SRA-E Lisbon 2017

For an innovative logistics technology, this presentation will introduce quantitative analysis and evidence of the reduction of enterprise risk to schedule, cost, and performance of the movement of products through a container port. Schedule, cost, and performance losses are a source of risk to global supply chains. Brazil loses roughly R$160 billion attributed to logistics problems, of which less than 10% is due to lack of infrastructure at ports. The Brazil Ministry of Agriculture uses antiquated information systems of imports/exports, which hinders the competitiveness of Brazil in a global market. An emerging cloud-based platform (known as SIGVIG3) introduces a machine-to-machine communication between several actors in the process and expedites the movement of containerized products at marine port terminals at relatively low cost. The platform can integrate the actors related to export processes, including exporters, brokers, government agencies, importers, terminals, ship operators, etc and accelerates container inspection at the ports, as historical data and the traceability provided by the integration can allow regulatory/government resources to be allocated more effectively. Digital certificates and encrypted communication also serve to create accountability, reliability, and resilience of the supply chain. Manufacturers began adding RFID electronic seals to containers after they are loaded. The RFID seals associate the physical world with an electronic documentation that the exporters transmit to the regulatory/government agency based on a machine-to-machine concept. All the actors related to that process can interact with the RFID chip and create electronic events, such as the reception of a container by a terminal. Government agencies virtually check all of the dependencies necessary to complete the process, and enable security and customs processes to occur even before the container leaves the facility or concurrently with the transportation of the container from factory to port. Data gathered over the three field case studies suggest that the supply chain of meat exports can be shortened by 57 hours, on average, when the SIGVIG3 system is utilized. Compared to the additional refrigeration costs when problems arise due to non-compliant documentation, the cost of this technology will be small and bring significant unburdening of the traditional supply chain. This presentation should be of wide interest to practitioners of risk and resilience management in large-scale systems involving infrastructure, workforce, regulation, natural and human-induced disruptions, information systems, cloud technologies, and transportation and freight security.