Purpose:
Shipbuilding supply chain includes many stages, multiple suppliers, complex material inflows and often changing schedules. To improve visibility of supply chain, various material tracking technologies such as UWB, GPS, BLE, RFID, and QR can be utilized. This study examines how combination of GPS and QR methods can be used to improve supply chain visibility and management.
Objective of material tracking was to assess whether right materials were in right place at right time. Tracking pilot was used to examine delivery reliability, lead times, storage times, transportation routes, as well as duration of the various stages of supply chain. Study aimed to identify deviations related to material inflows, such as deliveries to incorrect locations, unnecessary material movements, and material loss during supply chain.
Methodology:
Study applied a case study research approach to examine implementation of hybrid tracking solution in shipbuilding supply chain. Empirical data were collected from 40 tracked units by combining location-based data and QR-code event recordings. Additional data was collected from different stakeholders involved in the supply chain. Tracking methods criteria were based on cost-efficiency, tracked units and indicators, tolerance to different weather conditions and applicability to logistics processes and operations.
Tracked material consisted of ceiling panels used in ship’s interior. Digital Matter Yabby NB-IoT trackers were installed on the tracked units. Trackers combine GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), such as GPS, for location calculation and NB-IoT (Narrowband Internet of Things) for data transmission to a cloud service. Trackers were programmed to transmit a signal every 3 minutes while in motion and every 12 hours when stationary. In addition to these trackers, QR code stickers were attached to the units, enabling users to record events using smartphones, including location updates and shipment statuses such as received and dispatched.
Findings:
Results indicate that neither of tested tracking technologies used were able to provide complete visibility across entire supply chain. It was concluded that a lot of QR mis-tracks did occur as a consequence of insufficient user activity. Signal inaccuracies occurred in ship and warehouse environments due to interference caused by metal structures. We found out that 3-minute transmission interval during movement was too long to capture route data with full accuracy. Because of the time interval and GPS signal interference, a remarkable number of missing or false GPS timestamps were observed. Study revealed that transportation delivery accuracy throughout supply chain was good and the transit time was within normal limits. Storage time at the supplier's warehouse extended to weeks, which can be interpreted as non-value adding time and waste within supply chain.
Originality:
Study contributes to the openness of logistics visibility by providing an empirical outlook and evaluation of selected hybrid tracking solution in a complex shipbuilding supply chain context. Our results suggest that combining two different tracking methods can provide reasonable information about cargo transport. Paper extends existing research on logistics tracking technologies by focusing on practical end-to-end implementation challenges and solutions in project-based industrial logistics involving multiple stakeholders and logistics stages.
