INTRANS is a Knowledge-building Project with User Involvement (KMB), funded by industry partners, SINTEF and The Research Council of Norway. The industry partners are the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, Q-free, Norway Post, Alliance Boots Norway, Schenker, the Norwegian National Rail Administration, Trondheimfjord Intermunicipal Harbour, CargoNet and the Norwegian Logistics and Freight Association. A number of different research departments at SINTEF will performe the research work.
The overall objective of the project is to:
Develop knowledge, concepts, models and systems for intelligent, fully-automated flow of goods and information in transport systems through employment of leading-edge technologies.
The vision of the project is to:
Enable a fully automated, multimodal and environmentally friendly freight transport system, where the goods find the most efficient way through the supply chain, based on information and communication technology, and advanced control models and decision support.
The overall research challenge in the project is described as:
How to create an intelligent, efficient and safe multi-modal goods transportation system through:
the use of sensor and data capturing technology and system architecture in order to make the goods find their own path through the system
new concepts and models for transport planning and management which utilise real time information for goods to find their path in the system
new solutions for storing, transferring, processing and visualizing of real time information in the network
new concepts and control principles based on real-time information and automated decision support
new collaboration and integration models
Implications:
The results from INTRANS will be applied in three domains: industry, society and academia.
Industry
The Norwegian transport industry will define new functional and technical requirements and new business models for intelligent goods transport system. The ICT sector will benefit from adapting their existing systems to these new requirements. For the Norwegian industry as a whole, the intelligent goods transport system will be of major importance to reduce transport costs, improve the accuracy and reliability of deliveries, and reduce loss (goods damaged or lost during transport).
Society and government
The implementation of results will have significant environmental impact through increased efficiency in the supply chain, practical transport activities, improved planning data and public measures concerning freight transport. Effects will include reduced trafic congestion, reduced energy consumption, and reduced greenhouse gas, pollution and noise emissions. Positive safety and security effects can also be achieved, e.g. through reduced volumes of heavy vehicles and stops that interfere with the traffic flow, and more accurate information on hazardous cargo. The project will also provide a roadmap for future activities and policy advice on Intelligent Transport Systems for use on governmental bodies and other stakeholders.
Academia
The project will provide a unique opportunity to create multi-disciplinary knowledge and results related to intelligent goods transports systems. The main competence areas in the project are goods transport, information technology and logistics, seen from a transport system perspective. The interdisciplinary knowledge and insight will be used to develop new and applicable solutions to users and actors in the transportation industry. The project will be of significant importance for the development of courses and curriculum in transport and logistics at NTNU. In this way , INTRANS will provide the competence for intelligent goods in tomorrow's transport networks.
