Norwegian Marine Technology Research Institute

Åsmund Tjora, Arnor Solberg, Christian Steinebach, Kay Fjørtoft & Marianne Hagaseth

e-Freight 2012 ConferenceDelft, May 10th 2012

A SaaS-Based Port Resource Hub

Plan for presentation

• The challenges

•What is the "Resource Hub"?

• Design

• Implementation of prototype and demonstration setup

• Resulting thoughts on the SaaS possibilities and future work

The challenges

The port is a community with many different actors that have to cooperate

• A vessel will typically use port services from several providers during a port call

• There are dependencies between the services regarding time, location, space etc.

• Coordination between the services from different actors may be quite cumbersome

Port authority

TerminalWarehouse owner

Mooring crewTugboat

Pilot

The challenges

The Port Services are based on resources (human resources, equipment, facilities…)

• Knowledge about resource availability is useful when setting up services

• There are benefits from sharing some resources between actors

• Typical resource management is for one organization, cooperation on resource level may be difficult

Seamless cooperation between organizations require cooperation between organizations' IT solutions

• May be costly if a "traditional" integration solution is used

The challenges

Setting up and booking of services needed for a port call may be a complex process

• The (agent of the) vessel must book services from different providers, using several provider systems

− Some common information for most systems: Vessel data, arrival ID, etc.

• Dependencies between services

• Updates (e.g. due to delayed arrival) may require updates to all bookings

• Resource availability not always visible

The Resource Hub

A Software-as-a-Service-based system for the port community, providing functionality for

• Resource management

• Port Service composition

• Booking and booking updates for Port Servicesacross several organizations

The work is mainly based on two projects:

• MIS – Maritime Information Centre− A project aimed at increasing information flow and reducing manual workload in

information exchange in the maritime sector− Mainly focused on work on Maritime Single Window, but the Resource Hub is also a

part of the project.

• SiSaS – SINTEF Software-as-a-Service− A project aimed at generating methodologies and tools for Scientific Software-as-a-

Service− The Resource Hub has been used as pilot for testing out methodologies and tools

Resource Management

• Simple functions for keeping track of resource availability− For many of the resources: an electronic calendar

• Must also keep track of dependencies between resources− Practical purposes

− Location, capabilities, need for qualified operators

− Company policies

Trucks

Terminalfacilities

WorkersTugboat

Cargo space

Berth

Resource Management

• The port organizations must also be able to use the functionality of the Resource Hub combined with their own resource management systems

− Own systems may have tailored functionality more suited to the organizations' businesses than what the Resource Hub is able to offer

− It should still be possible to make the resource availability "visible" on the Resource Hub

Trucks

Terminalfacilities

WorkersTugboat

Cargo space

Berth

Port Service Composition

•What the providers offer to the customers are Port Services− In its simplest form, a Port Service may be the use of a single resource− Complex Port Services use several resources, and may have a timing

plan for when each resource is in use.

• Typically, a provider predefines offered Port Services− Both simple and complex services− May include other resource owners and service providers

Unloading

Power supply

Mooring

Loading

Pilot

Port Service Composition

• The customer may also compose Port Services based on the Port Services offered by the providers in the port

− This way, the Port Services may be tailored to what is needed in the port call

• There are also dependencies between the Port Services that the system must keep track of when composing new Port Services or booking

− Inherited from the resource dependencies− Added by the Port Service providers− Added by the customer in order to generate automated booking rules

Unloading

Power supply

Mooring

Loading

Pilot

Booking

• Similar to booking in other online systems, but dependencies make it a bit more complex

• Ideally, a two-stage booking process should be used− 1. Resources are temporarily reserved until all dependencies have been

resolved− 2. Final booking (or cancellation)

•When a third-party system is used for booking, (e.g. a provider has its own booking system, and the Resource Hub booking only works as a front-end to this system) the booking scheme will be dependent on this system

Booking updates

• The Resource Hub must also have functions for updates to the booking, including timing (early/late arrival to port, change of order between Port Service) and adding or cancelling Port Services.

• This also means that there must be some conflict handling facilities− Resources not available at the new time

• In order to solve such conflicts, the Resource Hub may benefit from connection to collaboration systems (e.g. online conference)

Connection to other systems

The Resource Hub will benefit from connections to other information services

• As mentioned, the business systems of the Port Service providers and resource owners may be preferred to the functionality of the Resource Hub.

− The Resource Hub should be able to offer services to third-party business systems, allowing the providers to use the Resource Hub functionality in addition to their own systems.

− For the customer, the difference between using services directly on the Resource Hub and using the Resource Hub services as a front-end to access the Port Service providers' systems should be as small as possible.

ResourceHub

Res.HubBookingSystem

Provider 1's system

Provider 1

Provider 2

Book Port Services

Customer

Connection to other systems

• Connection to other information systems in order to avoid having to submit the same data several times

− SafeSeaNet− Customs and other authority systems− Cargo information− Vessel registries

• Systems that can be used for automated information capture− Use of AIS for automatic updates to arrival time− Sensors in cargo, vessels, equipment…

•Weather information

• There is a rapid growth of the "Internet of Services", and the Resource Hub may be able to use new services in order to improve its functionality

• The services offered by the Resource Hub may also be used by other systems in order to improve their services

Design of the Resource Hub

• Close cooperation between Resource Hub and other systems makes it logical to use a Service-Oriented Architecture for the system

• By using SOA, there will be focus on the cooperation with other systems and the services provided and required by the system from the start

• By the use of SOA and SaaS principles, another benefit is achieved: System can be independent from the organizations using the system

− Does not have to be run and maintained locally in the port− The users of the system cooperate "on equal ground" – none of the users

have privileges or responsibilities of system ownership

• In order to facilitate the use and integration of Resource Hub services, it has been decided that the system shall have open interfaces

− Preferably using an international standard for the interfaces

Design of the Resource Hub

• Describing the processes that the Resource Hub can be a part of, as well as the potential users of the Resource Hub has been done in the MIS project

− "Model" ports used for main data gathering and examples have been medium-sized Norwegian ports (Ålesund, Kristiansund, Tromsø)

− Data from other ports (mainly available data from other projects) have also been used.

• The design process have been based on methodologies described in the SiSaS project

− Methodologies and tools from SiSaS were also used in implementation of a prototype

• The design is mainly focused on the Resource Hub system and services offered by the system

− There has also been some work on design a web client that accesses the services

Design of the Resource Hub

• Results from the MIS project and the initial ideas for the Resource Hub was used to describe the system boundary model

− Detailing out what the system shall be able to do

− What it should not do (e.g. done outside the system by client systems and services offered by other systems)

• The boundary description was used to create a SOAml model, describing the services offered and used by the Resource Hub.

− This model was used as a base to describe the interfaces of the system

Design of the Resource Hub

• Other models were also used for creating a common understanding of the system and its functionality, especially where we saw potential challenges

− Resource availability and checks for availability− Two-stage booking process− Etc…

• Most of these models were not used directly in the implementation work, but proved useful for the understanding of the challenges

Resource Hub Prototype

• A prototype was implemented using "SiSaS studio" – an Eclipse-based toolset for model-driven development that is developed as part of the SiSaS project

• The prototype served several purposes− As a pilot in the SiSaS project, it functions as a test case for

methodologies and tools, giving both feedback to and potential tutorials for the methodologies and tools delivered from the project

− In the MIS project, it has been used as a part of a setup for demonstrating several of the ideas that the project has resulted in

− It also serves as a "first iteration" of the development process

Resource Hub Prototype

• The prototype covers basic resource management, Port Service composition and booking functions

− These are considered the "main parts" of the system

• Communication with SafeSeaNet, enabling a link between the Port Services that were booked and the arrival ID in SSN.

• Data from AIS, allowing both a view of the harbour area and the position of the vessel

• A web client for access to the main functionality of the system

Demonstrator setup

• The prototype was used for a demonstration of ideas from the MIS project

• The demonstration was set up for a port arrival process, involving the vessel, the vessel's agent and a service provider

• The demonstration had the following steps

− The vessel and its agent using a Maritime Information Centre to cooperate on generating an arrival message, as well as sending this message to SSN

− The agent books services related to this arrival through the Resource Hub

− The service provider accepting or declining the booking request

The possibilities of Software-as-a-Service

• The research done in the MIS and SiSaS projects gives an example on how the Software-as-a-Service model and "Future Internet technologies" may be used in solutions for the transport and logistics sector

• Possibilities of service orientation in software may result in better information flow between systems and solve some of the information exchange and cooperation challenges experienced today

− Opportunities for cross-company cooperation while avoiding the problem of large-scale "traditional" integration of systems

• The SaaS model gives possibilities for cooperation with services from other public and private systems and automatic information gathering

− Opportunities for better services, better information flow, less need for manual input

− Early indication for deviation, allowing more time for deviation handling− Combination with other services in ways not yet thought of…

• Increased visibility of services, new possibilities of comparing offers from different actors, new possibilities for combining Port Services from cooperating actors…

Future work

• The Resource Hub is currently in an early stage both on design and implementation level

− Both design and prototype system will be updated

• A short-term goal is to deploy a Resource Hub prototype on a cloud-based service for demonstration purposes

− Both to get more experience with publishing services "on the Cloud", as well as avoiding in-house firewall challenges during demonstrations…

• A long-term goal is to use the research in a commercial-quality system

• The ideas from the project also have been an input to work on other projects, like the EU project FInest

•While the work has focused on the challenges of the port community, similar solutions may be usable in other sectors

Norwegian Marine Technology Research Institute

Contact:asmund.tjora@marintek.sintef.no

Thank you!