Improving flexibility in autonomous cooperating food Chains

Abstract

Flexibility is a crucial performance indicator for supply chains, since it allows for a fast adaption to changing customer demands and environments. This is especially true for food chains, due to the direct interdependence between shelf life and quality of the product, and environmental factors, such as seasonal demand and temperature maintenance. Autonomous cooperation of logistic entities is considered as a concept to foster flexibility in supply chains. One realization of autonomous cooperation is the intelligent container, which is able to constantly monitor storage conditions like temperature and relative humidity of the cargo, while exchanging transport information with its environment and communicating with the freight owner. Hence, the question arises, how the intelligent container may enhance the flexibility of food chains. Therefore, the paper examines contributions and limitations of the intelligent container regarding the flexibility of a specific kind of food chain, namely the banana supply chain.