Internet of Everything and Digital Twin enabled Service Platform for Cold Chain Logistics.

ABSTRACT

The proliferation of the e-commerce market has posed challenges to staff safety, product quality, and operational efficiency, especially for cold chain logistics (CCL). Recently, the logistics of vaccine supply under the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic rearouses public attention and calls for innovative solutions to tackle the challenges remaining in CCL. Accordingly, this study proposes a cyber-physical platform framework applying the Internet of Everything (IoE) and Digital Twin (DT) technologies to promote information integration and provide smart services for different stakeholders in the CCL. In the platform, reams of data are generated, gathered, and leveraged to interconnect and digitalize physical things, people, and processes in cyberspace, paving the way for digital servitization. Deep learning techniques are used for accident identification and indoor localization based on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to actualize real-time staff safety supervision in the cold warehouse. Both algorithms are designed to take advantage of the IoE infrastructure to achieve online self-adapting in response to surrounding evolutions. Besides, with the help of mobile and desktop applications, paperless operation for shipment, remote temperature and humidity (T&H) monitoring, anomaly detection and warning, and customer interaction are enabled. Thus, information traceability and visibility are highly fortified in this way. Finally, a real-life case study is conducted in a pharmaceutical distribution center to demonstrate the feasibility and practicality of the proposed platform and methods. The dedicated hardware and software are developed and deployed on site. As a result, the effectiveness of staff safety management, operational informatization, product quality assurance, and stakeholder loyalty maintenance shows a noticeable improvement. The insights and lessons harvested in this study may spark new ideas for researchers and inspire practitioners to meet similar needs in the industry.