A new network concept for Logistic Centres in Hungary – regional segmentation in line with the PI vision

With the introduction of the Physical Internet (PI) a paradigm-breaking field is enabled encompassing the hyperconnectivity and interoperability of smart logistics networks, transportation systems, manufacturing systems and supply chains. During the last years the PI-concept is getting more and more popular but is still mostly restricted to research, which means industry has only minor knowledge of PI at this moment. This is also true for Hungarian companies. Therefore, the main aim of this research is to estimate the abilities and opportunities of Hungarian companies related to the introduction of a future PI network. Starting point of the analysis is the Hub structure. Synonymous to nodes in the Digital Internet, future PI Hubs represent the transition points of a future PI network which serve as meeting, transfer and storing points within the PI activities. As the tasks of the Hubs are usually logistic tasks, a possible solution to build Hubs for the PI network is the using of existing Logistic Centres and a network concept based on regional segmentation (see Figure 1 in the attached document). In a next step this regional segmentation will be used to develop a future PI-scenario investigating a Hungarian-Austrian transport case. Based on this scenario, possible opportunities and advantages/disadvantages for Hungarian companies can be derived. In order to enable seamless open asset sharing and flow consolidation on a massive scale the PI will transform the way physical objects are moved, deployed, realized, supplied, designed and used all around the world. To fulfil those high requirements, PI Hubs need special, advanced machines and handling processes. Therefore, the paper will furthermore investigate and evaluate technical solutions and capacities existing in Logistic Centres based on two different surveys. The paper will be concluded with an outlook on future research towards the realisation of PI Hubs and network concepts for Logistic Centres.