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A reconfiguration approach for a supply chain tracking platform

Article in International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics · March 2021

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTL.2021.10037168

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Int. J. Shipping and Transport Logistics, Vol. X, No. Y, xxxx 1

A reconfiguration approach for a supply chain

tracking platform

Hedi Zidi, Nadia Hamani* and Cyrine Laajili

Innovative Technologies Laboratory,
University of Picardie Jules Verne,
Amiens, France
Email: hedi.zidi@u-picardie.fr
Email: nadia.hamani@u-picardie.fr
Email: cyrine.laajili@u-picardie.fr
*Corresponding author

Mounir Benaissa
Optimization, Logistics and Business Intelligence Laboratory,
University of Sfax,
Sfax, Tunisia
Email: mounir.benaissa@isgis.usf.tn

Abstract: Over the last few years, companies have resorted to the
implementation of reconfigurable supply chain that are able to deal with the
market expectation and the client’s needs whatever the conditions by adopting
new technologies characterising the fourth industrial revolution such as internet
of things and cloud computing. Moreover, the emergence of these new
technologies imports solutions for more efficient shipping, real-time tracking
and traceability. These solutions have made logistic entities more connected,
intelligent, autonomous, reconfigurable and even capable of acting at the real
time. Inspired by these new technologies, several researchers have described, in
their works, how useful they are, especially to design and model digital
platform for real-time transport tracking. In order to design a reconfigurable
supply chain, we extended a collaborative platform to introduce reconfiguration
mechanisms in order to make it reactive whatever the event type is. We used
Unified Modelling Language to model and design reconfiguration mechanisms.

Keywords: supply chain; reconfiguration; internet of things; IoT; cloud

computing; collaborative platform; real-time tracking; traceability; RFID;
Unified Modelling Language; UML; information sharing.

Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Zidi, H., Hamani, N.,
Laajili, C. and Benaissa, M. (xxxx) ‘A reconfiguration approach for a supply
chain tracking platform’, Int. J. Shipping and Transport Logistics, Vol. X,
No. Y, pp.xxx–xxx.

Biographical notes: Hedi Zidi is a PhD student at the University of Paris 8. He

obtained a Master’s degree in Transport and Logistics Management and
Logistics Engineering at the University of Picardie Jules Verne in 2020. His
research interests focus on the impact of digitalisation technologies on supply
chain performance.

Copyright © 20XX Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

2 H. Zidi et al.

Nadia Hamani is an Associate Professor at the University of Picardie Jules

Verne and Head of a Master and Bachelor Program in Logistics. She is a
member of the laboratory of Innovative Technology. She obtained a PhD in
Industrial Engineering in 2005 at Ecole Centrale de Lille. She is co-chair of
international conferences or special sessions and she authored or co-authored
more than 90 scientific papers. She is involved in several research networks,
projects and associations. Her research interests include sustainable supply
chain and transportation, performance improvement of production and logistics
systems. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6151-2585.

Cyrine Laajili obtained her Engineering degree in Industrial Engineering from

ENSTAB (Ecole Nationale des Sciences et Technologies Avancées
Borj-Cedria)-Tunisia and a Master’s degree in Management and Logistics
Engineering at the University of Picardie Jules Verne in 2020.

Mounir Benaissa is an Associate Professor at University of Sfax. He obtained

his PhD and his habilitation in industrial engineering from University of Le
Havre (France) in 2006 and 2013. He has held academic positions at Le Havre
University (France), University Carthage (Tunisia) and University of Sfax
(Tunisia). He is co-founder of IEEE ITS Tunisian chapter and IEEE senior
member. He is the Founder and Chair or IEEE ICALT (IEEE International
Conference on Advanced Logistics and Transport). He was guest editor of
special issues of international journals. He has authored or co-authored more
than 50 scientific papers and contributed with invited chapters to edited books.
His research interests include information system, supply chain management,
reverse logistics and logistics optimisation, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0487-
1877.

This paper is a revised and expanded version of a paper entitled ‘Towards the
reconfiguration of a freight transport supply chain’ presented at 7th IEEE
International Conference of Advanced Logistics and Transport, IEEE ICALT
2019, Marrakech, Maroc, 14–16 June 2019.

1 Introduction

Some concepts and technologies, such as Internet of Things, Big Data, Cyber-Physical
Systems and Cloud Computing, have already emerged. These new technologies represent
the pillars of the new generation of industry called ‘Industry 4.0’ and concern several
fields of application such as logistics, production and transport. Their main objective is to
ensure traceability, communication and information sharing in real-time (Yan et al.,
2016; Ben-Daya et al., 2019; Haroon et al., 2019). The literature shows that the
combination of new technologies in industry 4.0 with logistic chains has grown
remarkably in recent years. Indeed, it offers beneficial services for companies in order to
ensure a more competitive level. Moreover, the goal of this integration is to manage a
gigantic amount of data resulting from a daily exchange between the processes, the
service providers and the stakeholders. It should be noted that these services aim at
moving to real-time sharing of data, enabling companies to collaborate in a powerful
way, especially for extended supply chains.
One of the emblematic issues for companies is to be competitive in an increasingly
unstable market. Indeed, this instability is due to demand’s fluctuations and technological
 A reconfiguration approach for a supply chain tracking platform 3

innovations. Therefore, in order to cope with these uncertainties, companies are trying to
have more flexible and reconfigurable logistic chains (Zidi et al., 2019a) to adapt and
react at the right time, which is a profitable and even efficient (Upton, 1994;
Viswanadham and Raghavan, 1997; Lee, 2004; Kopecka et al., 2010). The concept
‘reconfiguration’ was able to quickly permeate the scientific community. It has become
so important that nowadays it includes several works as a fundamental pillar in the design
of the extended logistics chains (Zidi et al., 2019b). A reconfigurable logistics chain is a
flexible chain capable of modifying its configuration by optimising its resources without
losing its operational efficiency while responding to the changing customer’s
requirements or the operating environment (Chandra and Grabis, 2016). Another point of
view, as stated by André et al. (2008), is that the reconfiguration problems of logistic
networks depend on location, allocation, capacity and steering policies. Other works,
such as Ivanov et al. (2009), defined reconfiguration as the process of changing the
structure of the agile supply chain or virtual enterprise, called ‘collaborative network’, in
order to treat the level of the chain operations or reduce the effect of deviations that may
occur during its operation.
For reconfigurable supply chains, the advent of the IoT and cloud computing has
brought a new approach enabling to collect, transfer, store and share information on the
logistics flow for better cooperation and collaboration between supply chain partners.
This leads to improve responsiveness and flexibility for demand variation and to match
new market strategies.
Benghozi et al., (2012) defined the internet of things (IoT) as a network working via a
standardised and unified electronic identification system to identify directly entities and
physical objects. IoT has the ability to recover, store and process data in a continuous
way, which ensures communication between physical world and virtual one. Moreover,
cloud computing is defined as on-demand access to the virtual world characterised by a
set of information resources and specific knowledge stored in a database that does not
belong to a specific company, having as advantage the ease of access as well as the
simplicity of use. In addition, with the huge processing and cloud storage capacity, flows
can now be optimised by planning measures and making efficient forecasts through good
management. Therefore, it may represent the best industrial agent’s choice. In addition,
cloud computing enables the development of services by involving all stakeholders in an
extended supply chain. As a result, many studies have addressed supply chain issues
based on new developments.
This paper presents a reconfiguration approach integrated to a collaborative supply
chain tracking platform. Related research works are presented in Section 2. The platform
is described in Section 3 and the reconfiguration approach is detailed in Section 4. A case
study illustrates this work in Section 5. Finally, the conclusion and further works are
presented in Section 6.

2 Collaborative platforms for supply chain management

Tian-Min (2009) proposed a collaborative platform for supply chain management in

e-commerce using the browser/server framework based on three layers.
• Web layer: allows managing the requests of the users to access the platform and
calling on the function which satisfies the customer’s needs.
4 H. Zidi et al.

• Business logic layer: provides the organisation and development of rules for the
management of orders, suppliers, customers, production and distribution.
• Data access layer: aims at managing the access to the database to perform tasks such
as data recording or reading.
This collaborative platform helps e-commerce companies connect all vendors,
distributors and customers by efficiently managing data analysis and data exchange using
XML.
Xiu and Zheng (2010) developed a collaborative platform for information
management in 4PL companies. To do this, they presented three methodologies by
proposing the possible strategies to ensure this collaboration. Indeed, the first
methodology called ‘point-to-point’ model is based on the relational management of all
databases related to production, logistics and suppliers. The second strategy is based on
integration via web services using XML and standards like UDDI, SOAP, WSDL and
HTTP. This strategy has a quite lower cost, compared to the first strategy. The third
integration strategy is based on the middleware that provides a software layer for the
exchange between applications.
In their work, Chen et al., (2014) proposed a new approach for integrating cloud
computing through an application as a service with the IoT to manage a supply chain.
Four layers characterise this approach.
• Communication layer: provides registration, connection and search services as well
as key technologies for the development of other layers.
• Intermediate layer: is an interface between the end user and the service provider. It
allows managing tasks and resources.
• Resource layer: characterises all the services offered by the platform, namely pallet
inventory, pallet transport, pallet monitoring and services related to execution.
• Physical resource layer: characterises all the infrastructure and hardware of the
platform such as computers and databases. It also makes it possible to store the data.
Indeed, the service requester launches its demand in the cloud computing. The latter
sends a request to the communication layer via the XML language. Then, the
intermediate layer verifies the access to this requested service in order to secure the
platform. After that, the resource layer provides the requested services.
have proposed, in their article, a platform based on the technologies of the IoT and
cloud computing to make logistic chains able to recover and process a set of data, which
ensures the monitoring of the supply chain life cycle. This platform integrates
communication technologies namely GPS, RFID, 3G/4G, intranet and wireless sensor
networks or WSN, allowing end users to consult all the data recovered through these
technologies. The architecture of this platform is based on four layers:
• Data layer: Contains all the databases.
• Network layer: Contains the communication networks.
• Logical layer: Ensures the communication of the recovered data with the application
layer via middleware.
 A reconfiguration approach for a supply chain tracking platform 5

• Application layer: Contains three layers; namely a management layer, operation

layer and an execution layer.
Li et al. (2017), have dealt with a management platform that tracked the food supply
chain in real time with the technologies of the IoT such as RFID tags and QR codes. To
ensure the traceability of pre-packaged products, the authors used XML code to establish
the information sharing between all parts of the chain. Indeed, this platform is composed
of five layers:
• Perception layer: characterises the physical objects linked with smart devices via
RFID tags and QR codes.
• Data layer: Allows storing the data recovered from the previous layer.
• Service layer: Offers four services, namely services for the management of the food
life cycle, monitoring services, evaluation services and services for data analysis.
• Application layer: Contains applications based on the services provided by the
previous layer.
• User layer: Allows users to access applications.
Accorsi et al. (2017), have discussed the impact, benefits and opportunities of the IoT in
food supply chains using a simulation tool. Indeed, in their article, they proposed an
architecture for the platform studying the decision effect on the entire food supply chain
and identifying the choice or the most optimal planning decision. The proposed
simulation tool also retrieves data and identifies the production level, the stock level or
even the distribution state. Therefore, the user will be able to improve performance after
identifying the needed links via the platform simulation. Pigini and Conti 2017, have
dealt with the traceability problem in food supply chains based on IoT technologies
including NFC tags and cloud computing, offering solutions for recovery and
identification chain-wide data. The architecture proposed by the authors monitors the
product during the production process until optimising its production. In addition, a cloud
database has been proposed to store data by first reading the NFC tag of each object
within an appropriate device (usually a smartphone or tablet).
These labels contain links that allow accessing the cloud database.
In his work, Gnimpieba (2017) has dealt with the implementation of a Com-SLoT
platform designating the community of logistic services on the IoT. This platform ensures
the recovery and information sharing related to the planning, execution, coordination and
traceability of logistics flows in order to facilitate the development and implementation of
a collaborative logistics chain. He proposed a five-layer platform containing a physical
layer, a sensor layer, a cloud service layer, a layer of multi-agent systems and an end-user
layer. The detailed description of this platform is presented in the following section.

3 The Com-SLoT platform

Com-SLoT defines the community of logistics services on the IoT. This platform ensures
the traceability of the information retrieved to answer the following questions:
6 H. Zidi et al.

• When: To identify the time of the operation.

• Where: To identify the location of the physical object.
• What: To identify the performed operation.
• Who: To allow identifying the actors.
Similarly, it prevents actions performed by physical objects while answering these same
questions within a provisional framework. In addition, this platform engages according to
the problematic of services access offered by the cloud and treating the two following
questions:
• Who have the right to access into the cloud?
• What operations can be done on the cloud (read, write, update, etc.)?
In addition, the crucial goal of integrating these layers into the logistics flow is to ensure
the traceability of logistic entities by facilitating communication, collaboration and
information sharing between the various actors in the logistics chain. Indeed, the
Com-SLoT platform assumes the following tasks:
• Identifying and monitoring the logistics entities.
• Storing and processing all recovered data.
• Communication and data transmission.
Figure 1 shows the architecture of the collaborative platform presenting the technology
used to ensure the traceability and tracking of objects.

Figure 1 Architecture of the Com-Slot platform (see online version for colours)

Source: Gnimpieba (2017)

 A reconfiguration approach for a supply chain tracking platform 7

Gnimpieba (2017) presented the platform in five layers characterised by the

specifications of the IoT and cloud computing. This integration makes the extended
supply chain more intelligent in terms of communication and collaboration. The proposed
architecture, as illustrated in Figure 2, is based on five levels: physical layer, sensor layer,
cloud service layer, end user layer and multi-agent system layer.
The first layer, called the physical layer, characterises the supply chain flows from the
supplier's supplier to the customer's customer through production, distribution and sales
flows. Each link, in the chain, corresponds to one or more logistics entities that have
already a set of data. The second layer, called Sensor Networks, provides real-time data
recovery and acts as a bridge between the physical layer (the real world) and the third
layer (the virtual world). While developing processing and storing capabilities in terms of
the number of data, the cloud service transforms the data in their raw states into a set of
intelligent and connected information. In fact, the logistics entities are becoming more
and more autonomous and connected thanks to the technologies and services offered by
cloud computing. The end-user layer ensures the dissemination of information on demand
from users from the cloud service layer by providing an interface of the end-user layer
that offers a right of access to services, hence the use and consumption of information. In
addition, the main goal of integrating these layers into the logistics flow is to ensure the
traceability of logistics entities by facilitating communication and information sharing as
well as collaboration between the various actors in the logistics chain.
Indeed, the Com-SLoT platform perform to the following tasks:
• Identifying and tracking of logistics entities.
• Storing and processing the recovered data.
• Communication and data transmission.

Figure 2 The five layers of the Com-SLoT platform (see online version for colours)

Source: Gnimpieba (2017)

4 Reconfiguration mechanisms

The reconfiguration mechanism is triggered by an intended or unexpected event.

8 H. Zidi et al.

• Intended event: Indicates that any changing decision is chosen by the company and
can be realised in strategic, tactical or operational decision.
• Unexpected event: Indicates the hazards, failures, and unexpected problems that may
affect the operation of supply chains at the strategic, tactical or operational decision
levels.
It ensures the realisation of an entire process proposed by the concerned parts after this
reconfiguration. This last terminology can be classified according to the reconfiguration
mode:
• Exclusion: Exclude operations in the supply chain.
• Inclusion: Include new operations in the supply chain.
• Combine: combines two already-defined reconfiguration modes already defined.
First, the mechanism process event to answer the following questions:
• Where does this event come from (source)?
What type is it (wanted or undergone)?
Who are the concerned users?
Then, the concerned users look for the configuration that meets the needs of the event
detected by the platform. Indeed, users have two possibilities:
• Choosing a configuration that already exists in the library of configuration
operations.
Designing a new configuration by defining its parameters such as: the objective, the
resources and the operations to be implemented.
Then, the chosen configuration will be implemented after checking if it can be applied or
not according to its resources availability as well as if it appropriates the detected event.
Finally, the last step is dedicated to evaluate the chosen configuration.
In order to analyse the design of the reconfiguration mechanism, we propose a meta-
model represented by a Unified Modelling Language (UML) diagram that highlights the
main components as well as the relations between them. Indeed, this meta-model is made
up of a class that characterises the logistic entities (Logistic_Entity) possessing a user
(User). One or more events may occur on these entities, causing the functioning of the
supply chain. These events trigger the reconfiguration mechanism characterised by the
following set of operations: look for the configuration, propose the configuration,
validate the configuration, implement the chosen configuration and evaluate the
implemented configuration.
Each reconfiguration mechanism has a set of parameters through which the user
chooses the mechanism that responds mostly to the detected event. These parameters
characterise all the operations, objectives and resources related to every reconfiguration
mechanism. Figure 3 shows the proposed meta-model.
 A reconfiguration approach for a supply chain tracking platform 9

Figure 3 Meta-model of the reconfiguration mechanism

Figure 4 Activity diagram of the reconfiguration process

10 H. Zidi et al.

In order to introduce a reconfiguration mechanism in the Com-SLoT platform, we

propose an activity diagram illustrated in Figure 4. Indeed, the platform ensures the
recovery of data from the physical layer where it can detect an event. Then, the platform
treats this event to identify its type and the involved parts. After that, the reconfiguration
mechanism is triggered to allow searching the most adequate configuration according to
this event. If the configuration exists in the Configuration Actions Library, the
reconfiguration process will choose the one that satisfy the needs of the event. Otherwise,
the process allows designing the action by setting the parameters before its addition to the
library. Moreover, the reconfiguration process verifies the choice of the action
configuration. Thus, the configuration will be implemented and finally evaluated.

Figure 5 GSM model of the first scenario of the reconfiguration mechanism

In order to specify the two scenarios of the reconfiguration process, we used the GSM
(Guard-Stage-Milestone) approach. Indeed, this approach ensures the integration of the
model representing the process data with the model that characterises the process life
cycle. The GSM approach is mainly characterised by three elements:
• Milestone: they are represented in a circle showing the set of objectives to be
achieved, which indicates the accomplishment of all tasks.
• Stage: they represent all the tasks that can lead to the achievement of objectives or
milestone. It consists of one or more sub-courses.
• Guard: they are represented in the form of a lozenge, characterising all the conditions
within the tasks are triggered.
Importantly, the GSM approach aims at specifying the two scenarios of the
reconfiguration process. It describes the life cycle of a process by indicating the
conditions for triggering the mechanism, the tasks to be performed and the objectives to
be achieved.
 A reconfiguration approach for a supply chain tracking platform 11

The first scenario is shown in Figure 5, where the mechanism begins with the
processing of an event which has been detected by the sensor layer in order to determine:
• The source of the event.
• The type of the event.
• The parts involved in the event.
Then, after notifying the concerned parts, the user searches, in the library of
configuration, an action that may satisfy the needs of the event. Then, and with available
resources, the chosen configuration will be implemented and subsequently evaluated.
Finally, the new reconfiguration will be released to inform the supply chain actors.

Figure 6 GSM model of the second scenario of the reconfiguration mechanism

In the second scenario shown in Figure 6, the mechanism begins with the processing of
the detected event by the sensor layer then following the same steps of the first scenario.
After notifying the concerned parts about this event, the users propose a new
configuration by setting their parameters such as:
• The operation to be performed.
• The objective to be achieved.
• The needed resources.
12 H. Zidi et al.

Then the configuration will be added to the configuration action library. Besides, the
configuration will be implemented and evaluated afterwards. Afterwards, the new
reconfiguration will be released to inform all the supply chain parts.
Nevertheless, if the chosen reconfiguration application failed to achieve its objectives,
the process will restart again. Then, the shortcomings will be reviewed in order to select
the appropriate reconfiguration.
The extension of the Com-SLoT platform by integrating the Open Cloud Computing
Interface (OCCI) seems to be the best solution for our research problem.
OCCI provides open APIs having the ability to manage cloud services and interact
with resources hosted on the cloud platform. Thus, it offers an important degree of
extensibility to add new features to the cloud computing service. As proven by Benaissa
et al., (2011), API approach allows data sharing and authorising between applications.
APIs ensure also real-time access and data integrity.
The UML class diagram of the OCCI core, shown in Figure 7, consists of:
• Entity: A UML class indicating the type of resources and links.
• Resource: A UML class inheriting elements of the UML entity class and
representing real-world computing resources.
• Link: A UML class indicating the link between resources.
• Action: A UML class characterising all the actions that can be performed on the
entities.
• Category: A UML class handles entity identification.
Kind: A UML class defining the feature classification system.
Mixin: A UML class designating the extension mechanism through which new features
can be added to the OCCI.

Figure 7 UML class diagram of the core of the OCCI

Source: Mohamed et al. (2016)

To integrate the reconfiguration mechanism in Com-SLoT platform, we took considered
the proposal of Mohamed and al., (2016) who proposed an extension of the OCCI to
 A reconfiguration approach for a supply chain tracking platform 13

dynamically introduce two key features including the reconfiguration and supervision
based on the Mixin mechanism. Inspired by this extension and in order to solve the main
problem of our subject, the Mixin reconfiguration can be exploited in the cloud service
base that characterises the Com-SLoT platform.
In fact, the OCCI allows introducing new features to the cloud service via the Mixin
mechanism. From the packages explained earlier, the cloud interface is at the heart of the
package which deals with cloud services. It plays a crucial role in managing cloud
resources and integrating the reconfiguration mechanism.
By adapting the Mixin idea and with the integration of the OCCI, the cloud
computing service, characterising the Com-SLoT platform, may be able to provide
reconfiguration features shown in Figure 8. These features are presented below:
Polling: this is a UML class that describes the control and monitoring operations of
each cloud resource.
• Subscription: Characterises the access monitoring data system of the interface.
• Reconfiguration: Provides reconfiguration features.
• Subscription_Tool: Characterises the subscription mechanism whose role is to
manage access to the interface.
• Notification_Tool: Takes care of the notification mechanism by using several tools
(e-mail, message, ...).
• Action_Tool: Models all the actions that can be applied to each reconfiguration
request.

Figure 8 Mechanism of Mixin

Source: Mohamed et al. (2016)

After presenting the layer specifications characterising the Com-SLoT platform firstly
and the OCCI specifications secondly with the proposed extension for adding a
reconfiguration mechanism, the objective of our work is to integrate this interface with
the reconfiguration mechanism into the Com-SLoT platform to handle events that may
affect the supply chain. In addition, a UML class diagram was proposed to model this
integration as shown in Figure 9. In fact, the data and events detected by the sensor
network layer are transmitted to the cloud computing service layer that (Data_Command)
ensures their reception. Thus, these events will be processed via Event_Handler to
identify its source, its type and other properties that will be notified via
(Notification_Tool). In addition, the cloud service layer evokes its resources
(Cloud_Ressource) to trigger the reconfiguration mechanism managed by the Mixin
mechanism that characterises the OCCI. The service requester consults the service
registry containing a reconfiguration action set (Action_Tool).
14 H. Zidi et al.

Figure 9 UML class diagram of the reconfiguration mechanism

After having specified all the elements of the reconfiguration mechanism architecture, the
proposed reconfiguration solutions were implemented. We launched a set of SQL queries
to verify the relations between the different classes. These queries allow retrieving the
source of an event, its type and the concerned users. They also permit identifying the time
of the operation, the location of the physical object, the performed operation and the
actors involved in this operation.
The mechanism starts while capturing events via the sensor network layer and then
transmitting them to the Data_Command. These events will be processed via
Event_Handler. In fact, the Cloud_DataBase identifies the event source, the event type
and the concerned parties. Furthermore, these data will be stored in the Cloud_DataBase.
Then, Notification_Tool will notify the concerned parties by using specific tools in order
to generate reconfiguration actions based on Action_Tool. Finally, Notification_Tool
informs parties in the supply chain of the new results obtained by diffusing the new
reconfigurations.

5 Case study

In this section, a case study is carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of two scenarios
within the proposed platform and demonstrate its functioning processes.
This case study is based on Tereos company which is one of the largest sugar
producers in France. The annual production of its representative products has already
exceeded 3.7 million tons.
However, the management of the logistic chains become very complicated as its
development is bigger and more rapidly than always; that is why Tereos company faces
nowadays several challenges. In fact, due to the large quantity of its products and the
numerous parts acting in the supply chain, it is very difficult to control the quality of
logistic services, especially when unexpected events appear. It is also difficult, for
 A reconfiguration approach for a supply chain tracking platform 15

Tereos, to identify the casual factors and even find and establish an effective method to
reconfigure the situation.
According to the proposed architecture, the tracking and tracing platform was
developed on the Node.Red simulating platform which is an editor running on Node.Js
and working with the cloud under JavaScript functions. It is also linked to the
PhpMyAdmin database platform and stocked in the Database Management System
(DBMS) under the MySQL language.
In the implementation phase, the INPUT are various data such as Temperature, box’s
weight, notification, a hazard captured by sensors, like the Temperature Sensor, or even
stored information’s in RFID labels or in reference codes. When the OUTPUT are
messages displayed in the Node.Red Interface or sent to all user’s email accounts, the
company can easily follow its logistic circle of procedures to configure the platform, as
shown in Figure10.

Figure 10 The implementation process of the tracking and tracing platform (see online version
for colours)

First, the system detects the incoming hazard in order to define its main entities and then
analyse them. After that, the network system will search for an already-saved
reconfiguration, else it will test the capacities of different agents to know which one is the
more adequate to reconfigure the process. Second, once the agent’s type is established,
this one should propose a new reconfiguration and define its parameters. The third step is
the treatment of the already-chosen reconfiguration that consists in constructing the
actions plan, simulating and checking its evaluation. Fourth, after assessing the
reconfiguration, the Database tables stored in the DBMS will be updated according to the
new reconfiguration results. Finally, the new reconfiguration will be automatically added
to the database to be used in similar cases..
If the reconfiguration does not exist in the Database, only the human intervention
would resolve the problem by selecting the most appropriate indicators for the
comparison depending on the situation.
16 H. Zidi et al.

5.1 The reconfiguration scenarios process

5.1.1 Product management
The company needs to assure the traceability of all the products; that is why the
information coming from sensors, as INPUT, will be displayed, as shown in Figure 12(a).
This information includes producing box reference, production node batch, production
date and hour as well as the produced quantities. Besides, Figure 12(c) shows the
temperature and humidity information in real time.

5.1.2 Monitoring management

This phase records the states of product and how to react, as shown in Figure 12(b).
Monitoring management could cope well with the movement of the packaged products to
specify the product situation.

5.1.3 Hazard management

A sustained scenario describes an emergency state according to the security of the
shipping channel. This scenario works when the shipping operator notices the hazard so
he will notify other parts. As a solution, channel 2 will be the shipping channel instead of
channel 1.

Figure 11 Reconfiguration scenarios (see online version for colours)

 A reconfiguration approach for a supply chain tracking platform 17

A wanted scenario represents a positive reply to a doubling demand from the customer.
To satisfy this urgent demand, a second ship filled with freight should be added and sent
to the same customer, using the same channel.
These modifications that would affect a wanted or sustained process are illustrated in
the process management system model schematised by Figure 11.

5.1.4 Data management

The historical and actual data will be analysed then used in reconfiguration treatment.
Thus, it may be represented in an easy-to-understand format and simple tables, as shown
in Figure 12(d). This data is accessible to all company users so that they can know the
slightest organisation change of the logistic chain, making them able to act to the change.
The new data will be definitively stored in the DBMS and the reconfiguration
established will be added as a new line to the ‘historique’ table.

5.1.5 Communication management

Notifications alerts displayed messages and even input/output information are shared
between all the company users via the Node.Red platform and their e-mail accounts, as
shown in Figure 12(e).

Figure 12 Results of the reconfiguration scenarios process (see online version for colours)

(a) Product management (b) Monitoring management

(e) Communication management

(c) Data traceability diagram (d) Data management

Fig.12. Results of the reconfiguration scenarios process
18 H. Zidi et al.

This figure shows well the capacity of the platform to send the results displayed on it by
means of notifications to all users Gmail accounts. Then, the research for the right
reconfiguration will be triggered, either by the cloud or by a physical agent. For this
reason, Figure 12(e) presents a real link between all the management parts and so
between Figures 12(a), 12(b), 12(c) and 12(d).

5.2 Discussion
Through the case study, it is obvious that several benefits can be gained after using the
proposed platform. First, the latter enables the company to monitor the whole process of
products supply chain. Second, the implementation cost may be greatly reduced through
adopting the MQTT protocol and the IoT concepts. Third, it builds an efficient method to
establish logistic chains reconfiguration for companies to solve some problems including
the transport hazards which may be sustained or wanted by the company. As a solution,
our work suggested a real time reaction to resolve it. It is worth-noting that monitoring
the detailed characteristics of the shipped product, such as temperature, number of
products per box, is really one of the companies interest and it will be solved within our
work by verifying in real time if the data match well. Besides, shared information and
traceability of information flow between all parts is also one of the companies limitations.
Using this platform, the three main parts will be notified in the same time so that they can
act together and discuss to resolve any potential hazard. As a result, our proposal can be
efficiently used to improve the quality of the company services.

6 Conclusions

Companies have implemented, in recent years, reconfigurable supply chains that are able
to meet market expectations and customer’s needs by adopting the new technologies such
as the IoT and cloud computing. Reconfiguration mechanisms have been proposed in a
platform dedicated to the management of collaborative supply chains based on the IoT
and cloud computing. The main objective of our research is to ensure a compatibility
between the platform operation and the reconfiguration mechanisms. To do this, we
adopted the approach proposed by Mohamed et al. (2016) based on the extension of the
OCCI. Throughout this project, we used the UML language to model the proposed
reconfiguration mechanisms, MySQL to establish the database and mostly the C++
language to make functions. We described the Com-SLoT platform in order to present the
framework of our research work. We also detailed the characteristics of all layers of this
platform. Thus, we represented the proposed reconfiguration mechanism that allow
reacting to the wanted or sustained events that may affect the functioning of the supply
chain, while ensuring its integration into the Com-SLoT platform. The performed work
represents an open field for any continuation path. Thus, the perspectives can be
formulated on several axes. In the short term, we intend to refine the specifications of the
proposed reconfiguration solutions.

Acknowledgements

We thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions.
 A reconfiguration approach for a supply chain tracking platform 19

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Abbreviations
3G Mobile network third generation
4G Mobile network fourth generation
4PL Fourth party logistics
API Application programming interface
GPS Global positioning system
GSM Global system for mobile
HTTP Hypertext transfer protocol
MQTT Message queuing telemetry transport
NFC Near field communication
PHP Hypertext pre-processor
QR Quick response
RFID Radio frequency identification
SOAP Simple object access protocol
SQL Structured query language
UDDI Universal description discovery and integration
WSDL Web services description language
WSN Wireless sensor set work
XML Extensible markup language

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