Physical assets and service sharing for IoT-enabled Supply Hub in Industrial Park (SHIP)

To provide public logistics services, Supply Hub in Industrial Park (SHIP) is facing challenges on getting real-time interactions with its member enterprises, and real-time tracing and tracking of its assets. The emergence of Internet of Things (IoT) offers a possible solution to achieve real-time visibility and information sharing, as well as appropriate level of intelligence. This paper proposes an IoT-enabled SHIP for enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of sharing physical assets and services. First, an overview of IoT-enabled SHIP is presented by highlighting three key components: Physical Asset Service System (PASS), information infrastructure, and decision support system. PASS is introduced as a new business model for supporting the sharing approach. Second, the relevant state-of-the-art literature is reviewed by examining several representative pilot projects worldwide. Third, future research opportunities are discussed along five dimensions including IoT infrastructure, business models, decision models, synchronization mechanisms, and impact analysis. Research gaps are highlighted and key research questions worthy of further exploration are presented. It is hoped that this work is valuable and beneficial to researchers who wish to extend their research into this new and exciting area, and to identify new research opportunities. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.