Multi-modal and Multi-channel E-services Framework Meets Modern Freight Management Systems Requirements: DIALOGO Project

The Freight Management Systems are conditioned by complex problems, that strongly affect the quality of service and the supply costs. The conjoint planning among withdrawal and delivery, the shipment procedures, the ability calculation, the staff scheduling, the vehicle availability, the distance optimization are only some of the activities connected to the such management systems. In this scenario, arises the need to use platforms able to support the interoperability among heterogeneous systems and provide the multi-channel facilities to allow the use of diversified devices to access different services in reliable manner and to allow, so, a extended market towards partner with particular needs. In this paper we propose, on one hand, an integrated system (Dialog Project) for goods reception and delivery based on a Decision Support System able to manage all the movements flow in order to reduce, or eventually to eliminate, the cost of return fare of the empty vehicle and to optimize the carrier freight according to type and distribution route of goods; on the other, we propose also a B2B oriented framework able to support the interoperability among heterogeneous systems developed according to the ebXML reference model for the business messages interchange. This system is suitable to any B2B marketplace that foresees the commercial interaction among partners with different roles and profiles (including channel and device). © 2008 IADIS.