A reference architecture for IoT-based logistic information systems in agri-food supply chains

ABSTRACT

Logistics in the food and agribusiness industry must address perishable products, unpredictable supply variations and stringent food safety and sustainability requirements. The Internet of Things (IoT) could contribute significantly to solve these challenges because it allows for remotely controlling the location and conditions of shipments and products. This paper develops a reference architecture for IoT-based logistic information systems in agri-food supply chains. It proposes a hybrid solution that combines the IoT and cloud computing. The architecture supports the provision of affordable tailor-made solutions by utilising technology enablers of the European Future Internet programme and by facilitating the reuse of domain-specific functionalities.

KEYWORDS:

• Internet of Things (IoT)
• cloud computing
• Future Internet
• reference architecture
• supply chain management
• food
• agribusiness

Acknowledgements

The authors greatly acknowledge the contributions from colleagues of the SmartAgriFood and Da Vinc3i consortia.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The controller is based on the Market Place and Application Mashup GEs from the chapter ‘Applications/Services Ecosystems and Delivery Framework’ (see Table 2).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the European Community's Seventh Framework programme under grant [285326]; and the Dutch Institute for Advanced Logistics (DINALOG) under grant [20102034R].