Thesis on Artificial Intelligence Based Transportation System for Logistic Management in Manufacturing Industry

Executive Summary

Supply chain has existed from the very beginning of the businesses which are organized to bring products and services to customers. Increasing global cooperation, vertical disintegration and a focus on core activities have led to the notion that firms are links in a networked supply chain and it has created a challenge of coordinating effectively the entire supply chain from upstream to downstream activities. Logistics is one of the most critical activities ever in the supply chain. This thinking is to develop a framework of an artificial intelligence based transportation system with queue management and transportation network optimization for controlling the logistics in the manufacturing industry. The special features of the framework are real-time vehicle positioning, transportation cost analysis depending on the different mode of transport, automatic decision support and network optimization. After that, a survey has been conducted to understand the opportunity, advantages, and impact of the proposed framework in the supply chain on current supply chain specialist of different multinational and national organizations. The survey outcome is that the AI based transportation system reduce the overall supply chain lead time, increase the efficiency of the supply chain & services and a positive impact on revenue.  

 Every company that is participating in a logistics setup has experienced the importance of effective information flows [1]. Information integration and data synchronization is significant to achieve the seamless flow of data and the sharing of information among members of the supply chain. Four reasons show that the visibility of timely and accurate information is critical for logistics systems’ design and operations. First, customers perceive real-time information about order status, product availability, delivery tracking, and invoices as a necessary dimension of customer accommodation. Second, information can be used to reduce inventory and human resource requirements. Third, information increases flexibility with regard to how, when, and where resources may be utilized to gain strategic advantages. Fourth enhanced information transfer and exchange utilizing the Internet facilitates collaboration and redefines supply chain relationships.

A growing number of participants in transport operations have led to increasingly complex distribution setups with augmented needs for information flow. The complex services that are given and the problems of data exchange make the execution of value-added services difficult. To be able to solve some of the shortcomings in many of today’s logistics setups, frameworks for logistics system using more data and information—often referred to as smart or intelligent— have been developed.

According to Supply Chain Specialist, the three main cornerstones of such integrated information systems are smart freight, smart vehicle, and smart infrastructure. The backbone of the smart transport management concept is based on the need for increased information accessibility and capability to retrieve data and information on site, which opens up opportunities for local decision-making to support the main operations of most logistics service providers (LSP). The rise of e-commerce and the development of new information technologies that promise more timely and accurate information-sharing have led to increasing interest in the value of information (VOI).

Sharing information can occur privately between a firm and its supplier as illustrated by WalMart’s use of information sharing to achieve logistics superiority. The value of information as a general subject has been extensively investigated in different textbooks and papers. Also, there has been recent concern about this issue by both practitioners and academics. In a study conducted within this subject, after reviewing different literature on information systems, transportation system by using smart technology, propose a framework of AI-based transportation management system. 

The purpose of this paper is to identify how much integrated transportation systems increase the visibility of different value. The first step to reach this purpose is to introduce valuable types of information and then to evaluate how the Transportation systems support the visibility and impact in a supply chain.

Author

Remon Das 

Thesis

This thesis submitted to "Bangladesh University of Professional" to the fulfillment of MBA degree.