The company has signed up to the European initiative, presenting an innovative project based on collaboration and efficiency
The Arcese Group has always believed in innovation and research, developing ground-breaking themes by means of dedicated projects on a European and international scale. In May 2015 Arcese joined the NexTrust project, an initiative funded and developed by the European Union as part of Horizon 2020 (H2020). The programme promotes research and innovation within the field of transport and logistics in Europe, thanks to the allocation of 80 million Euros over a 7 year period (2014 - 2020).
Specifically, the NexTrust project aims to fund projects focused on improving and bolstering the sustainability of European transport systems, by promoting collaboration between companies of the sector. 31 companies in total have signed up to it.
As part of this project, Arcese has developed the ABI (Arcese Collaboration business integrator) platform, with the aim of developing an innovative approach that can improve the flow of provided information and services.
This internet based platform integrates track & trace services to enable the tracking and monitoring of goods, delivery and arrival at destination, thanks to a special app (Arcese Move it), with real time management of Proof of delivery (POD).
ABI enables more efficient transport shipment organisation, resulting in less empty kilometres and more satisfying vehicle saturation levels.
Marco Manfredini COO of Arcese, explains: "We are proud to be part of this European project which has enabled us to pave the way towards technology integration within the transport sector. This collaboration has given us the opportunity to develop the ABI platform, an invaluable instrument which helps us to guarantee a more efficient and safer service for all our customers Real time traceability of goods across all supply chain phases is a fundamental element for satisfying customer requirements. Today, technology is an enormous help in this field, with advanced technological solutions. ABI is also an effective monitoring instrument which provides us more extensive control over the flow of goods and ensures rapid intervention in case of anomalies. This bolsters faith, as our customers are able to check the position of goods during road or rail transit, thus making them more likely to move bigger volumes by rail. Nor should we forget that by choosing the intermodal solution, we are making a significant contribution towards the reduction of C02 emissions, thus reducing the environmental impact generated by our activities."
The project ended in Aprile 2018. In technical terms, the biggest challenge for the future is centred around market conditions in which current widespread IT systems operate and which to date have failed to provide sufficient interconnection, such as the Transportation Management System (TMS), Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Track & Trace, Proof of Delivery (POD) and Telematics.
With reference to operations, the biggest challenge regards intermodal transport which requires more time and resources for management. Furthermore, in technological terms, to date there are no defined/efficient or structured traceability solutions. In a normal GPS system, once the semi-trailer is uncoupled from the truck, battery power tends to run low. This is why there is a need to develop an integrated and innovative approach, indeed ABI aims to work on the convergence and integration of technologies of all sector professionals.
NexTrust
NexTrust (www.nextrust-project.eu) is funded by Horizon 2020 and is administrated by the EC’s Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA). The project duration is 42 months. NexTrust’s objective is to increase efficiency and sustainability in logistics by developing a flexible innovative business model with interconnected, trusted, collaborative networks along the entire supply chain. The pilot cases cover a broad cross section of the entire supply chain (from raw materials to finished goods to retail inbound and to end consumers) for multiple industries.
