Despite increasing digitalisation, time slot management in logistics is still a long way from achieving genuine interoperability across different providers. Waiting times at loading bays, manual coordination processes and proprietary interfaces therefore remain part of everyday operations. Members of the Open Logistics Foundation have therefore developed an open, vendor-neutral interface for Time Slot Management and are now looking for companies to test it under real-world conditions.
Warehouse operators need predictability, while freight forwarders need flexibility. These competing requirements are currently often coordinated through separate systems, proprietary interfaces and manual communication processes. The result is unnecessary waiting times and operational bottlenecks. “This is a prime example of a problem that can only be solved at industry level,” explains Nathalie Böhning, Innovation and Project Manager at the Open Logistics Foundation. “For digital processes to work across company boundaries, a common foundation and open standards are essential.” (....)