is also the risk of

causing a negative attitude in the event of a delayed

delivery.

All respondents considered it helpful to have a

clear assignment of responsibilities, for example, to

determine the company responsible in the event of

damage or incidents. In the eyes of the experts,

monitoring the conditions and locations of the load

carriers were both equally important in identifying

who is responsible in such cases. All of the

interviewees agreed that they would apply the service

system to identify the company responsible for

damages or incidents in their daily work routine.

However, they would not use it only for financial

reasons, but also to support the investigation of causes

and thus the optimisation of processes.

5.3 Potential Benefits in Terms of

Environmental Impact

The introduction of a CO

report is also part of the

service system. This report provides information

about

the

balance

the

reusable

modules.

Evaluation of a Service System for Smart and Modular Special Load Carriers within Industry 4.0

Figure 4: Increase in planning security and customer confidence generated by order tracking.

majority (80 %) of the experts (n = 10) would be

interested in such a report. According to the experts,

they would use it to publicly promote their ecological

footprint. In addition, they also desired a CO

report

for reasons of personal interest. The CO

balance can

measure the sustainability of the load carrier for the

first time, which aroused curiosity among the experts.

The people interviewed mentioned that the CO

balance would also influence certain decisions in the

company, such as supplier sourcing. The experts also

wondered whether regular maintenance would extend

the lifetime of the load carriers, and therefore

contribute to sustainability. Only half of the

respondents (n = 10) thought that the lifetime will be

extended, but they also mentioned that there are not

yet sufficient studies available on this topic. Although

the reuse of special load carrier modules for a

different product can directly contribute to

sustainability, the CO

report itself cannot. However,

public relations and regular data comparison are ways

of increasing environmental awareness both

internally and externally. Ultimately, this can also

help to improve sustainability.

To conclude the survey, the experts (n = 10)

directly compared the conventional special load

carrier and the newly developed smart and modular

special load carrier on a scale of 1 to 6, with regard to

development and production, handling and container

management. They saw the biggest improvements

within the container management, which was rated

nearly two points higher for the smart and modular

special load carrier (5.1) than for the conventional one

(3.2). The interviewees assessed the handling as

almost equally good for both load carriers (5.2 for the

new and 5.0 for the conventional one). According to

the experts, the smart and modular special load carrier

promises optimisation and is rated with just about one

point better (4.9) in development and production than

the conventional one (3.8).

6 CONCLUSIONS

Currently, there is still a lack of transparency within

container circuits, which can lead to problems such as

understocking, overstocking and supply chain

disruption. This paper focused on the evaluation of

benefits of a service system with smart and modular

special load benefits, which was designed to make the

container flow more transparent, and to solve

occurring problems more efficiently. The potential

benefits of the service system were categorised in

terms of process, customer and environment, and

subsequently evaluated with an internet-based expert

interview. The evaluation results show that the

previously identified benefits were considered

realistic and that the smart and modular special load

carrier with the associated service system can

contribute to an improvement of processes, customer

satisfaction and sustainability. Some benefits are

easier to achieve, and are therefore preferred by the

interviewed experts, as their implementation requires

less restructuring within the logistics processes.

Services that contribute to an increase in transparency

have great potential to reduce errors, identify causes

IN4PL 2020 - International Conference on Innovative Intelligent Industrial Production and Logistics

of damage, assign responsibilities, and increase the

efficiency of the supply chain. Regarding the required

measures when exceeding a set threshold (e.g.

transport vibration): the experts gave priority to steps

that intervene less in the logistics process. The service

system also has the potential to improve customer

satisfaction by increasing planning reliability and

building up a relationship of trust. The service

system's contribution to an improvement of

sustainability is promising and the experts have a

keen interest in it. However, some of the

improvements are still conceptual and (according to

the experts) the current prototypical implementation

of the service system is lacking in terms of usability,

the offered services promise to be highly beneficial.

Concerning future research work on this topic, we

are pursuing an ongoing assessment of the service

system with further evaluation method. In this

respect, first laboratory experiments have already

been conducted. Additional research is required to

supplement the implemented service system with

further services, technologies and participants, in

order to increase the positive effects for all users.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors thank the German Federal Ministry for

Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) for its

financial and organisational support of the

“Mittelstand 4.0 Kompetenzzentrum Augsburg”,

which enabled the survey to be conducted.

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