Technologie-Zentrum Informatik und Informationstechnik (TZI)
Universität Bremen, Am Fallturm 1, 28359 Bremen
Supply network management is a challenging task due to the complexity, the dynamics, and the distribution of logistics processes. Automated process control thus requires to reduce the computational complexity and to cope with the dynamics locally. The paradigm of autonomous control in logistics means that control of logistics processes is delegated to the participating objects. As an example, shipping containers may themselves plan and schedule their way through logistics networks in accordance with objectives imposed by their owners. This work solves the implementation of autonomous control with multiagent technology. This multiagent-based solution has been used in a realistic simulation of the container logistics processes of Tchibo. The validation shows that autonomous control is actually possible and that it outperforms the previous centralised dispatching approach by significantly increasing the resource utilisation efficiency. Moreover, the multiagent system relieves human dispatchers from dealing with standard cases, giving them more time to solve exceptional cases appropriately.
Schuldt, A. (2010). Multiagent Coordination Enabling Autonomous Logistics. In Wimmer, T. and Wöhner, H. (eds): 27th German Logistics Congress (DLK 2010). Berlin, Germany, October 20-22, 2010. Deutscher Verkehrs-Verlag, pp. 424-427.
© Bundesvereinigung Logistik (BVL) e.V.