Service-Oriented Enterprise Interoperability in Logistics

There are many initiatives to improve interoperability in logistics. The EC DG Move has launched the e-Freight initiative to stimulate multi-modal logistics, the Dutch government has initiated the NLIP (Neutral Logistics Information Platform) with the objective to construct a Logistics Information Gateway to Europe, and the Rotterdam Port Authority stimulates the multi modal shift to deal with an ever increase logistics flow. In the past, bilateral or community agreements were implemented by a limited number of stakeholders, leading to closed communities and a relative slow adoption based on for instance long implementation times. To achieve the aforementioned goals and to create an open environment, this paper presents an approach based on a classification of logistics services supported by a semantic model and a business choreography. Once a company has implemented the complete model and the choreography, it will be able to do business with customers and logistic service. Possibly, transformation functions have to be put in place in case two business partners use a different (version of a) semantic model.