The strong growth in container transport, bottlenecks in hinterland connections, complex logistics chains consisting of many actors, information gaps as well as new security regulations are challenges to be managed by industry and administration.

The main factors in today's international intermodal container transport, logistics and security, are aiming at different objectives and sometimes lead to contradictory strategies.

INTEGRITY will develop a methodology and an IT system serving both issues satisfying industry and authorities at the same time by creating supply chain visibility. Enhanced security measures, shared data on vehicles, cargo and inspection results shall lead to trade facilitation and pre-arrival clearance from customs in the importing country; the whole transport chain performance shall become more reliable and predictable.

Major "clients" of the approach are the commercial participants in the chain (3PLs, cargo owners, exporters, transport and port operators) and authorities (mainly Customs) creating a win-win situation for both of these groups.

The INTEGRITY approach together with the system to be developed will be demonstrated in international door-to-door transport chains from China to Europe via the ports of Yantian, Rotterdam and Felixstowe up to their final destination by rail, inland waterways or road.

Objectives

The INTEGRITY project aims at creating supply chain visibility by providing a basis for securing intermodal container chains ("security tracing") on a door-to-door basis by evaluating information from various types of sensors, portals and other information sources, partially pre-processed by intelligent algorithms. Supply Chain Visibility will lead to a better reliability and predictability of the transport chain performance by having the basic parties related to logistics and security issues "on board".

No additional regulations are envisaged but instead services and incentives to make secure transports more attractive!

Different organisational and technical measures can enhance the security of the chain and support the supply chain visibility - also for logistics purposes - at the same time.

SICIS

The full-scale integration of IT systems along the chain will enable the creation of a Shared Intermodal Container Information System (SICIS) containing either the data itself or links to the data providers (such as port community systems, shipping lines, port authorities) allowing fast and reliable access to the data. But technology is only one part of the story. The combination of existing technologies and new business processes together with legal and administrative agreements between the "administration world" and the "logistics world" will create a win-win situation for both target groups.