The Internet of Things in Logistics

Typical logistics processes became significantly more complex and dynamic during the last decades. Among other things, this is driven by internationalization of supply chains and global competition, shorter product life-cycles, mass customization, and stricter quality requirements. However, the advent of new technologies may alleviate these challenges; here, RFID technology is particularly promising. This article describes a novel use for RFID in logistics: By storing additional information like routing or necessary processing steps directly on the tag, an 'Internet of Things' is possible. We describe the vision and a possible implementation for the 'Internet of Things in Logistics', evaluate effects of this approach to the efficiency of a material handling system, and describe additional services, which become possible by using RFID in logistics.