Table Of ContentAutonomous Cooperation and Control in Logistics
•
Michael Hülsmann Bernd Scholz-Reiter
(cid:2)
Katja Windt
Editors
Autonomous Cooperation
and Control in Logistics
Contributions and Limitations -
Theoretical and Practical Perspectives
123
Editors
MichaelHülsmann KatjaWindt
JacobsUniversityBremen JacobsUniversityBremen
SystemsManagement-InternationalLogis GlobalProductionLogistics-Internatio
CampusRing1 CampusRing1
28759Bremen 28759Bremen
Germany Germany
[email protected] [email protected]
Prof.Dr.BerndScholz-Reiter
UniversitätBremen
BIBAGmbH
BremerInstitutfürMesstechnik
AutomatisierungundQualitätswiss.
Hochschulring20
28359Bremen
Germany
[email protected]
ISBN978-3-642-19468-9 e-ISBN978-3-642-19469-6
DOI10.1007/978-3-642-19469-6
SpringerHeidelbergDordrechtLondonNewYork
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2011929775
(cid:2)c Springer-VerlagBerlinHeidelberg2011
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Preface
The editedvolume“AutonomousCooperationandControlin Logistics:Contribu-
tionsandLimitations–TheoreticalandPracticalPerspectives”consequentlycontin-
uesthepreviouspublication“UnderstandingAutonomousCooperationandControl
inLogistics–TheImpactofAutonomyonManagement,Information,Communica-
tion,andMaterialFlow”,editedbyMichaelHülsmannandKatjaWindt.Thisfirst
volumefocusesoncollatingvariousunderstandingsofself-organisation.Itintends
to establish a common perspective on basic ideas and their adoption and adapt-
abilitytologistics.Additionally,thatpublicationidentifiesandcomparesthescope
anddepthofautonomouscooperationandcontrolresultingfromvarious,interdisci-
plinaryunderstandingsofself-organisation.Therefore,thefirsteditedvolumeaims
fordevelopingaconceptualsystemforautonomouscooperationandcontrol,which
allowstointerpretdiscipline-specifically,tofunctionalise,andtoapplyautonomous
cooperationandcontrolinthecontextoflogisticsystems.Itisdedicatedtoprovide
logisticsresearchaswellaspracticewithfirstimpulsesforansweringthequestion
howlogisticsmanagementcanbettercopewithcomplexityanddynamicsinsupply
chainsandnetworks.Allinall,thefirsteditedvolume“UnderstandingAutonomous
CooperationandControlinLogistics–TheImpactofAutonomyonManagement,
Information,Communication,andMaterialFlow”providesaterminological,taxo-
nomical,andanalyticalframeworktoexamine,explain,andapplytheprinciplesof
self-organisationinthecontextofcomplex,dynamiclogisticsprocesses.
Consistently,the secondedited volume “AutonomousCooperationand Control
in Logistics: Contributions and Limitations – Theoretical and Practical Perspec-
tives”usesthedevelopedframeworktoapproachthechallengeoffindinganoptimal
degree of autonomous cooperation and control of logistics processes. Therefore,
thispublicationseekstodetermineanalyticallytheupperandlowerboundariesof
autonomouscooperationand control.This focus should lead to a common under-
standingoftheenablersandimpedimentsofapplyingtheideaofself-organisation
asa paradigmaticprincipletologisticsandthedesign,planning,andcontrolofits
processes.Hence,thiseditedvolumeisdedicatedtoidentify,describe,andinvesti-
gate–inthecontextofproductionanddistributionlogistics–theeffects,feasibility,
outcomes,barriers,drivingforces,cause-effect-relations,etc.ofconcepts,methods,
technologies, and routines, that are based on and linked with the idea of self-
organisationin logistics. Therefore,it is the major objectiveof this editedvolume
v
vi Preface
to give a broad overview about the contributions and limitations of autonomous
cooperationandcontroloflogisticsprocesses.Furthermore,thispublicationshould
outlineafirstanswertohowtheabstractideaofself-organisationcansubstantially
contribute to a better performanceand robustness of complex and dynamic logis-
ticssystemsinversatileandvolatileenvironments.Inthisregardthiseditedvolume
comprisesfirstimplementationsinrealindustrialscenariosaswellanddemonstrates
onpracticalexamplesthelogisticpotentialanditslimitations.
Bothresearchobjects–logisticsaswellastheideaofautonomouscooperation
and control – need an interdisciplinary approach, which can cover all their het-
erogeneous characteristics (e.g. technological and organisational). Therefore, this
editedvolumecombinesthe differentperspectivesof productiontechnology,elec-
tronics and communication engineering, informatics and mathematics, as well as
managementsciencesandeconomics.Thesolidfoundationforthenecessaryinte-
gration of these diverse points of view is built on the interdisciplinary research
within the Collaborative Research Centre 637 (CRC 637) “Autonomous Cooper-
atingLogisticProcesses–A ParadigmShiftanditsLimitations”attheUniversity
of Bremen since 2004. The CRC 637 intends to identify the rules of autonomous
cooperationand controlin orderto developa “theoreticalbackbone”for applying
thisparadigmonalllevelsoflogisticssystems:onthemanagerialdecision-making
level, on the information processing and communication level, and on the mate-
rialflowlevel.Therefore,thispublicationeditedvolumecoversallperspectivesand
levels addressed above in order to provide a comprehensiveand profoundpicture
of contributions and restrictions of autonomous cooperation and control of logis-
tics processes– whichmighthelp to understandthe related paradigm-shiftandits
limitations.
This publication is the result of a fruitful and pleasant cooperation, collabora-
tion, and communicationbetween many actors, whose invaluable work made this
edited volume possible. First of all, we like to thank our colleagues and doctoral
studentswithintheCRC637andaroundthisinstitutionfortheinspiring,intriguing
discourses,reflections,and exchangesofideas withinthe last sevenyears. During
our debates and conversations we had the outstanding opportunity to learn from
other disciplines. This included also the challenge to develop shared perspectives
onthesameobject(i.e.autonomouscooperationandcontrolinlogistics)fromthe
background of different scientific cultures, theoretical frameworks, and method-
ological approaches. Therefore, it was always an honour and contentment for us
having the chance to edit this volume and we are very grateful for this exciting
experienceinouracademiccareer.Secondly,wearetremendouslyhappyandgrate-
ful for the contributions of the voluntary reviewers, who spent their limited and
valuabletime forimprovingthequalityofthe contributionsin thiseditedvolume.
Without any doubt, the reviewers’ comments formed the various collections of a
good idea, an appropriate research conception, and all the other ingredients of a
scientific article into the shape of consistent and solid argumentation. There are
also very helpful and important hands, which backed us up by thoroughly taking
care of all the supportingactivities. For this, we would like to express our appre-
ciation to Dipl.-Wi.-Ing. Anne Schwientek, who coordinated the compilation and
Preface vii
editing of all articles; to Dipl.-Oec. Philip Cordes for supporting and reviewing;
to Lore Zander and Dipl.-Inf. Jacub Piotrowski for handling the administrative
side; to Susanne Benner and Caroline Hannemann for proof-reading and editing.
Naturally, we would like to say thank you to our publisher SpringerPhysica, rep-
resented by Thomas Lehnert, for his motivating feedbacks and for giving us the
chance to publish our edited volume “Autonomous Cooperation and Control in
Logistics:ContributionsandLimitations– TheoreticalandPracticalPerspectives”
at SpringerPhysica’s.Finally, we wouldlike to thankthe GermanResearch Foun-
dation(DFG),whichsupportedthisresearchaspartoftheCollaborativeResearch
Centre 637“AutonomousCooperatingLogistic Processes– A ParadigmShiftand
itsLimitations”.
MichaelHülsmann
BerndScholz-Reiter
KatjaWindt
•
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) as part
oftheCollaborativeResearchCentre637“AutonomousCooperatingLogisticPro-
cesses–AParadigmShiftanditsLimitations”attheUniversityofBremenandthe
JacobsUniversityBremen.
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