Distributed knowledge management in dynamic environments

Abstract

Logistic processes are inherently dynamic and hence require the ability to plan and re-plan in complex situations, under rigid time constraints, and in light of uncertain, incomplete, and false information. Standard scenarios of logistic processes typically have been modeled on the basis of static graph-theoretic representations. The well-known traveling salesman problem (TSP), the vehicle routing problem (VRP), or the pickup and delivery problem (PDP) reduce the complex task of transportation to a route optimization problem. They neglect both the important role of knowledge and communication in real-world logistic processes (cf. (Hult et al. 2003)) and the fact that relevant parameters, e.g., traffic flow, incoming orders, etc. change over time. © 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.