The value of in-transit visibility for supply chains with multiple modes of transport

This study seeks to quantify the value of visibility over assets moving through a multi-modal transportation network. It presents a transportation model combining shipment and route choice and shows how in-transit visibility can be used to adjust the transportation plan with respect to the known state of the transportation system. By simulating the decision-making process with different levels of visibility, the gradual benefits of in-transit visibility are quantified. Computational experiments show that on-time delivery performance can be significantly improved by increasing the level of visibility.