PI Containers: Assessment of Functions and Development from an Engineering Design Related Perspective

The idea of containerizing goods is a central component of the Physical Internet philosophy, as this containerization serves to abstract and standardize goods and shipments. This approach promises to simplify the handling of shipments on the one hand and deliver shipments more efficiently throughout the transport network.
In the present work, scientific publications were evaluated according to the terms Physical Internet, PI Container and containerization. Out of almost 300 examined scientific publications, more than 25 could be identified that had a strong focus on the topics of PI Containers and containerization. These identified articles were methodically compared by categorizing them according to aspects highlighting the technical view on the current state of development of PI containers.
Our research shows that over the past 12 years, just a few cases were documented where specific engineering design solutions of a PI container were presented and tested in real-life applications. Thus, we conclude that further research into the technical design of PI Containers is needed to identify use cases where the deployment of PI Containers has a significant positive
impact, is accepted by users, and is accessible under economic, ecological, and technical aspects.