Networks, Logistics and Transportation and is past president
of the College Industry Council on Material Handling
Education (CICMHE). His wide-ranging research touches
on industrial and systems engineering, operations research,
computer science and operations, logistics, supply chain, and
strategic management.
QTell us about your work on the “physical Internet”— what is it exactly, and how would it work?
AThe idea is modeled on the way data is communicat- ed via the Internet. It’s important to note that the
Internet is not moving information. It transmits data packets along multiple routers without regard for the actual type
of information enclosed. That’s all the Internet does.
What we envision is essentially applying the same concept to the movement of physical goods. That is, establish
the same kind of universal interconnectivity so that materials and goods would be moved from origin to destination in
the best way possible.
What would that require on the physical side? To begin with,
we would not be dealing with merchandise, but rather with
modular, green containers outfitted with RFID tags. These
would be built to universal standards, in sizes ranging from big
cargo containers down to units of a foot or six inches.
Adopting universal standards would open up an array of
opportunities for the handling, transportation, and storage
of goods. Consider the implications for warehousing alone.
There are about 535,000 DCs in the United States, but many
companies have fewer than 10 DCs. Out of 535,000, they
are exploiting 10. Why? Because people say they’re designed
for me, my products, my WMS, my ERP.
Now in the physical Internet, everything is in green, smart
modular containers that can be handled virtually anywhere.
That means there’s no reason I can’t take your stock as long
as I have room in my DC and we have a contract that lets me
make some money. My container and yours are not much
different. You are willing to do the same for me. All 535,000
DCs could be available to me. I could deploy stock across
every city in America for no more than I’m paying for my
own DC. It completely changes distribution.
The same would apply to transportation. Right now, we
have direct point-to-point transport. If I want to move a
trailer across the country, it takes 120 hours, a driver, a
truck, and a trailer.
Now, imagine a network with transit centers across [the
continent]. From Québec, you don’t send a truck to Los
Angeles; you bring the trailer to Montreal. Another truck
picks it up and brings it to the U.S. border, and so on.
Everyone is driving two to four hours, but the trailer can get
to L.A. twice as fast. You could have six to 10 containers and
a company’s goods could be mixed with other companies’. It
becomes a logistics web.
QChanging all that would seem to be a daunting chal- lenge.
AI agree. It is not easy. The biggest challenge is the design of the containers we want. But if someone put
a million dollars on the table, we could make it happen
within two or three years.
Look what happened with cargo containers. The ocean
container reinvented ports. Today, everything is geared
toward containers.
Erika Roberts
WHEN IT COMES TO HER ROLE AT THE
Council of Supply Chain Management
Professionals (CSCMP), Erika Roberts lives
by the maxim “think globally, but act locally.”
As chair of the CSCMP’s roundtable operations, Roberts serves as the liaison between
the global professional association and the
more than 100 roundtables that are considered the local and regional faces of the organization. It is a demanding role made more so
by the fact that Roberts already holds a full-time position as director, corporate development for
LeanCor, a Florence, Ky.-based 3PL devoted to implementing
lean principles. Roberts, who has run the roundtables for
nearly two years, also sits on CSCMP’s board.
QWhat is your biggest challenge in addressing and bridging what must be the disparate needs of differ-
ent roundtables both within the United States and around
the world?
