Despite the increasing academic interest and financial support for the Physical Internet (PI), surprisingly little is known about its operationalization and implementation. In this paper, we suggest studying the PI on the basis of the Digital Internet (DI), which is a well‐established entity. We propose a conceptual framework for the PI network using the DI as a starting point, and find that the PI network not only needs to solve the reachability problem, that is, how to route an item from A to B, but also must confront a more complicated optimality problem, that is, how to dynamically optimize a set of additional logistics‐related metrics such as cost, emissions and time for a shipment. These last issues are less critical for the DI and handled using relatively simpler procedures. Based on our conceptual framework, we then propose a simple network model using graph theory to support the operationalization of the PI. The model covers the characteristics of the PI raised in the current literature and suggests future directions for further quantitative analyses.
SLA management of non-computational services, such as transport and logistics services, may differ from SLA management of computational services, such as cloud or web services. As an important difference, SLA management for transport and logistics services has to consider so called frame SLAs. A frame SLA is a general agreement that constitutes a long-term contract between parties. The terms and conditions of the frame SLA become the governing terms and conditions for all specific SLAs established under such a frame SLA. Not considering the relationships between frame SLAs, specific SLAs and QoS monitoring information may lead to partial conclusions and decisions, thereby resulting in avoidable penalties. Based on a real industry case in the transport and logistics domain, this paper elaborates on a multi-level run-time SLA management approach for non-computational services that takes into account those relationships. We describe a cloud-based software component, the BizSLAM App, able to automatically manage multi-level SLAs by extending SLA management solutions from service-oriented computing. We demonstrate the feasibility and usefulness of the SLA management approach in an industrial context.
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