Inland waterway systems are currently hampered by fragmented data, which makes planning and coordination difficult. One change in a barge's arrival time affects the whole shipment. For example, if a vessel arrives two hours later than planned, the original terminal handling timeframe no longer fits, so the slot and handling plan need to be revised. This has a knock-on effect for whether the containers can make their connection onto the railway system, so the connection time needs to be confirmed or rebooked.
Prof. Rob Zuidwijk, professor of Global Supply Chains and Ports in RSM’s Department of Technology and Operations Management, said, “This project puts RSM in a nice position to learn from pilot studies in the field, help develop advanced concepts, and disseminate the learnings to various audiences. We look forward to contributing our expertise on logistics and supply chain management, multimodal freight transport, cross-border compliance and business model innovation.”
Reducing delays and administration
By creating shared information and clear procedures, Waterway One can reduce delays and administrative effort. It aims to achieve this goal through four interconnected pillars.
First, the project wants to make the systems federated and interoperable. This way, different systems can exchange information with a common meaning, under agreed access rules, while the system owners maintain control.
The second pillar is predictability. Actors can then have useful arrival estimates, visibility of constraints and support when conditions change.
Bookable node services is the third pillar. A node is an operational point such as a lock, berth or terminal. The aim is to digitally expose relevant services and availability, with a common process for checking, reserving, confirming and changing a booking.
Pillar four is multimodal integration. Waterway planning, execution and evidence must connect to the wider logistics chain and authority procedures.
Improvements across Europe
With a consortium of 17 partners across six EU countries, the Waterway One project will focus on five operational pilots across European waterway corridors. It aims to improve on-time arrival reliability by eight to 15 per cent, reduce door-to-door lead time by 10 to 20 per cent, and reduce error in estimated arrival times by 20 to 30 per cent.
Ultimately, the goal is to create a common framework that others can reuse, tools that can be demonstrated in real operations, and evidence that supports wider adoption and standards decisions.
