Verification of the possibilities of applying the principles of the physical internet in economic practice

Abstract

Background: Current supply chains, which in fact constitute full ecosystems of product trade, change in an invariably dynamic way, requiring permanent supervision and control of the goods flowing through them. One of the aspects enabling constant development of the entire logistics infrastructure is the use of the solutions of the Physical Internet, both in terms of modular transport units and real-time planning and information exchange, as well as properly designed communication infrastructure. The aim of the article is to present a concept of solutions for the application of the principles of the Physical Internet in logistics processes of various specificity. Methods: The results of research carried out in the years 2012-2018 within the framework of research and development projects and literature studies reveal that the extent to which the basic principles of the Physical Internet are applied is unsatisfactory. Based on these results, factors directly influencing the possibility of applying the Physical Internet in a comprehensive manner, taking into consideration the specificity of various types of supply chains and networks, were selected and collated. Results: The results of the Authors’ research on the possibility of applying the principles of the Physical Internet include suggestions of solutions, which are the result of design work, aimed not only at popularising the concept of the Physical Internet, but above all at optimisation activities in logistics processes of various specificity and reach. Individual design solutions served as the methodology for verifying the comprehensiveness of the application of the principles of the Physical Internet in economic practice. Conclusions: In spite of numerous and up-to-date literature references, the analysis of the application of the principles of the Physical Internet still has not been clearly defined. This hinders its application in the economic practice of enterprises. The article focuses on presenting dedicated solutions for individual pillars of the Physical Internet. Further research should be oriented at attempts to integrate the solutions for all the pillars of the Physical Internet.