Towards Smart Logistics: The Economic Viability of Location-based Services based on IMS in the Logistics Industry

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2012 in the subject Business economics - Supply, Production, Logistics, grade: 1,0, University of Applied Sciences Technikum Vienna (Institut for Telecommunications and Internet Technologies), language: English, abstract: Smart Logistics represent technologies that enable fuel reduction and energy efficiency through better route and load planning. Within this context, location-based services (LBS) are an enabler for Smart Logistics by bringing location information to existing mobile applications. For instance, this creates a great deal of value-added, personalized services aimed at meeting enterprise as well as user demands for improved safety and efficiency. This thesis should examine the economic feasibility of future implementations of LBS in the European logistics industry, especially for on-road transportation services. Furthermore, the ongoing evolution of mobile communication standards (4G, LTE) along with the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) surely boost the realization of yet unexploited opportunities in the logistics industry: cost-effective and smart tracking systems with global reach tailored at specific (logistical) needs may serve as example. In fact, this could benefit not only the direct parties involved (logistics providers and their customers), but also other stakeholders like communities in terms of a reduced environmental impact, etc. The IMS, an architectural framework for the delivery of IP multimedia services, is capable to offer real-time LBS to foster the transition to Smart Logistics. From this point of view, the technological readiness of telecom operators as service providers plays an important role while assessing the economic feasibility of LBS in the logistics industry. Here, the term economic feasibility refers to savings (e.g. fuel savings over implementation costs) derived from the usage and maintenance of devices supporting LBS within the IMS architectural framework. The thesis takes these aspects into consideration in order to evaluate advantages, drawbacks and risks derived from the provision of LBS.