In the past year, Hungary has progressed mainly on Connectivity (Fixed broadband services are available to 94%of homes,
only 5%use cloud services, while 8. 9%use social media, among the lowest in the EU). Hungary falls into the cluster of low-performance4 countries, where it performs above average.
Connectivity, Human Capital, Use of Internet, Integration of Digital Technology and Digital Public services. For more information about the DESI please refer to http://ec. europa. eu/digital-agenda/en/digital-agenda-scoreboard 2 The DESI 2015 is constructed from indicators referring mostly to the calendar year 2014 (except
Fixed Broadband subscription (lower values are better) 1. 6%(2014) 18 1. 7%(2013) 17 1. 4%(2014) Fixed broadband services
covering 80%of homes as opposed to 68%in the EU. In Hungary there is strong platform competition between xdsl and cable broadband.
DESI 2015 Country Profile Hungary Page 3 of 6 2 Human Capital 2 Human Capital Hungary Cluster score EU score rank score
DESI 2015 19 0. 48 0. 42 0. 54 DESI 2014 18 0. 47 0. 35 0. 52 With a Human Capital
STEM graduates play an important role in exploiting the opportunities offered by digital technologies in businesses.
Videos and Games%individuals who used Internet in the last 3 months (aged 16-74) 47%(2014) 18 51%(2012) 13 49%(2014) 3a3 Video on Demand
Hungary EU DESI 2015 DESI 2014 DESI 2015 Value rank value rank value 4a1 Electronic Information Sharing%enterprises (no financial sector, 10+employees
) 16%(2014) 26 13%(2013) 26 31%(2014) 4a2 RFID%enterprises (no financial sector, 10+employees) 3. 9%(2014) 16 1
. 1%(2011) 22 3. 8%(2014) 4a3 Social media%enterprises (no financial sector 10+employees) 8. 9%(2014) 21 9. 4%(2013) 22 14%(2014) 4a4 einvoices%enterprises (no financial sector, 10+employees) n
. a.-5. 2%(2013) 27 11%(2014) 4a5 Cloud%enterprises (no financial sector, 10+employees) 5%(2014) 23 n. a.-11
%(2014) 4b1 SMES Selling Online%SMES (no financial sector, 10+employees) 9. 8%(2014) 21 9. 6%(2013) 21 15%(2014
%Cloud services (5%)or social media (8. 9%)in Hungary is among the lowest in the EU. Without digitisation
) Modern public services offered online in an efficient manner are a vehicle for the reduction of public spending as well as efficiency gains for enterprises
They relate knowledge investment and input to performance or economic output throughout the innovation cycle.
The indicator on knowledge intensity of the economy is an index on structural change that focuses on the sectoral composition and specialisation of the economy and shows the evolution of the weight of knowledge intensive sectors
products and services. Investment and input Performance/economic output Research R&d intensity 2011: 1. 21%(EU:
2. 03%;%US: 2. 75%)2000-2011:+4. 64%(EU:++0. 8%;%US:++0. 2%)Excellence in S&t 2010: 31.88 (EU:
0. 61) Knowledge intensity of the economy 2010: 50.23 (EU: 48.75; US: 56.25) 2000-2010:+1. 87%(EU:+
+0. 5%)Competitiveness Hot spots in key technologies Health, Environment, Automobiles, Biotechnology HT+MT contribution to the trade balance 2011: 5. 84%(EU:
-10.75%)Over the last decade, the Hungarian research and innovation system has made clear progress in the level of private sector investment and in overall R&d intensity,
as well as in scientifi c quality, patent revenues and structural change towards a more knowledge intensive economy.
unfavourable framework conditions for innovation, in particular an unpredictable business environment, a high administrative burden and competition not conducive to innovation;
The newly prepared innovation strategy is expected to provide specifi c well targeted incentive schemes in support of innovative SMES and of enterprises of intermediate size
In Hungary, inward business investment in R&d as a percentage of total BERD decreased between 2003 and 2007 in contrast to the majority of European countries where internationalisation of R&d increased over the same period.
However, the actual amount of inward business investment in R&d increased in nominal terms. Hungary has by far the highest ratio of inward FDI to GDP but only an average inward business investment in R&d intensity.
Hungary Spain and to a lesser extent Italy all suffered declines in intensity of inward investment in R&d over the period 1998 2007 (the latest period for
which data are available). Hungary has had a participant success rate of 20.4%in FP7 close to the EU average of 21.5,
Employment in knowledge-intensive activities (manufacturing and business services) as%of total employment aged 15-64 (0. 7%)Scientific publications within the 10%most cited scientific publications worldwide as%of total
This is probably due to the increased role of large foreign owned enterprises in business R&d investment.
, 000 Kilometers Martinique & Guadeloupe Réunion Technological production Information and Communication Technologies Scientifi c production Source:
Compiled by Science-Metrix using data from Scopus (Elsevier) Number of publications by NUTS2 regions of ERA countries Information and Communication Technologies, 2000-2011 Publications (Fractional Counting) 0
, 500 2, 000 Kilometers Martinique & Guadeloupe Réunion Technological production Environment Scientifi c production Source:
Compiled by Science-Metrix using data from Scopus (Elsevier) Number of publications by NUTS2 regions of ERA countries Environment (including Climate Change & Earth sciences), 2000-2011 Publications (Fractional Counting
Hungary's strengths lie in automobiles and in information and communication technologies. The relative specialisation in terms of patenting is in biotechnologies and health.
In the case of environment, Hungary had a growth index of 1. 21 between 2000 and 2009 compared to an EU average of 1. 25.
and Innovat ion per formance in EU Member States and Associated countr ies Policies and reforms for research and innovation It is noticeable that R&d intensity increased during the first years of the economic crisis,
The issue of the low share of innovative enterprises urgently needs to be addressed. Support measures geared towards removing obstacles to the growth of innovative companies are expected indeed under the Science and Innovation Programme of the New Széchenyi Plan.
transport mobility, automotive industry and logistics, health industries (pharmaceutical, medical instruments and balneology), information and communication technologies, energy and environmental technologies,
Private investment in R&d is carried primarily out by a small number of large foreign owned enterprises making growth relatively vulnerable.
In particular, the country shows significantly lower values on the patent applications and knowledge intensive services export indicators compared to the EU average.
So far, demand side innovation policy has only been taken into consideration by the government as a future option.
venture capital, favourable loans, guarantees and tax incentives. The Science and Innovation Programme of the New Széchenyi Plan highlight pre commercial procurement as a high priority.
A strong decline is observed for venture capital as a percentage of GDP which decreased by more than 75%between 2009 and 2010 (the highest decline in the EU). Links between public sector
The general trend to the le hand side refl ects the decrease in manufacturing in the overall economy.
and Radio, TV and communication equipment, have increased their weight in the economy, as well as their R&d intensity.
Hungary Competitiveness in reaping income of global demand and markets Investment in knowledge, technology intensive clusters,
This indicates a possible gain in relative world competitiveness in line with the increasing weight of these sectors in the economy (see previous graph.
In Hungary total factor productivity grew steadily between 2000 and 2006 and then fell signifi cantly during the years of economic crisis.
the employment rate has been slightly falling, particularly with the economic crisis. However, Hungary's best rankings within the EU are for the contribution of high tech and medium tech commodities to the trade balance, sales of new to market and new to fi rm innovations as a percentage of turnover,
and licence and patent revenues from abroad as a percentage of GDP. These are indicators
Average annual growth refers to 2004-2011.4) Venture capital includes early stage, expansion and replacement for the period 2000-2006 and includes seed, start up, later stage, growth, replacement and buyout for the period 2007-2011.5) Venture capital:
EU does not include EE, CY, LV, LT, MT, SI, SK. These Member States were included not in the EU ranking.
(2) Rank within EU ENABLERS Investment in knowledge New doctoral graduates (ISCED 6) per thousand population aged 25-34 0. 50 0. 53 0
50 0. 47 0. 46 0. 48 0. 45 0. 43:1. 3 0. 74 21 Venture capital (4) as%of GDP 0. 06
6. 15 5. 85 5. 84:4. 20 (6) 3 Growth of total factor productivity (total economy) 2000=100 100 102 105
Composite indicator of structural change 41.7:::46.2:::50.2::1. 9 48.7 11 Employment in knowledge intensive activities (manufacturing and business services) as%of total employment
17.6: 16.8: 16.8: 16.8::-0. 8 38.4 23 Environment related technologies patent applications to the EPO per billion GDP in current €pps 0. 08 0
1%)Business enterprise researchers (FTE) per thousand labour force (10,1%)Employment in knowledge-intensive activities (manufacturing and business services) as%of total employment aged 15-64 (0,
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Average EU Rank HUNGARY annual average (2) within growth (1) EU(%)ENABLERS Investment in knowledge New doctoral graduates
. 48 0. 45 0. 43:1. 3 0. 74 21 Venture capital (4) as%of GDP 0. 06 0. 04 0. 02 0. 03
6. 7: 10.5: 16.4: 13.7::12.7 14.4 13 Knowledge-intensive services exports as%total service exports:::
6. 15 5. 85 5. 84:4, 20 (6) 3 Growth of total factor productivity (total economy)- 2000=100 100 102 105
Composite indicator of structural change 41.7:::46.2:::50.2::1. 9 48.7 11 Employment in knowledge-intensive activities (manufacturing and business services) as%of total employment
17.6: 16.8: 16.8: 16.8::-0. 8 38.4 23 Environment-related technologies-patent applications to the EPO per billion GDP in current PPS€ 0. 08 0
Average annual growth refers to 2004-2011.4) Venture capital includes early-stage, expansion and replacement for the period 2000-2006 and includes seed, start-up, later-stage, growth,
replacement, rescue/turnaround and buyout for the period 2007-2011.5) Venture capital: EU does not include EE, CY, LV, LT, MT, SI, SK,
ICT and E-business Impact in the Transport and Logistics Services Industry Study report No. 05/2008 This report was prepared by Consultrans on behalf of the European commission, Enterprise & Industry Directorate General, in the context of the"Sectoral E-business
European commission, DG Enterprise & Industry E-mail: entr-innov-ict-ebiz@ec. europa. eu, info@ebusiness-watch. org Impact Study No. 05/2008 ICT and E-business Impact in the Transport & Logistics
E-business Watch and this report The European commission, Enterprise & Industry Directorate General, launched the Sectoral E-business Watch (Sebw) to study
and assess the impact of ICT on enterprises, industries and the economy in general across different sectors of the economy in the enlarged European union,
or directly at the Sebw website (www. europa. eu. int/comm/enterprise/ict/policy/watch/index. htm, www. ebusiness-watch. org).
This report presents the results of a sector impact study, focusing on electronic business in the transport and logistics services industry.
The findings are based on an international survey of enterprises on their ICT use, case studies and an econometric analysis of the ICT impact on productivity growth in the sector.
For detailed advice on corporate planning, business processes and management, technology integration and legal or tax issues, the services of a professional should be obtained.
Acknowledgements This report was prepared by Altran Group & Consultrans on behalf of the European commission, Enterprise & Industry Directorate General.
Gmbh Oxfordstr. 2, 53111 Bonn, Germany info@ebusiness-watch. org European commission Enterprise & Industry Directorate-General D4"ICT for competitiveness and innovation"entr
76 3. 6. 1 Companies receiving orders from customers online...77 3. 6. 2 e-Ticketing:
212 E-business in the transport & logistics industry 5 Executive Summary About this study This study focuses on the adoption and implications of information and communication technology (ICT) and e-business activity in the transport and logistics
services industry (TLS. The study shows how companies in this sector use ICT for managing their business processes, internally and in exchange with suppliers and customers.
It identifies related opportunities and drivers as well as possible barriers for ICT adoption and digital integration and assesses the impact of ICT deployment on firms and on the industry as a whole.
Possible implications for policy actions are indicated. Findings presented in this report are based on literature, expert interviews, 12 company case studies, an international survey among 1,
097 enterprises form the sector on their ICT usage conducted by the Sebw in September 2007.
It is a revision of the General Industrial Classification of Economic activities within the European communities, known by the acronym NACE and originally published by Eurostat in 1970.
Transport and logistics are key components of a successful economy: they play a major role in national economies
and are significant contributors at both the national and local level. Transport and logistics underpin the economy,
enabling the movement of goods, services and people as efficiently as possible. The transport sector in Europe plays a significant role in its economic development.
It currently generates 7%of European union's gross domestic product (GDP) and accounts for around 5%of employment in the EU (see Section 2. 2). The fast growth of freight transport driven to a large extent by economic decisions contributes to growth and employment but also causes congestion,
The challenge for the European policy for transport services is to find solutions for freight
and that also promote sustainable growth, fuel economy, the reduction of emissions, safe and healthy lifestyles and social inclusion (see Section 2. 3). ICT adoption
and usage in transport and logistics services ICT can have a significant influence on the mobility of people
thus affecting the demand for transport in spatial and temporal terms. Technological trends will meet the demand for comfort
safety and speed through advances in ICT in the field of telematics. This covers systems for traffic
for 21%of employment) said that they used Voice-over-IP services. It can be expected
The demand for e-skills and ICT practitioners Only 8%of all enterprises actually employ ICT practitioners (most of the small companies cannot do so.
The percentage is higher among medium (33%)and large companies (66%).45%of companies said in the survey that they had outsourced ICT services to external service providers in the past 12 months prior to the interview
The digitisation of business processes The continuous improvement of the basic ICT infrastructure in the TLS sector has allowed companies to embrace opportunities to substitute paper-based
"enabling customers to order and receive their ticket online. In freight transport and logistics, ecommerce includes initiating,
The special role of this subsector in this context is that its business is exactly to provide these services to other industries.
provider of e-services. In all cases, ecommerce is in this sector closely linked with the objective to optimise business processes:
which ideally provides companies with the opportunity to reduce administrative costs and, at the same time, offer a higher level of service to travellers (see Section 3. 6. 2). All in all,
35%of TLS firms (by their share of employment) said they accepted orders from customers online.
30-35%said that they allowed customers to order services online. This appears to be E-business in the transport
Micro (1-9) Small (10-49) Medium (50-249) Large (250+)Accept orders from customers online Use a CRM system*figures for TLS total
US transport services companies According to the survey, US companies from the TLS industries are equipped slightly better with ICT infrastructure and systems than their European counterparts.
however, suggests that enterprises in Europe and in the US have reached a similar status. E-business adoption in EU vs.
growth, innovation dynamics and market competition. The analysis used data from the EU KLEMS Productivity and Growth Accounts2 (macro-data) as well as from the E-business Survey 2007 (micro-data.
Regarding the relationships between ICT capital investment and productivity growth (see Section 4. 1), the results indicate that an instantaneous impact of ICT capital investment on total factor productivity growth does not take place in this sector.
This is not in line with the typically reported results in the standard growth accounting literature, where total factor productivity (TFP) tends to instantaneously rise with increased investment in ICT capital.
Regressions based on the micro-data from the E-business Survey 2007 aimed to explore links between ICT usage,
such as how to effectively integrate e-business processes into existing business models and strategies to change organisational structures.
ICT adoption and complementary investments in skills enhance innovation, which is associated positively with turnover growth.
and implications of ICT and e-business practices in the transport and logistics services (TLS) sector. 3 It describes how companies in this sector use information
and in exchanges with suppliers and customers and assesses the impact of ICT for firm performance in a context of global competition.
It identifies related opportunities for companies, drivers and possible barriers for ICT adoption and digital integration.
The analysis is based on literature, interviews with industry representatives and experts, company case studies and a telephone survey among decision-makers in European enterprises from the TLS industries.
The study addresses, in particular, policy makers (in the fields of innovation and ICT-related policies and in sectoral economic policy) and representatives of the transport and logistics industry (notably firm managers, decision-makers in marketing, procurement, ICT
and logistics services. Chapter 3 describes the current state-of-play in e-business in this industry,
This chapter has been developed mainly by economists from DIW Berlin, who used econometric statistical methods to explore how ICT capital
and ebusiness activity are linked with firm and industry characteristics and influence those. Chapter 5 presents company case studies. These have been selected as practical examples
across the European economy. It represents the continued effort of the European commission, DG Enterprise and Industry to support policy in the fields of ICT and e-business,
which started with"E-business W@tch"in late 2001. In ICT-related fields, DG Enterprise and Industry has a twofold mission:"
"to enhance the competitiveness of the ICT sector, and to facilitate the efficient uptake of ICT for European enterprises in general."
"The services of the Sebw are expected to contribute to these goals in the logistics and transport sector.
This mission can be broken down into the following main objectives: to assess the impact of ICT with regard to productivity and growth on enterprises, industries and the economy in general;
to highlight barriers for ICT uptake, i e. issues that are hindering a faster and/or more effective use of ICT by enterprises in Europe;
to assess the role of ICT as an enabler of organisational changes and business process innovation in the sector;
to engage in dialogue with stakeholders from industry and policy institutions, providing a forum for debating relevant issues.
Sebw is informed supporting policy decision-making, in particular in the fields of innovation, competition and structural policy.
The goal of eeurope 2005 was"to promote take-up of e-business with the aim of increasing the competitiveness of European enterprises and raising productivity and growth through investment in information and communication technologies
human resources (notably e-skills) and new business models"."4 The i2010 policy, a follow-up to eeurope, also stresses the critical role of ICT for productivity
and skilful application of ICT is one of the largest contributors to productivity and growth throughout the economy, 4"eeurope 2005:
"Communication from the Commission, COM (2002) 263 final, 28 may 2002, section 3. 1. 2. E-business in the transport
& logistics industry 12 leading to business innovations in key sectors"(p. 6). 5 This Communication anticipates"a new era of e-business solutions",based on integrated ICT systems and tools,
Some of the policy areas of the renewed Lisbon objectives address ICT-related issues, Central Policy Area No. 6 deals with facilitating ICT uptake across the European economy.
"ICT are an important tool""More efforts are needed to improve business processes in European enterprises
European companies, under the pressure of their main international competitors, need to find new opportunities to reduce costs
Information Society Benchmarking Report In 2005, taking globalisation and intense international competition into consideration, the European commission launched a new industrial policy7 with the aim to create better framework conditions for manufacturing industries in the coming years.
The Sebw is one of the policy instruments used by DG Enterprise and Industry to support the implementation of the industrial policy and related programmes.
"Communication from the Commission, COM (2005) 229 final. 6"Working Together for Growth and Jobs:
a New Start for the Lisbon Strategy",Communication, COM (2005) 24, Brussels, 02.02.2005. http://europa. eu. int/growthandjobs/pdf/COM2005 024 EN. pdf. 7"Implementing the Community
"Communication from the Commission, COM (2005) 474 final, 5. 10.2005. E-business in the transport & logistics industry 13 the E-business Support Network (ebsn), a European network of e-business policy makers and business support organisations, the eskills Forum,
a task force established in 2003 to assess the demand and supply of ICT and e-business skills and to develop policy recommendations, the ICT Task force, a group
Scope of the programme Since 2001, the Sebw and its predecessor"E-business W@tch"have published ebusiness studies on about 25 sectors9 of the European economy,
27.51+52--3 Furniture 36.12-14--4 Retail 52 2004,2003 5 Transport and logistics services 60,63 (parts thereof)--6 Banking 65.1 2003
notably by enabling electronic data exchanges between a company and its customers, suppliers, service providers and business partners.
and concepts A definition of ICT This study examines the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in European businesses.
devices and services used for data processing (the information side of ICT) as well as telecommunications equipment and services for data transmission and communication (the communication side).
The EU ICT market according to EITO (2007) Market segment Products/services included (examples) Market value for EU (2007)( EITO estimate) ICT equipment Computer hardware, end-user
communications equipment (such as mobile phones), office equipment (such as copiers) and data communications and network equipment (such as switching and routing equipment, cellular mobile infrastructure) €159 billion Software products
System and application software €76 billion IT services Consulting, implementation and operations management €140 billion Carrier services Fixed voice telephone and data services, mobile telephone
services, cable TV €293 billion Source: EITO 2007 In its widest sense,'e-business'refers to the application of these technologies in business processes,
When the bust phase of the previous economic cycle commonly referred to as the'new economy'started in 2001,
The maturity of ICT-based data exchanges between businesses and their suppliers and customers, fostered by progress in the definition
e-business has regained momentum as a topic for enterprise strategy both for large multinationals and SMES."
The increasing competitive pressure on companies, many of which operate in a global economy, has been a strong driver for ICT adoption.
Firms are constantly searching for opportunities to cut costs and ICT holds great promise in this respect as it increases the efficiency of a firm's business processes,
These last sectors are considered widely key to improve competitiveness in the current phase of development of European economies.
and products or services of excellent quality but also the ability to communicate effectively and cooperate with business partners and potential customers.
A definition of e-business As part of this maturing process electronic business has progressed from a specific to a very broad topic.
i e. exchanges between a company and its suppliers or customers. These can be other companies('B2b'business-to-business), consumers('B2c'business-toconsumers),
While the narrow definition focuses on'internet transactions'alone, the broad definition defines e-commerce as"the sale or purchase of goods or services,
The goods and services are ordered over those networks, but the payment and the ultimate delivery of the goods or service may be conducted on-or offline"(OECD, 2001).
commercial exchanges between a company and its suppliers or customers which are conducted electronically. Participants can be other companies('B2b'business-to-business), consumers('B2c'),or governments('B2g'.
the sale or purchase of goods or services, whether between businesses, households, individuals, governments, and other public or private organisations, conducted over computer-mediated networks.
or collaborative processes between companies that are not necessarily transactionfocused (for example industrial engineers collaborating on a design in an online environment).
when the'new economy'bubble burst in 2001, it had the merit of pointing towards the role of ICT in cooperations between enterprises and the increasing digital integration of supply chains.
These developments go beyond simple point-to-point exchanges between two companies. 11 The respective survey questions ask companies
not only between a company and its direct suppliers and customers, but also aiming at a full vertical integration of the entire supply chain (Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier n suppliers).
& logistics services industry The conceptual framework outlined is mostly applicable to e-business in the transport and logistics services industry.
the management of logistics services is the vary nature of the business activity; ICT are used mainly to support the management of complex logistical processes (e g. for fleet control in larger transport firms with a large fleet of vehicles.
In passenger transport, by contrast, online passenger services are a key issue in this sector, notably the online provision of tickets.
What are the main impacts of ICT adoption with regard to employment, competitiveness, economic growth, transport safety, efficiency and possible cost reductions (distribution costs), technological innovation and for entering into new markets?
GPS, transport communications or warehouse management systems? Policy implications: Do the findings on these research questions above have implications for policy, for example in the fields of economic, competition, industrial or innovation policy?
do related ICT developments call for adaptations of the regulatory framework? Data and information sources The study is based on a mix of data sources
Detailed information about this survey is available in Annex I. Eurostat Community survey on ICT usage in enterprises (2006:
EU-KLEMS Growth Accounts include measures of economic growth, productivity, employment creation, capital formation and technological change at the industry level for 25 EU Member States as well as for the United states. In general
The data sources that have been used to create the EU-KLEMS data series are large based on series from the national statistical institutes (e g. investment series),
European Federation for Transport and Environment European Logistics Association European Freight and Logistics Leaders Club CLECAT, European association for forwarding, transport, logistic and customs services. 16
The discussion of the Sebw survey results in Chapter 3 is mostly based on descriptive cross-tabular presentation of simple frequencies (typically percentages of enterprises with a certain activity.
E-business in the transport & logistics industry 23 2 Context and background 2. 1 Sector definition scope of the study The transport and logistics services sector has not been covered by earlier sector
The availability of high quality transport and logistics services is of paramount importance for growth and competitiveness of the European economy.
therefore a leverage European and national policy makers could use to enhance the economy in general. While the transport industry services other sectors, ICT and e-business have a crucial importance for the competitiveness of European transport companies themselves.
Using e-business technologies, European transport and logistics companies can improve their productivity, create an integrated approach linking transport modes in innovative ways and,
thus, improve the quality of their services. This has an impact on the European economic development as a whole.
case studies and a survey among decision-makers in European enterprises from the transport and logistics industry about the ICT use of their company.
interurban 49.2 Freight rail transport 49.3 Other passenger land transport 49.4 60.24 Freight transport by road and removal services 52 63 Warehousing
It is a revision of the General Industrial Classification of Economic activities within the European communities, known by the acronym NACE and originally published by Eurostat in 1970.
and logistics are key components of a successful economy, and governments worldwide seek to increase competitiveness through new or replacement infrastructure.
The transport and logistics sector plays a major role in nationals'economy and is a significant contributor at both the national and local level.
It underpins the economy enabling the movement of goods, services and people as efficiently as possible.
The transport sector in Europe plays a significant role in its economic development. It currently generates 7%of European union gross domestic product (GDP) and for around 5%of employment in the EU. The growth of goods transport within the EU,
at a rate of 2. 8%per year since1995 2004, was broadly in line with economic growth, which was 2. 3%on average in the same period.
and energy loss. 18 This growth is mainly due to changes in the European economy and its system of production.
In the last 20 years, we have moved from a‘stock'to a‘flow'economy. The abolition of frontiers within the Community has resulted in the establishment of a‘justin-time'or‘revolving stock'production system.
Specialisation, globalisation, the search for manufacturing scale economies, and rationalisation of production facilities have increased also freight movements.
and that also promote sustainable growth, fuel economy, the reduction of emissions, safe and healthy lifestyles and social inclusion. 18 Although a major contributor to growth,
Unification of accounts and marginal costs for transport efficiency. Fifth framework Transport RTD. November 2003 (www. its. leeds. ac. uk/unite/.
Road transport services account for 1. 6%of the EU GDP and give jobs to 4. 3 million people. 20 The whole economy
and society depends heavily on efficient road transport: 44%of the goods are moved by trucks21 (compared with 41%for short sea shipping,
Demand factors, such as a reduction in heavy bulk transport and the increasing importance of door-to-door and justin-time services,
undoubtedly contributed to the strong sustained growth of road transport. However, the disadvantage of this situation rely in its harmful effects on the environment (road construction, land use for parking, emissions etc.
and on public health and, of course, the heavy toll from road accidents. Road transport is the main source of CO2 emissions since it alone accounts for 84%of the total attributable to transport.
This is in order to meet the needs of the environment and public concerns without compromising the competitiveness of the transport system
and of the economy. 2. 2. 2 Rail transport Rail is a contrast: a mixture of ancient and modern.
on the other, antediluvian freight services and decrepit suburban lines at saturation point, with commuters jammed into crowded trains
Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European parliament on monitoring development of the rail market. 24 European commission, Rail Transport and Interoperability.
thus to grow significantly as the total transport demand in 2010 is expected to be 40%higher than in 1998.26 The facts
and projections of the sector are shown in Exhibit 2. 2-1. The rail stakeholders, who engaged on a joint definition of a common strategy for European rail,
but if rail cannot offer its customers a cost-effective alternative service, it will never be able to make a real contribution to the expected increasing demands for European transport. 2. 2. 3 Maritime transport High quality waterborne transport is less costly and more environmentally friendly than road transport,
and a shift between the two modes could lead to millions of euros of savings.
integrated short-sea shipping connections that provide door-to-door services which can match or better those offered by road-only journeys.
During the last decades the information and communication technologies (ICT) did also influence this transport mode significantly resulting in the realisation and implementation of so-called River Information Services (RIS:
information services to support traffic and transport management in inland navigation. Based on the EU RIS Directive 28 COM (2006) 336 final.
Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions:
River Information Services can provide benefits both for public authorities and for commercial enterprises in the transport and logistics sector (shippers, carriers, logistics operators, ports and others.
The availability of high quality transport and logistics services is of a crucial importance for the competitiveness of the European economy.
In June 2006, a communication from the EC outlined the main problems faced by the organisation and operation of the European Transport system:
and of the Council of 7 september 2005 on harmonised river information services (RIS) on inland waterways in the Community. 32‘Co-modality'means the efficient use of transport modes operating on their own
Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions.
Following consultation with stakeholders, the European commission has presented an Action Plan for Freight Logistics in 2007.
research and the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), infrastructure planning, service performance, and multimodal supply chains. 35 The main ideas of the Action Plan are shown in Exhibit 2. 2.-2. It presents a number of short-to medium-term actions that will help Europe address its current and future challenges
Freight Transport Logistics Action Plan 34 COM (2006) 314 final-Communication: Keep Europe moving-Sustainable mobility for our continent:
protect the environment; ensure energy security; promote minimum labour standards for the sector; protect passengers and citizens;
The efficiency of the system and the integration of transport services are advanced not as as they could be.
Transport and environment: on the way to a new common transport policy. TERM 2006: indicators tracking transport and environment in the European union. 37 Tostmann S.,(2004) Trends in European Transportation Challenges and Opportunities for the Supply Chain, Business Briefing:
Global Purchasing & Supply Chain Strategy. 38 Karel Vinck (2007. ERTMS Project, Annual Activity Report of Coordinator, Brussels. 39 COM (2006) 336 final.
Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European parliament, the European Economic and ibid. E-business in the transport & logistics industry 31 Supporting intermodal transport is a major part of the Commissions White paper:
when optimising their supply chains, enterprises in the EU increasingly recognise that there are competitive alternatives to road freight.
For instance, large carriers provide comprehensive logistics services integrating more modes, because this provides them competitive cost advantages.
the Commission has run the Marco polo programme to provide support to commercial operators setting up services which focus on modes other than road.
Marco polo funds may be used to support the initial operation of new services, although these should become self funding once established,
Transport is also the fastest growing demand sector in New Member States (NMS), with its share in final energy demand in these states rising from 19.2%in 2000 to 25.4%in 2030.
Given the importance of transport for the economy and the daily lives of citizens, and because of its impacts on oil supply security and environmental emissions, this sector has been a priority policy area within the EU for many years.
whereby shippers buy multifunctional logistics services from external service providers (such as third-party logistics providers). In recent years, this co-operation between shippers and service providers has become more long-term in nature
Transport and environment: on the way to a new common ibid. 47 Freight Transport Logistics in Europe the key to sustainable mobility ibid.
The challenge for future urban transport systems is to meet the demand for accessibility for people,
while at the same time minimising the impact on the environment. European cities increasingly face problems caused by transport and traffic.
security and environment is illustrated by Värmlandstrafik AB case study, in Sweden (see Section 5. 12). The Public transport Authority (PTA) in Sweden was under pressure from the Government to better control the pollution generated by the public transport.
EU policy and financial programmes for regional development and research provide significant resources for the renewal and innovation of urban transport infrastructures, technologies and services in many European cities. 48
the use of ITS ensures a better management of operations and new services (fleet management,
and in city areas is an essential element of the quality of life of the 80%of Europe's population that live in urban areas. 49 Freight distribution in urban environments also creates a number of challenges for citizens.
49 COM (2004) 0060 final Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions-Towards a thematic strategy on the urban environment.
and provide new quality services for mobility of people and goods. For instance, the railroads, have fortified RFID with even more advanced technologies,
EDI/EDIFACT) and new communications platforms (e g. XML. Using e-business technologies, European transport and logistics companies can improve their productivity,
thus, the quality of their services. The emergence of new technological solutions, such as the Galileo satellite navigation system50 and European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) are creating major 50 Galileo is the informal name for the European Global Navigation Satellite system (GNSS),
-or space-based communication. Tracking and tracing of cargo in all E-business in the transport
& logistics industry 35 new opportunities that could constitute components of an integrated approach towards intelligent logistics.
communication and control systems in the field of urban and rural surface transportation, including intermodal and multimodal aspects of traveller information, traffic management, public transport, commercial transport,
emergency services and commercial services in the ITS field. modes is a prerequisite for efficient logistics.
thus affecting the demand for transport in spatial and temporal terms. Technological trends will meet the demand for comfort,
safety and speed through advances in ICT and telematics (traffic and transport management systems, travel information and reservation systems, vehicle guidance systems, mobility cards).
but high oil prices also have a significant influence on the transport sector and the economy as a whole.
ICT for goods Tracking and tracing Route+load optimisation Delivery optimisation Cooperation of stakeholders Cooperative Vehicle based systems Engine control Eco-driving style Infrastructure
but also to set up concrete and achievable goals for the environment for the different regional authorities.
and communication technologies can contribute significantly to improving road safety, enabling the development of sophisticated safety systems that improve road users'chances of avoiding and surviving accidents.
Good quality in data acquisition can help firms deliver customers'goods more accurately and efficiently.
Through the intensive use of ICT (acquisition, communication, and identification technologies) in logistics, the information flows, efficiently used by firms,
The Role of Logistics'Information and Communication Technologies in Promoting Competitive Advantages of the Firm, University of Beira Interior, Munich Personal Repec Archive. 56 Introna, L. D.,(1991.
for customers, the information and communication systems convert data into information, in order to facilitate managerial decision making. The author argues that information is a resource to be used for decision and
Therefore, the issues analysed should rather be understood as representative examples of current practice and the related opportunities and challenges.
and agreement with DG Enterprise and Industry and with industry federations as particularly relevant and topical. 3. 1 Access to and usage of ICT networks Current ICT technologies provide new possibilities for networks
The accessibility and the numerous opportunities to creatively use the Internet has brought many implications to the organisations core business processes to generate enormous benefits in terms of performance as well as provide greater value-added products and services.
The use of ICT by European enterprises has grown steadily from 2003 to 2005 for several technologies.
Percentages of enterprises adopting several technologies (2005) EU25 57 Reis F. The internet and other computer networks and their use by European enterprises to do ebusiness, Statistics in focus, Industry
, Trade and Services, 28/2006. E-business in the transport & logistics industry 39 Over the last few years firms operating in the transport
Low-cost access to the Web and the dissemination of e-business technologies provide firms with a tool to satisfy customer demand by using traditional services in conjunction with growing information-based services.
They can enhance communication, collaboration, and cooperation between knowledge teams (including virtual teams) using intranet technologies as well as between the organisation
because products are shipped directly to customers, led warehousing companies to strive to become more than simply storage facilities.
"or"3pls"that provide a wide array of services and functions. In addition to packing and staging pallets, contemporary warehousing facilities offer light manufacturing,
and logistics patterns of enterprises adopting several ICT technologies (as a percentage of the total number of enterprises with 10
or more persons employed) is quite similar to the overall percentage of enterprises in EU 25 (including all sectors).
Enterprises use of ICT (2005)( as a percentage of the total number of enterprises with 10 or more persons employed) Internal Computer network Intranet Online purchases business model Online sales business model External
Eurostat, Community survey on ICT usage and e-commerce in enterprises. E-business in the transport & logistics industry 40 Today, the main transport and logistics service firms are in a position to provide a variety of information via the Internet and to secure transactions online with customers.
Modern information systems and technology offer opportunities for fast and safe sharing. Key findings regarding use of and access to ICT in the TLS are summarised below.
Internet access Internet access is seen more and more as a vital utility, such as water or electric services. The prominence of the internet among all computer networks is evident
because of its size in terms of the number of persons and enterprises it connects and its worldwide scope.
Internet access is therefore fundamental for enterprises to start benefiting from the Information Society. For most EU Member States internet adoption is approaching saturation point.
Overall, for the EU, by 2005,91%of enterprises with 10 or more persons employed had internet access. 58 In line with this tendency, in the present study, nearly all companies (97)
%which use computers in the TLS sector said that they are connected to Internet. Exhibit 3. 1-4 Internet access and bandwidth (2007) Of those:
Internet access with Transport & logistics a maximum bandwidth of services (TLS) Companies with internet access<144 kbit/s<144 kbit/s 2 Mbit/s>2 Mbit
Use of internal computer networks The use of computer networks internally in the enterprise is believed to yield potential gains in efficiency and productivity.
and boosts the efficiency of the enterprise. A computer network is composed of multiple connected computers that communicate over a wired or wireless (Local area networks LAN,
Sectoral e-Businesswatch (Survey 2007) The size and scalability of any computer network are determined both by the physical medium of communication
and by the software controlling the communication (i e.,, the protocols. An Intranet is a specific application of the internal computer network
which serves as a communication tool within the enterprise, and an Extranet can be viewed as part of a company's Intranet that is extended to users outside the company.
Some Voip services offer features and services that are not available with a traditional phone,
A major development starting in 2004 has been the introduction of mass-market Voip services over broadband Internet access services, in
directory services and vertical-specific applications. In addition, Voip is a standard, open protocol, allowing companies to build their own audio applications
Sectoral e-Businesswatch (Survey 2007) 13%of all companies from the sector (accounting for 21%of employment) said that they used Voice-over-IP services (see Exhibit 3. 1-7). Yet,
With a diffusion rate of 13%,micro enterprises are behind the level of usage of large companies,
where 26%reported using Voice-over-IP services. Curiously, the reported usage of this technology by the medium-sized firms is lower than that from the micro enterprises.
It can be expected, in general, that usage will increase rapidly over the next few years; a common scenario predicts that all fixed network voice telephony might be converted to internet protocol. 59 The public switched telephone network (PSTN) is the network of the world's public circuitswitched telephone networks,
so has the demand for ICT-related skills. Improving e-business skills, especially among SMES, has been identified as a relevant concern for policy in several E-business Watch sector studies. 60 In particular in sectors where processes are supported increasingly
which the challenging Lisbon objectives (for Europe to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth,
generating, and exploiting knowledge are increasingly key determinants of success for enterprises and individuals in a knowledge-based economy.
The development of human capital, research and adaptation of new knowledge and skills is the source of growth in the competitiveness of the economy, labour force and in the quality of life.
capital-intensive investment is only profitable in the TLS sector only if the workforce has the skills
and ICT skills (e-skills) are thus fundamental for the further enhancement and development of knowledge-intensive products and services,
especially in the TLS sector. e-business applications is increasing the demand for individuals with creativity
and higher-level conceptual skills that will enable enterprises to increase productivity and harness ICT to produce greater economic value.
either medium-or low-skilled labour for productivity increases (see Section 4. 1). To a large extent the demand comes from SMES,
which often face substantial difficulties in attracting qualified ICT and e-business professionals in competition with larger players
which absorb most of the available expertise. 3. 2. 1 Demand for ICT skills and skills development Employment of"ICT practitioners"The e-Skill Forum, established by the EC in March
Towards 2010 and Beyond (2004), http://ec. europa. eu/enterprise/ict/policy/doc/e-skills-forum-2004-09-fsr. pdf 61 See:
Demand for ICT skills and skills development Transport & logistics sector (TLS) Companies employing ICT practitioners Average number of ICT practitioners employed Companies having outsourced ICT
services Companies saying that ebusiness developments have a significant impact on skills requirements Weighting:%%of empl.%
employing IT practitioners significantly increased the company's propensity to use ICT to develop new products and services.
The total demand for ICT practitioners in Europe has been estimated roughly at about 0. 23 million persons per year including replacement demand. 65 The sectoral survey on e-business in 2006 reported that enterprises are anticipating skills shortfalls for ICT practitioners
Employers are now less likely to see training just as a cost but also as an investment.
While 33%of micro enterprises with up to 9 employees confirmed this asseveration, it is true for 61%of large-sized firms (see Exhibit 3. 2-1) 64 CEPIS, Thinking Ahead on e-Skills for the ICT Industry in Europe, February 2007.65 Cedefop
These new forms of partnerships and flexible approaches need to be much more actively promoted. 67 In a knowledge economy driven by rapid technical change, investments in high-skilled labour
training and skill-formation become more important than investments in ICT. The intelligence and skills of ICT users determines the positive
or negative impact that ICT investments may have on the success of the TLS business (see Section 4. 1). In terms of policy implications it has to be said therefore,
Sectoral e-Businesswatch (Survey 2007) 3. 2. 2 Outsourcing of ICT services and ICT investments Outsourcing Outsourcing is considered a useful way to provide immediate ICT and e-business
skills and processes that a company needs with very little investment of time, money and training.
a new breed of outsourcing services are being introduced to managing high-volume Web sites and their interactivity.
whether they had outsourced any of their ICT services, which had previously been conducted in-house, to external service providers in 2007.
E-business in the transport & logistics industry 48 outsourced some services in 2007, whereby medium and larger companies generally tend to outsource more of their services (66%)than smaller-sized ones (43%)(see Exhibit 3. 2-1). Interestingly,
this share is higher for medium companies (72%)compared to large-sized firms (66%).%The small share of micro and small CE enterprises saying that they employ ICT practitioners can be explained by the fact that it seems to be more economic for smaller companies to outsource ICT services (e g. desktop management
or web hosting) than to employ their own ICT practitioners. The case study AIT (France) confirms this observation (Section 5. 2). The choice of a small company as a solution provider allows the AIT to achieve great benefits.
Concerning countries, Spain shows the lowest average of firms having outsourced any ICT services to external service providers (only 24%of sectoral firms,
ICT expenditure and investments There is consensus that EU faster growth during the last decade has been related to higher investments in ICT.
and services and more active in adopting such innovations in other sectors of the economy,
it has to be pointed out that ICT investments does not lead to productivity growth at firm-level by itself (it depends on how the technology is used actually in business processes to innovate work processes and business routines with support of ICT).
Complementary investments in human capital, organisational changes and working practices, combined with ICT investments will have an impact on firm performance.
economy, YES event, European parliament, Brussels, 24 november 2006. E-business in the transport & logistics industry 49 investment behaviour in the TLS sector appears, in general, more intensive than in other sectors studied:
more than a half of TLS companies (56%),representing more than three quarters of the sector's employment,
and investments Companies expecting that their ICT budget will in the forthcoming financial period Transport
which made investments in ICT hardware or networks during the past 12 months Weighting:%%of empl.%
Despite being unheralded relatively, in this era of technologies such as XML services the Internet and the World wide web, EDI is still the data format used by the vast majority of electronic commerce transactions in the world.
"firms representing x%of employment"),data for size-bands in%of enterprises. Source: Sectoral e-Businesswatch (Survey 2007) Figures related to the TLS sector shows (Exhibit 3-3-1) that about a third of mediumsized companies and more than 40%of large firms
and create impediments to the efficiency and quality of service to customers. The impact of these limits and difficulties are steadily increasing as logistics operations become multimodal
and promote those standards. 3. 3. 2 Interoperability challenges Within the last years e-business has gained increasingly importance. e-business presents both opportunities and challenges for the TLS sector:
opportunities to improve service, 71 ebxml: electronic business using extensible Markup language. 72 See www. ebxml. org. 73 For detailed information about the background
and challenges as it creates new supply chain requirements and capabilities and new marketplaces with particular demands.
and make the information readily accessible to customers or supply chain partners. Transportation or logistics services companies
providing real-time information in a customized way, can become an integral part of their customers'supply chains,
creating the opportunity to secure long-term business by embedding their processes in those of their customers
and adding value beyond traditional transportation and logistics offerings. 74 E-business technology enables logistics and supply chain managers to meet these demands by integrating systems,
collaborating within and across firms, and sharing information throughout the supply chain, enabling supply chain participants to plan
and related services in the EU and EFTA. 78 The objective for the project is to make a finalised standard on"Application interface definition for Electronic Fee Collection (EFC) based on Global Navigation Satellite systems
they are said to have low interoperability. 77 According to the European Interoperability Framework for pan-European egovernment services,
and other related services anywhere in Europe has been tested successfully pilot at five European sites. Existing travel and transport information services often lack data outside a limited range of general facts.
In addition they tend to employ a variety of user interfaces and service delivery platforms. This limited content and lack of standardisation have been major limiting factors in their attraction to users,
inhibiting the wider spread of useful, real-time location-based information services. Participants in the IST-funded IM@GINE-IT project (www. imagineit-eu. com) aimed to overcome such limitations by developing a platform that had to function in real-time, offer multimedia, intermodal transport information,
as well as having developed information services for multimodal forms of transport. That the participants have achieved largely their aims is a credit to the cooperation between the various partners involved,
By communicating with Web-based services hosting the relevant information, the IM@GINE IT device offers an integrated routeguidance system
ICT Results features online news and analysis on the emerging results from information and communications technology research. 80 INTEROP-VLAB is the"European virtual laboratory for Enterprise Interoperability,
for the prohibition to store goods together or for the optimal Networked Enterprise Applications and Software, FP6 508011),
coordinated by University Bordeaux 1 with 47 partners and more than 300 researchers. 81 ATHENA Advanced Technologies for Interoperability of Heterogeneous Enterprise Networks and their Applications-Is integrated an Project sponsored by the European commission in support
disclosure of all documents and the source codes of a software project as well as a permanent communication between all participants.
and will often be the principal component of the total cost of ownership. 84 There are clearly a number of Open source products that can offer a fast return on investment,
Special emphasis should be put on the deployment of OS Software in micro and small enterprises
Figures for size-bands are in%of enterprises from the size-band. Questionnaire reference: A13a, A13b and A13c 85 Forrester research, Inc. 2005.
and other important services, as well as assuring quality in the performance of their functions. Subscriber and Relying Party Costs:
Economic impact of open source software on innovation and the competitiveness of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector in the EU. Final Report. http://ec. europa. eu/enterprise/ict
E-business in the transport & logistics industry 58 3. 3. 4 Deployment and implications of RFID technology Factors determining the use of RFID in the TLS industry The current business environment
and cost-effective solutions that attract customers. One such measure is the use of RFID.
and provide new quality services for mobility of people and goods. Using RFID, companies can track
and environment, the European commission has launched a wide-ranging public consultation on the policy issues and possible concerns raised by the deployment of RFID technology and its applications. 91 In practice,
and promoting economic growth. In the transport industry, RFID systems have the inherent capacity to assist in vehicle identification,
2004) RFID Logistics Case studies-Thirty detailed RFID logistics case studies. E-business in the transport & logistics industry 59 opportunities for public transport companies and strengthen their competitiveness in the transport market. 93
Several large European enterprises, including technology companies and service providers, are at the forefront of bringing RFDI solutions to the market
and many smalland medium-sized enterprises have introduced successfully this technology. Current trends and forecasts indicate that the RFID market will grow fast in the next 10 years.
environments and applications, enterprises that commit to the RFID journey are and will still be facing some challenges that need to be overcome as to lower implementation risks
and consequently maximize investment returns. As an example, while the European commission, ETSI, industry associations and commercial entities such as EPCGLOBAL and GS1, together with local governments, large enterprises and technology vendors, continue to drive progresses towards the attainment of a global standard,
work still need to be done to achieve this end-goal. Results from the present Sebw survey show a very limited use of RFID technologies yet.
The highest percent of those firms (77%)said that they use RFID technologies to manage goods, products and services inhouse.
a major part of the corporate environment and driving decisions. The new capabilities to use the Internet to supply large amounts of relevant information from multiple internal and external sources give the possibility to move from isolated information systems toward an integrated environment in every business organisation.
Current opinion holds that Internet-based supply chain integration with upstream suppliers and downstream customers-"e-integration"-is superior to traditional ways of doing business.
True process improvements can only be achieved through automation which implies the integration of business applications and data with the Internet and with the systems of the company's trading partners.
communication and process management while delivering a secure, scalable and reliable solution suitable for running a company's most critical core business processes. 3. 4. 1 Use of software systems for internal process integration Specific software applications
A DMS system allows an enterprise and its users to create a document or capture a hard copy in electronic form,
DMS may be needed in enterprises that capture and store a large number of documents such as invoices, sales orders, photographs, phone interviews,
Although the term ERP originated in the manufacturing environment today's use of the term ERP systems has much broader scope.
ERPS are cross-functional and enterprise wide. All functional departments that are involved in operations or production are integrated in one system.
Outsourcing of ICT services could be a viable alternative to buying ones own system. Thus, this is then one of the main challenges for further expanding B2b e-business activity,
One of the main causes regarding this situation is also that the change from the non-ERP to the ERP environment requires a considerable amount of effort for change management.
or internet-based services for eprocurement (see Exhibit 3. 4-1). This shows that there is a gap between the percentage of companies placing at least some orders online (41%)and those that use special software for this (20%).
The digital back-office integration of procurement related processes (all the way from ordering to the receipt of goods/services) is probably not in advanced state in these cases.
in the TLS industry 6%of enterprises representing about 21%of employment say they have an SCM system.
and integrate business processes across enterprise boundaries, so that multiple enterprises can cooperate closely to achieve shared business objectives.
From the early successes of internal application integration and the business drivers of the Internet economy to companies to more tightly integrate their processes,
the next wave of business communication centres around cross-enterprise application integration, collaborative workflows, and sophisticated business process dialogs.
Unfortunately many of the earlier successful technologies have been found to be lacking across company boundaries.
and will be able to call on reliable and reusable tools and services. In short, they will become breeding environments for sustainable virtual organisations (VOS.
96 In the other hand, it has been proven that for the TLS sector that e-collaboration increases innovative output of the firms involved in that inter-organisational collaboration (see section 4. 3. 1). This collaborative integration
enhance the innovation capabilities by providing opportunities for shared learning, transfer of technical knowledge and resource exchange. 3. 4. 3 Deployment of e-invoicing The commercial invoice is the most important document exchanged between trading partners.
Communications of the ACM, 43 (11), 107-112.95 Porter, M. 1980. Competitive Strategy. New york. The Free Press. 96 European Information Society, Thematic Portal, INFSO Projects impacting EU Policies:
ECOLEAD, an integrated project under IST-FP6, is developing technologies for these networks of collaborative enterprises.
as this application promises enterprises a fast return on investment, also for SMES. Currently, 25%of firms accounting for about 33%of employment in the TLS industry say they send e-invoices,
The solution is based on a software solution that allows automating the exchange of documents between customers
Internet technology provides ways of drastically reducing different categories of transaction and communication costs. In that respect, the potential merit of various electronic procurement forms,
and usually depends on the pressure coming from suppliers or customers. To measure the impact of those pressures the Sebw survey has asked firms in the TLS sector
if they have experienced some pressure from customers/suppliers that their ICT solutions should be applied. As shown in Exhibit 3. 5-1,
in order to comply with customers'request and 74%have done the same in order to comply with supplier's request.
Rather, pressure is coming from customers (12%.%In many cases, suppliers become a barrier to firms trying to put in place an ICT solution
According to the results of the Sebw survey, only 9%and 6%of firms have demanded from suppliers and customers, respectively, that they implement new ICT solutions.
when relationship investment are indispensable or specific assets are procured, firms will create networks in which suppliers and buyers form closed business relationships.
bypassing the channels to deal direct with customers. It is in direct contact with suppliers,
Pressure from customers/suppliers to adopt e-business E-business pressure from costumers: companies ebusiness pressure from suppliers:
Companies demanding from customers that they adapt their ICT solutions to their requirements 6 11 36 6 5 13 34 17 0 10 20 30 40 50 T&l
"firms representing x%of employment"),data for size-bands in%of enterprises. Base: all companies.
so it follows that the processes and services which support this trade, such as logistics and warehousing, is also moving online. 41%of all firms active in the TLS industry said that they place at least some orders to suppliers online.
Exhibit 3. 5-2 Companies placing orders online Companies that order of goods online Transport & logistics sector (TLS) Companies ordering supply goods or services online
The e-services project, launched by Fret SNCF in 2006 is part of this new strategy
The Clic Services Fret SNCF portal went live in July 2007, providing four major e-services to customers allowing them to directly order transport services on the Internet (Commande@RESAFRET),
follow transport progression in real time (Info@RESAFRET), transmit their transport documents (e-LV) and consult their invoices (Info Facture).
The Clic Services Fret SNCF portal was developed using PHP and Dot net languages. Security is guaranteed via SSL encryption of information and via a dedicated login and password for each user.
and networked economy. Because every activity involves the creation, processing, and communication of information, ICT has a pervasive influence on the supply chain.
Supply chain integration can refer to internal and external integration. In an internal integration perspective, ERP systems are recognised often as essential ICT for supporting the internal sharing of information between functions and departments in an organisation.
or more companies, can be used to support information-sharing with customers and suppliers. The IOIS concept can be considered an overall term for a group of technologies that support information sharing across organisational boundaries as email, EDI,
To meet customer demand for seamless, comprehensive and reliable information on which to base business decisions today,
It means that collaborating with the customers and own business partners and vendors, and also with the customers other vendors and even with own competitors is the key to help smooth workflow. SCM encompasses the planning
and management of all activities involved in sourcing, procurement conversion, and logistics management activities. Importantly, it also includes coordination and collaboration with channel partners,
which can be suppliers, intermediaries, third-party service providers, and customers. Thus, one of the main areas of interest that has emerged in recent years concerns the effects of ICT on SCM.
Marketing, responding to customer demand, communicates with several distributors and retailers, and attempts to satisfy this demand.
Shared information between supply chain partners can only be leveraged fully through process integration. At this time supply chain management has moved from low level and highly fragmented set of administrative and overhead operations to a strategic enterprise initiative by a systemic integration of the following components:
Customer service management Procurement Product development and commercialisation Manufacturing flow management/support Physical distribution Outsourcing/partnerships Performance measurement SCM software is intended
The two areas, intra-enterprise integration (mainly represented by ERP) and inter-enterprise integration (mainly represented by SCM) present a low rate of adoption in the TLS sector
and have similar features (6%of enterprises say they have an SCM system and the same percent say they have an ERP system).
In certain way, they E-business in the transport & logistics industry 73 are complementary approaches for addressing the same strategic challenges.
SCM however provides the opportunity to expand the advantages of optimisation and integration to the entire supply chain through the creation of a collaborative,
networked environment. The use of applications and practices supporting the electronic exchange of information between companies occurs simultaneously with close relations with business partners.
This provides support to the hypothesis that close relationships facilitate investments in specific technologies. Collaborative practices and ICT applications
101 while only 13%of micro enterprises reported using a WMS, 69%of large TLS companies said that they use this tool (Exhibit 3. 5-4)
forced by competition as shown by case studies on AIT (France) and N c. Cammack & Son (UK) to adopt warehouse management solutions.
and logistics services (for all kind of goods) located near Lyon, in France. AIT, employing 42 people, faces huge competitors precisely like Geodis as well as a myriad of small companies.
since the solution is managed by specialists in a controlled technical environment (see Section 5. 2). These cases were selected
in order to illustrate how two different sized firms can successfully coexist in a market where the competition is very aggressive.
-which provides the organisation of Euronational transport services throughout Southern Europe (AIT has generated, employing 42 people,
noise emissions, emission of pollutants and accidents are problems that decrease the quality of the urban environment substantially.
Allen et al identifies the changes in the supply chain management practices that have a growing impact on city traffic and on the related urban environment.
The demand by retailers for smaller, more frequent deliveries to premises generates additional traffic. In addition the out-sourcing of logistics services by companies to subcontractors adds to the numbers of commercial vehicles accessing the city
and may militate against the most efficient consolidation of loads and may add to traffic. These trends are taking place against a background of a growing public demand for more sustainable urban living and a more acceptable quality of life.
Better approaches for managing all forms of urban transport including city freight is expected by the public. 103 102 Allen et al, University of Westminster, January 2003, Modelling policy measures and company initiatives for sustainable urban distribution Final Technical Report 103
and Services (ITS) are potential means to help in solving all five key challenges identified for European owns and cities.
including the communication with customers, offering products for sale, and developing new marketing strategies. 107 E-business leads to a fundamental shift in the structure and services of transportation and logistics businesses.
Firms are transporting more online purchased goods and they are actually subordinating their individual business plans
and identities that becoming an integrated part of their electronic business customers'supply chain. The role of the order and its delivery is evolving to one that includes full-scale logistics,
supply chain management and warehousing. For individual 104 PLUME, PLANNING and Urban Mobility in Europe Synthesis Report:
E-business in the transport & logistics industry 77 customers, studies have shown that online shoppers check the status of their package an average of seven times from the moment the buy button is clicked until the package arrives. 108 This basically implies that e-business must be able to initiate
It also allows companies to develop new, value-added services such as automated track and tracing systems, monitoring of document processing, security and non-repudiation.
The goal of the solution was to provide the status of the transport over a Web interface to customers.
Although some customers are satisfied very with the solution, the case also contains lessons to be learned about the different obstacles that a small company had to overcome to implement such a solution. 3. 6. 1 Companies receiving orders from customers online 30%of all firms active in the TLS industry
said that they enabled customers to order products online. There is practically no difference between companies from the various size-bands in this respect (see Exhibit 3. 6-1). However
a majority of close to a half of those companies that enable customers to order online say that these orders account for only up to 5%of their total orders received.
Only about 20%receive more than a quarter of their orders online. Exhibit 3. 6. 1 Companies that receive orders online Companies that receive...
of orders Transport & from customers online Logistics Sector Companies whose customers can order goods or services online<5%5-10%11-25%26-50%>50%Weighting
so that customers can be kept precisely informed about their shipments. An aspect to be taken into account is roaming costs.
or free for their customers. Trafikanten Trafikanten is the joint information provider for the three public transport authorities in the Oslo region of Norway.
This case demonstrates a successful solution implementation in the public transport area that allowed achieving significant benefits in terms of passenger communication and service improvement,
E-ticketing provides companies with the opportunity to reduce administrative costs and, at the same time, provide a higher level of service to travellers.
thus ensuring that the passenger can travel without problems using the services of multiple public transport companies.
to manage their relationships with customers, including the capture, storage and analysis of customer, vendor, partner,
but rather a comprehensive approach to an organisation's philosophy in dealing with its customers.
Collaborative-direct communication with customers that does not include a company's sales or service representative (self service.
in order to segment customers or to design and execution of targeted marketing campaigns to optimise marketing effectiveness.
as show in Exhibit 3. 6-2. CRM systems are used mainly by the sector's medium (22%)and large enterprises (26%).
%In some service sectors, in particular, CRM is a key application for many of the larger companies, for example in telecommunication services (48%)and in the tourism industry (23%.
Almost 40%of firms said that ICT-enabled technologies have a significant influence on competition in the TLS sector.
The responses-quite similar for the two reasons suggested-showed that those motives were considered less important drivers for ICT adoption compared to competition:
reasons for introducing ICT technologies for micro and small companies seem to be similar to the ones reported by medium and large enterprises.
and should be read as"enterprises comprising%of firms in the sector (s)".Figures for size-bands are in%of enterprises from the size-band.
Accordingly to their replies, the main reason TLS firms do not adopt e-business is that they feel that customers/suppliers are prepared not (65%.
and should be read as"enterprises comprising%of firms in the sector (s)".Figures for size-bands are in%of enterprises from the size-band.
the Logistics services sector has a relatively bigger percentage of firms in the high internet usage by employees cluster.
60 70 80 90 100 Goods transport Passenger transport Logistics services 1. Low 2. Medium 3. High The next chart (Exhibit
The figures for TLS micro enterprises (not shown in Exhibit 3. 7-5) are quite relevant too:
However, looking into the issue of company size, it is obvious that the size of an enterprise represent a barrier to ICT uptake.
Small enterprises have fewer needs but they usually also have less resources to put into ICT they employ fewer ICT practitioners
According to the survey data, large TLS enterprises are currently increasing focus on ICT issues, as they have started introducing more advanced ICT solutions such as eprocurement systems, WMS, SMS, CRM systems and so on.
and e-business technologies and services among firms in the economy at large is a striking example of the possible dynamics of technological change
and the composition of the demand for labour. For this study, an extended Structure Conduct Performance (SCP) paradigm was used as a conceptual framework for the analysis of ICT impacts. 110 Developed by Mason (1939) and Bain (1951),
the number and size of supplying firms as well as the number and preferences of customers and their size in case of businesses.
the 109 EU-KLEMS is a database on measures of economic growth, productivity, employment creation, capital formation and technological change at the industry level for all European union member states from 1970
and finally the workforce composition and the demand for labour, most importantly with regard to knowledge and skills.
All these characteristics determine the level of competition in the industry. These industry structure components influence a firm's conduct.
as well as investments in ICT and in ICT-enabled innovation. Finally, a firm's performance is assumed to be the outcome of its conduct.
consequently, may influence the demand for labour and its composition. It may also further shape the relationships with suppliers and customers, for example with regard to collaboration intensity.
Thus, in the following discussion it is assumed that firm performance may have a feedback effect on both firm conduct and industry structure
and Section 4. 3 looks at the relationship between ICT deployment and competition (market structure implications)
this section will specifically analyse to what extent ICT-capital investments have effects on productivity growth (as compared to other factors) in the transportation and logistics sector.
Structure Conduct Performance Market/firm characteristics ICT adoption Performance indicators (e g. profits) ICT enabled innovation Section 4. 1 E-business in the transport & logistics industry
96 ICT-capital investment and total factor productivity growth For the study of ICT impacts on firm-level productivity,
ICT investment does not lead to productivity growth at firm-level by itself. It depends on how the technology is used actually in business processes,
Thus, only if ICT investment is combined with complementary investment in working practices, human capital, and firm restructuring will it have an impact on performance (cf.
These complementary investments and organisational changes are highly sector-and firm-specific; therefore, returns to ICT investments vary strongly across organisations (Pilat, 2005.
Second, it has to be considered that outsourcing is an organisational innovation which can change firm-level productivity (Erber,
Notwithstanding these considerations, the first step of the analysis is to assess the contribution of ICT-capital investment to productivity growth.
ICT-capital investment has become a key component in value added and productivity growth in the transportation and logistics sector,
while other capital inputs summarised as non-ICT-capital have diminished in their respective importance. However, there are complementarities between other factor inputs
Therefore, it can be expected that total factor productivity growth jointly accelerates with higher investment in ICTCAPITAL.
TFP growth in the transport and logistics sector has accelerated together with increased investment in ICT-capital.
Another important factor that may influence the extent to which ICT enables productivity growth is the complementarity between ICT capital and skills.
reducing demand for unskilled labour and increasing wage 111 TFP is a measure for disembodied technical change in a production process.
it has been labelled by some economists as a measure of ignorance. It is a residual between growth of an output indicator like gross value added
because Robert Solow (1957) was one of the first economists who pointed out the significance of disembodied technical change for economic growth opposite to the classical view that in particular capital accumulation,
The impact is clearly visible in today's advanced economies; unskilled jobs have long been declining in absolute terms in Europe and growing only slowly in the US,
thus, the application of ICT may increase the demand and wages for skilled labour and decrease the same for unskilled labour(‘digital divide').
therefore focus on the interdependence of ICT investments with skill requirements in the transport and logistics sector.
1. Section 4. 1. 2 looks at the overall development of value added growth in the transport and logistics sector and analyses the contribution of different factors including ICTCAPITAL and non-ICT-capital,
sector (from 1985-2004) and analyses the impact of ICTCAPITAL investment on labour productivity growth (in terms of gross production value per total hours worked), based on an econometrically estimated stochastic production
and related logistics services sector alone. 112 Hence our empirical analysis must focus on the more broadly defined sector transport
and related services can be employed as an argument in favour of looking at the data at a somewhat higher aggregation level than the one envisaged for the qualitative research reported elsewhere in this text. 112 NACE 1. 1 defines the transport and logistics services sector
The contribution of ICT capital is larger than that of non-ICT capital in some of the countries (4) but smaller in others (6). Finally,
Overall, we find hardly any evidence that ICT capital has an overarching role to play in terms of growth in gross value added.
Belgium, however, stands out as an exception with a remarkable contribution of ICT capital of 1. 56%on average to total gross value added growth of almost 3%.In another six out of the 10 analysed countries113
changes in ICT capital are only the third-important component of value added growth. In the remaining four countries, changes in ICT capital are of even lesser importance.
Exhibit 4. 1-2: Growth accounts for gross value added, transport and storage sector, in selected EU member countries, 1995-2004 (annual average growth rates in%)0. 43 0
Spainfinlandfrancegermany Italy Netherlands United kingdom Hours Worked Labour composition ICT Capital Non ICT Capital Total factor productivity Source:
Employment growth, transport and logistics services in EU-15 member countries, 1980-2004 (annual average growth rates, various sub-periods) 1. 1-0
Average working hours per employee in transport intermediation services, EU-15 member countries, 1980-2004 (annual average growth rates, various sub-periods)- 0
(i e. capital, broken down into two different types of capital, and labour input measured in working hours,
In contrast, physical ICT-capital investment does not have a significant impact on labour productivity.
2000) who found a high impact of ICT capital on U s. labour productivity growth. 118 Finally,
and labour productivity growth This section analysed by means of econometric tools to what extent ICT adoption (measured as ICT capital investments) contributes to growth of value added and productivity.
The results indicate that ICT capital by itself is not the main element, but that it rather requires complementary investments and organisational innovation.
Growth accounting for the transport sector in 10 EU Member States suggests that changes in the ICT-capital stock have accounted only for minor shares of overall value added growth in this sector.
Changes in ICT and non-ICT capital have had about the same importance for value added growth.
"which cannot be measured by means of the data on ICT-investment available in the database. 116 t-values above 2 assure by a rule of thumb this 5%-signficance threshold of the test. 117 For medium-skilled labour the estimated
They suggest that investments in training and skill-formation are at least equally important as investments in ICT capital themselves
in order to realise the optimal benefits. In other words, in a knowledge economy driven by rapid technical change,
the ability to empower the work force is a necessary complementary measure to ICT adoption. Without having the right skills in place,
costly investments bear the risk of becoming ineffective. Thus, revisiting the two initially specified working hypotheses (see 4. 1. 1
Hypotheses Results P. 1 ICT-capital investment has become a key component in value added and productivity growth in the transportation and logistics sector,
while other capital inputs summarised as non-ICT-capital have diminished in their respective importance. Cannot be confirmed.
has accelerated together with increased investment in ICT-capital. No significant average annual rate of technical progress for the common production possibility frontier was found. no P. 3 ICT
Only high-skilled labour had a positive growth impact àindicates a skill-biased technological change with ICT-capital as its complementary factor driving growth of the transport sector.
ICT-capital has played a positive role in this industry in all countries. On the other hand, the analysis based on a stochastic production possibility frontier revealed that,
the direct positive link between ICT-capital investments and labour productivity growth is probably much weaker.
the growth accounting analysis in section 4. 1. 2 has supported not a possible relationship between investments in ICT-capital and TFP growth.
Probably, this might be due to the time structure between investments in ICT-capital and its impact on TFP.
The standard approach in growth accounting typically assumes that TFP-growth instantaneously increases with increased investments in ICT-capital.
however, be a time lag between the initial investment and implementation of new technology (and the respective organisational changes) and their actual impact on TFP E-business in the transport & logistics industry 105 growth. 119 This could partly explain why we could not find any strong relationship between the two in this analysis
on the basis of this empirical evidence the hypothesis that there is an instantaneous impact of ICT-capital investments on total factor productivity growth has to be rejected.
Hypothesis P. 3 was confirmed largely (see Section 4. 1. 3). The analysis indicates a skillbiased technological change with ICT-capital as the complementary factor driving productivity growth in the transportation sector
ICT investments in general and e-business applications in particular, enable and drive process innovation. They are drivers,
The survey results show that 13%of enterprises (accounting for 25%of the workforce) in the TLS industry said that they had launched new or improved products in the 12 months before the survey.
Structure Conduct Performance Market/firm characteristics ICT adoption Performance indicators (e g. profits) ICT enabled innovation Section 4. 2. 2. Section 4. 2
The most obvious example of investments in complementary assets include investments in software, training and organisational transformations that accompany ICT investments.
In other words, firms that combine high levels of ICT and high levels of worker skills have better firm innovation performance.
or enabled by information or communication technology. It takes a value of 1 if any product or process innovations were directly related to
Similarly, employing IT practitioners significantly increases firm's propensity to use ICT to develop new products and services.
and collaboration enhance the innovation capabilities of companies by providing opportunities for shared learning, transfer of technical knowledge and resource exchange.
Other, less obvious consequences for firms'innovativeness include creating communication infrastructures facilitating production networks or enabling partners to align the incentives of multiple players by creating joint business units
because not all studies have demonstrated clear payoffs from ICT investments (Chan, 2000, Kohli and Devaraj, 2003).
For example, one empirical study finds positive impacts of ICT investments on productivity, but not on profits (Brynjolfsson and Hitt, 1996).
Another study did not find positive effects of ICT capital on productivity, while ICT labour positively contributed to output and profitability (Prasad and Harker, 1997).
These somewhat ambiguous results of the impact of ICT on corporate performance can be explained if one drops the assumption that there is a direct link between ICT investments and corporate performance.
The key to understanding the impacts of ICT on performance is to view ICT as an enabler of innovation (Koellinger 2005.
i e. the structure of and the relationships between departments within an enterprise. Organisational changes may relate to a rearrangement of functions,
) This is true for manufacturing industries with rapidly changing production technologies and intensive technological competition. In such industries the speed of adoption of new production processes plays a decisive role for remaining at the cutting edge.
Hardware infrastructure, in contrast, is already a commodity that does not offer companies any potential to create a competitive advantage. 4. 3 ICT,
rivalry in the market and outsourcing This section explores to what extent the deployment of ICT is linked with competition in the market,
1. How do companies perceive the impact of ICT on competition? 2. Does the intensity of competition,
notably a perceived increase in the market rivalry, constitute an incentive to adopt ICT (as a tool to withstand competitive pressure, e g. by cutting costs)?
Structure Conduct Performance Market/firm characteristics ICT adoption Performance indicators (e g. profits) ICT enabled innovation Sections 4. 3. 1,
as companies search for new opportunities to cut costs by improving process efficiency or develop new products.
Firms want to escape competition by innovating. This can be done by securing a monopoly position, which might stem from a successful innovation protected from imitating by means of a patent, a trademark,
The hypothesised relevance of increasing market competition for the intensity of ICT adoption was confirmed. In other words, more intense competition forces companies to use innovative technologies to cut costs and look for more innovative ways of conducting Business firm size is an advantage:
Firm size appears to have a considerably strong effect on the adoption of ICT. Exhibit 4. 3-1:
distance to market and transportation cost limited the number of customers a firm could reach.
and to sell their goods directly to customers instead of depending on a network of retailers. This leads to the following hypothesis:
and toward markets as a form of organising economic activity (Coase 1937, and Williamson, 1985). Consequently, the expectations regarding the potential of ICT as technologies introducing innovative ways of doing business,
whereas older companies might need to adapt to new market conditions. 4. 4 Summary of impact analysis Productivity and employment Regarding the role of ICT capital in the transport and logistics sector,
Little evidence for a significant role of (and neither for significant correlation between) ICT capital in terms of boosting labour productivity growth;
First, the growth accounting decomposition confirms that ICT capital played an important role for the majority of the countries studied (albeit not for all.
and the inclusion of intermediate inputs, revealed that the direct linkage between ICT investment and labour productivity may actually be much weaker than the evidence from more aggregate studies suggests.
Instead of pure ICT capital growth, an adequate use of human capital and strong total productivity growth,
TFP growth instantaneously rises with increased investment in ICT capital. This is in contrast to case studies,
The results from our empirical analysis indicate that an instantaneous impact of ICT capital investment on total factor productivity growth does not take place,
First, increasing market competition is one of the driving forces behind ICT usage. In other words, more intense competition make E-business in the transport
& logistics industry 118 companies use innovative technologies in order to cut costs and look for more innovative ways of conducting business.
Close relationships facilitate investments in specific technologies. Third, the success of the ICT-driven innovative process depends on the availability and quality of complementary assets such as employee skills and IT know-how.
being faced to intense competition, structural changes of the market and resulting declining revenues, AIT, a supplier of transport and logistic services located in France near Lyon,
decided to implement a new transport and warehouse management solution. The objective of the solution implementation was double:
on the one hand the objective was to support the company in organising the multimodal transport for their customers
and improve the transport document management for CEMAT and its customers. 3. 4 Internal Process Integration 3. 4. 1 Use of software systems for internal process integration E-business in the transport & logistics
Clic Services Fret SNCF: Improving customer service through the deployment of an e-service portal at Fret SNCF, France.
and Communication Technology (ICT) culture managed to implement a successful and innovative ebusiness solution in a relatively short time. 3. 5 e-Procurement and Supply Chain Integration 3. 5. 1
e-Marketing 3. 6. 1 Companies receiving orders from customers online Case study 9:''Truck Business'at N c. Cammack & Son, United kingdom. From its base in Colchester, UK,
N c. Cammack & Son provides transport, distribution and warehousing services to the UK and Europe.
The main benefit of this solution is a superb‘justin-time'performance at the firm allowing customers to online view
It particularly points out the difficulties of guaranteeing a good quality of information in an environment of multiple and small supplier, as it is the case for Saima Avandero in Italy. 3. 5. 2 e-Integrated supply chains:
Urban and Interurban Primary customers: Public Administrations and final users Year of foundation: 1942 Turnover in last financial year (€:
AISA operates in different areas of the road passenger transport services including: regular road passenger transport, interurban regular road passenger transport, urban school bus services.
One of the main aspects of the market in which AISA operates is that in Spain the operation of regular public passenger transport services by road is regulated by E-business in the transport & logistics industry 123 administrative transport
concessions, controlled by the public authorities. Normally the companies compete to obtain these long term transport concessions presenting their service proposals
In the evaluation process to obtain new line concessions there have been traditionally some important factors like the vehicles characteristics, additional services, transport security, etc.
and data on passengers, sales figures, etc. for consolidation, settlement and result evaluation of services and operations.
Without an automated and computerised information system it would be impossible to generate this type of operation data to satisfy these client demands.
Operations Human resources Vehicles Services Cash management Accounting systems Reporting systems Ticketing systems (sales) The system has been customised to the company needs for reporting, accounting, controlling sales, information analysis
AISA says that the system is highly profitable (investment vs. results. The total estimated cost of the system was about €100, 000.
It also reduced the response times to internal and external changes that affect the company services and operations.
and logistic services located in France near Lyon with 60%of its turnover generated on the international market.
The company employing 42 people provides Euro-national transport services with pick-up trucks and distribution partners throughout Southern Europe including Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Switzerland and France.
being faced to intense competition, structural changes of the market and resulting declining revenues AIT decided to implement a new transport and warehouse management solution in 2003.
on the one hand the objective was to support the company in organising the multimodal transport for their customers
Transport and logistics Primary customers: Companies Year of foundation: 1998 Turnover in last financial year (€:
Case contact*Information systems Françoise Arnaud, Director of Information technology AIT 5. 2. 1 Background and objectives AIT is a supplier of complete logistics services for all kind of goods with its headquarters
It provides the organisation of Euro-national transport services with pick-up trucks and distribution partners throughout Southern Europe including Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium,
The competition is very aggressive in this market. AIT is facing huge competitors like Geodis or Schenker as well as very small companies.
increased competition etc) and the loss of some key customers. To face this situation AIT had need a growing to analyse its Business activity in details
On the one hand the objective was to organize the multimodal transport for their 30 customers taking into account the whole transport process.
They are in direct contact with the customers and the transport companies that will be selected for the transport.
telemarketing) and quotations made for customers. This module also allows preparing all the elements of a future transport file (data directly usable
accounting and the commercial services. Future developments planned for the solution are to automate the integration of tracing information provided by the shipping companies affiliated to INTTRA allowing AIT to provide track
and trace services to its customers in the future. 5. 2. 3 Impact AIT is satisfied very with the implementation of the solution.
and service provided to the customers. The statistic module allows AIT to get all necessary information for the analysis of its business.
and trace information to its customers after the completion of automated integration of tracing information provided from the shipping companies affiliated to INTTRA.
and enables the operation services to manage files with precision, while generating information that allow a clear analysis of the transportation process.
since the solution is managed by specialists in a controlled technical environment Another point that AIT would like to improve in the future is the creation of Business processes together with the deployment of IT solutions.
Road passenger transport Primary customers: Administration, final users and companies Year of foundation: 1728 Turnover in last financial year (€:
ALSA operates in different areas of the road passenger transport services like: regular road passenger transport E-business in the transport & logistics industry 134 discretionary road passenger transport regular special road passenger transport services.
ALSA also operates in urban and interurban passenger transport routes. The main market in which ALSA operates is Spain, in
The regular passenger transport services in Spain are regulated normally by public authorities, so in this area the competition is for the market not in the market.
The main activity of ALSA is the operation of regular road passenger transport services (bus
this type of operation normally in Spain requires administrative passenger transport concessions. In its different markets in Spain, ALSA has an approximate market share of:
The system includes features that allow naming the different services, controlling de execution of tasks
the communication with the bus is bidirectional. All these functions provide a centralised and real-time knowledge of the different operations to improve them,
and analysis tasks, including the supply and demand analysis. Systems and online tools for marketing.
and improve the user experience with the transport services (convenience, comfort and economy). The resource planning system has helped ALSA to reduce costs of € 4-5 million (estimate) due to improved control and planning of operations.
and services productivity, using the alarm controls and the intelligent incidence management and real-time analysis tools.
Interview with ALSA Development Director and ALSA Central Services Director (Madrid, 2008) Websites: ALSA, http://www. alsa. es E-business in the transport & logistics industry 139 5. 4 CEMAT (Italy) Abstract CEMAT (Combined European Management and Transportation
and to support new innovative IT solutions that improve the company's operational efficiency as well as services delivered to the customer.
and improve the transport document management for CEMAT and its customers. It also illustrates the difficulties end users faced during the adoption process.
about € 230 million Primary customers: B2b (various sectors) Most significant geographic market: Italy, Germany, France, Benelux countries, Switzerland, Denmark Main e-business applications studied:
Marco Cipelletti, IT manager at CEMAT 5. 4. 1 Background and objectives CEMAT is an Italian company providing combined transport on land and sea to its European customers.
The European market (except Italy) represents 30%of CEMAT customers and 80%of the company's revenues.
The competition in the combined market is very aggressive and a multitude of companies is competing on this market.
E-business in the transport & logistics industry 140 5. 4. 2 E-business activity The role of information and communication technology in this market is very important.'
quality of services and communication with customers, suppliers and partners. Following an analysis of existing systems and current processes in place,
Identify an IT solution to improve the service rendered to customers at the terminals. CEMAT owns 21 terminals where an average of 500 trucks load
Drivers and customers had to wait until the end of the process before being able to leave the terminal.
on average, customers have to wait one to two hours before they are able to unload
and the majority of CEMAT customers are glad about the new process. The recent implementation of the solution and the progressive adoption of the new process (customers can use the old process until the end of October) does not yet allow measuring the benefits effectively achieved through the solution.
Therefore, the benefits explained hereunder are expected only ones. The expected customer benefits are the following:
Decrease of the waiting time for customers (or their drivers) at the terminals thanks to the reduced check in/checkout process (the objective is to reduce the process to 3 minutes).
and that the savings for 2008 will be about 50 000 Euros owing to the Elimination of the carrier cost to send the documents to the customers representing the average annual cost of 20 000 Euros,
It is more difficult to change the working processes of the customers who have very different cultural backgrounds.
For some customers the usage of the new process is very easy since they have an IT culture
Even if customers were involved in the project from the starting point CEMAT today faces a cultural barrier to the adoption of the solution by some of their customers.
Even if all customers generally have IT tools, they do not necessarily have the experience to use them.
Sending a fax to communicate an e-mail address to CEMAT illustrates quite well the IT approach of a company.
However, this is not the most important reason why the solution has an important impact on some customers:
The main issue faced by CEMAT today is that some of their customers have a very low culture of processes
CEMAT still spends a lot of time explaining the new process several times to some customers. Therefore, CEMAT will put in place a dedicated team to prepare
This team will train the customers and support them in the usage of the new solution.
Another important point is to involve a representative panel of customers in the pilot phase.
Unfortunately, this experience was not representative for all CEMAT customers. It is therefore important to cover the diversity of customers when testing such a solution with customers.
The main lesson learned from this case is need probably the to carefully measure the impact on the customer before implementing such a solution
and to provide adapted support to its customers. The benefits targeted by CEMAT are significant.
about € 685 million Primary customers: Romanian rail passengers Most significant geographic market: Romania Main e-business applications studied:
Dorina Mironescu, CFR Information technology Director 5. 5. 1 Background and objectives Ever since the liberalisation of the railway market in 1998, Romanian railway companies have been facing intense competition from road
Romanian Railways) aims to continuously improve its services by better adapting them to the needs of their customers.
CFR Calatori, responsible for passenger services; CFR Marfa, responsible for freight transport; CFR Infrastructura, responsible for managing the infrastructure of the Romanian railway network;
The main driving forces for implementing such a solution are to better serve the customers by providing them with a consolidated system,
which is in charge of delivering all IT services to the railway companies). The main requirements for this solution defined by the passenger rail company CFR Calatori were to have an electronic system with at least 3 functionalities:
For a nationwide system, a unitary hardware and standard software architecture has been chosen to offer long-term benefits, like improved technical support, technical operating services and reduced TCO (Total Cost of Ownership.
20 million euros for the hardware including the services and 5 million euros for the application software and deployment.
Future major developments that are foreseen are to open the system for the public on the Web allowing customers to make an online reservation,
Stakeholders of this project were the passenger railway company the information technology company of CFR, CFR Infrastructura,(managing the infrastructure on the Romanian railway network) as well as the ministry of Romania.
The feedback from CFR employees and CFR customers about the solution is very positive. The lack of data available before its implementation as well as its recent deployment does not allow the company to quantify the benefits achieved so far
The implementation of the system allows CFR Calatori to provide a better service to customers:
of secure seat reservations and of additional services like the ability to reserve a journey and pay at a later time.
the marketing department can better adapt future services to passenger needs. Thanks to the statistics provided by the data warehouse,
The implementation of this flexible solution also allows implementing a couple of future services, like the deployment of a Web service for ticket reservation and selling, that can be connected to international travel agencies. 5. 5. 4 Lessons learned The project is considered a major success at CFR Calatori as its objectives have been achieved
Future e-services can be deployed progressively with this platform to provide more and more advanced solutions to railway passengers. 5. 5. 5 References Research for this case study was conducted by Caren Hochheimer
container and lorry transport on trains to business customers. In the context of increased competition due to the liberalisation of the rail freight market in 2003 in France,
FRET SNCF is mobilising the whole organisation to become more competitive and productive. One of the main strategic goals is to transform Fret SNCF into a customer-oriented organisation.
In order to improve customer service and communication Fret SNCF has implemented recently an electronic (e-)portal (Clic Services Fret SNCF.
This solution allows customers to track orders, follow transport progression in real time, transmit their transport documents
and consult their invoices. This case study demonstrates how a company with a comparatively low ICT culture managed to implement a successful and innovative e-business solution in a relatively short time.
6, 595 million euros Primary customers: Fret SNCF serves only business clients, main sectors are combined chemistry,
e-Communication with customers Case contact person (s: Fabienne Girard and François Rannoux: Responsible for Service Offering and E Services at Fret SNCF 5. 6. 1 Background and objectives Fret SNCF handles freight carriage for SNCF (Société Nationale
des Chemins de Fer, French railways. It provides three general types of service, which are merchandise transport, container transport and lorry transport.
new opportunities and challenges are surfacing, driving them to lower cost and to increase their competitiveness.
Fret SNCF is making a transition from a productionoriented approach to an approach emphasising services and results.
The e-services project, launched by Fret SNCF in 2006 is part of this new strategy
1. Catch up with competitors who offer e-services and additionally provide a couple of free services through an e-portal. 2. Get a competitive advantage by providing innovative value adding services to match specific needs of specific customer segments (customers will have to pay for these services
) 3. Increase productivity and turnover through automating internal business processes and getting accurate and correct information about transports. 5. 6. 2 E-business activities Providing accurate information to customers is fundamental in the transport sector.
Fret SNCF therefore considered an investment in e-services to be of strategic importance. While the company started some isolated e-services initiatives in 2005
it decided to launch a 4-year programme for e-service development and deployment at the beginning of 2006.
The first phase of this programme was aimed at deploying a couple of basic services allowing customers to track orders,
follow up their transports in real time, transfer their transport documents and consult their invoices. Here ICT is essential
because it gives customers anytime and in a convenient way through a Web interface the possibility to get clear visibility on their transport status
The project E-business in the transport & logistics industry 151 started with a detailed customer needs analysis. The outcome of this market analysis was a roadmap for future services to be developed before the end of 2009.
The development, testing and deployment of the portal and the first bundle of services took seven months.
The Clic Services Fret SNCF portal went live in July 2007, providing four major e-services to customers allowing them to track orders,
follow transport progression in real time, transmit their transport documents and consult their invoices. SNCF Fret invested approximately one million Euros in this first phase of the project.
The Clic Services Fret SNCF portal was developed using PHP and Dot net languages. Security is guaranteed via SSL encryption of information and via a dedicated login and password for each user.
SNCF Fret customers can now log on to a Web platform that allows them to access the four different services that carry the following functionalities.
Commande@RESAFRET enables the customer to directly order transport services on the internet. Each customer possesses a personalised online catalogue that details the respective transport terms negotiated.
and alerts customers and SNCF Fret if there are transport difficulties. e-LV, manages and transfers transport documentation.
the data is sent to the Web platform where it is available to customers. For the ordering process, the customer consults the transport catalogue on the portal
One weakness of the e-services solution is that the information provided to customers is captured manually by a multitude of persons at all stages of the transport process
'The development of these services highlighted the poor quality of information available at Fret SNCF'explains François Rannoux, responsible for the development of e-services at Fret SNCF.
and that are adapted to the necessary information provided through the e-services. The development of e-services accompanies the reorganisation of the SNCF Fret
and is a driving force for improving data entry quality. Today, the e-services portal is operational
and the project team is working on the future developments planned. The main deliverables planned for 2008 are as follows:
enlarge the portal to European customers by providing a multilingual portal with an international service offering,
and publish the data on the website. 5. 6. 3 Impact The e-services solution affects the whole company and its working processes:
With e-services, the management and correctness of the information is as important as the rail service itself.
Thanks to internal communication and change management good results have been achieved but it will take time until the new working modes will be adopted fully by the majority of employees.
A detailed customer satisfaction survey planned for October 2007 will bring more information on the customer adoption rate of these new services. 5. 6. 4 Lessons learned from case study Fret SNCF The implementation of this e-business
project has shown that it is particularly important to consider the quality of information provided through e-services.
Compliance of e-services to target customer needs is a key success factor and an investment in market analyses and customer surveys of the solution is very important.
The second point is that the quality of information used by the information system is key for the quality of the service delivered.
E-business in the transport & logistics industry 153 The final key point is to consider the sales channel of e-services when planning such a project.
The sales persons at Fret SNCF manage the promotion of e-services. If they do not believe in the solution,
they will not promote it amongst their customers. Therefore, it is particularly important to completely involve the sales force in the project from the beginning
Interview (s) with Fabienne Girard, responsible for service offering and François Rannoux, responsible for e-services, 24/07/07 and 15/09/07 by Phone company internal newsletters and brochures Website
reverse logistics) enables it to support its customers in their strategic, geographic, and technological developments, providing them with solutions tailored to optimising their physical and information flows.
Geodis offers a range of logistics services, adapted to the specific needs of a sector.
It is listed on Euronext Paris (Eurolist compartment B). To support its warehouse management services Geodis operates an integrated warehouse managing system for its overall 3, 000,000 m of warehouse space.
about € 3, 785 million (revenues) Primary customers: Companies in the Automotive, FMCG, Healthcare, High tech, Industry, Luxury, Retail sectors Most significant geographic market:
and is continuing to expand into Eastern europe to partner their customers in these markets. In addition, they have a strong presence in Southeast asia
and shaped by rampant competition. Recent years have seen a number of major acquisitions leading to the creation of global groups.
and customer satisfaction by favouring reliable communication that is quick and always available thanks to a wide range of tools and services.
and exchanging information with customers and transporters. Today, the order is directly put into the customer system
Geode) that allow easy connectivity with the customers'ERP systems. Mr Philippe Baetens, Managing director at Geodis, points out that it is an"important requirement before implementing such a warehouse management system is need you a detailed view and study on the existing processes.
All departments are involved in such a project impacting logistics, customers and partners. The warehouse management system of Geodis supports all the main processes of the warehouse.
a confirmation is sent to the customers. The delivery is checked then and confirmed to the customer.
and customers stay happy. This results in avoiding the very costly problem of losing existing customers to the competition.
The cost of acquiring a new customer is up to five times greater than maintaining an existing customer.
The latest generation of WMS employed by Geodis enable the logistics provider to offer its customers'maximum flexibility.
optimising the efficiency of warehouse management and associated services and improving customer satisfaction. 5. 7. 5 References Research for this case study was conducted by Caren Hochheimer, Altran, on behalf of the Sectoral e-Businesswatch.
Independent intermodal transport operator Primary customers: Haulers, logistic companies, carriers Year of foundation: 1967 Turnover in last financial year (€:
which was characterised by a change of the market environment due to railway liberalisation. Following the liberalisation,
Hupac prepared itself early on for fair competition: Ongoing extension of the network, independence from the railways as well as investment in its own assets such as rolling stock.
Today, terminals and IT solutions remain the key success factors for the company's growth.
Cesar is an Information technology system for combined transport that enables customers to make reservations, track and trace goods,
so that customers can be kept precisely informed about their shipments. Hupac is managing the transport of containers all over Europe by renting trains
In order to guarantee the punctuality of transport to its customers, Hupac needs to be informed on how their trains run
and Hupac contractually pays penalties to its customers if the transport does not arrive on time at its destination. 5. 8. 2 E-business activities The idea of launching a project to implement a system that manages the information about the trains started in mid 2004.
in order to be able to inform its customers about any delay. Another need was to know what railway company causes the delay,
and a GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) card that sends the information to the Goal system managing the information sent to
Thanks to internal change management including involvement of employees in the project and communication and training,
and to offer better customer services thanks to the visibility that customers have today on their transport.
Cost reduction as a result of a) better positions for price negotiations with the railway companies depending on the delays tracked and b) less penalties to pay to customers.
At the moment, the solution runs with a Swiss communication card and as soon as the train is in a foreign country,
and operating in an international environment face the same issue. These cost factors should be taken into account
or free for their customers. Another aspect to be taken into account and which seems to be quite basic is the battery.
and warehousing services to the UK and Europe. In 2002, competitive forces drove N c. Cammack & Son to adopt a truck business management solution.
The main benefit of this solution is a superb‘justin-time'performance at the firm allowing customers to online view
Transport, distribution, Warehousing Primary customers: All Business sectors (50%food sector) Year of foundation: 1919 Turnover in last financial year (€:
N c. Cammack & Son is a transport, distribution and warehousing specialist offering its services across the United kingdom, Europe, and Eastern europe.
Under family control, the company developed from a domestic coal delivery provider to offering services including transport, distribution, freight forwarding, express deliveries, warehousing and handling to its approximately 500 customers.
Through careful investment and controlled growth, the company now has an annual turnover in excess of 6 Million euros.
N c. Cammack & Son believes that one of the reasons for its success is its investment in a specific Information technology (IT) solution called‘Truck Business'.
Traffic planners are in charge of collecting the different jobs sent by fax from the customers,
The third requirement was to give customers online access to the system allowing them to see their job status, history and invoices.
shipping and delivery notes, rate schedules for separate customers, loads with jobs for different truck types,
& Son's customers to view their own stock records, print reports, plus monitor incoming and outgoing goods, online.
accept it and send an acceptance receipt to the customers. Once the job is accepted, the information is transferred automatically into the job diary
The accounts manager at N c. Cammack & Son can place customers on stop in the‘Truck Business'solution,
which disables users from carrying out work for customers who have a bad credit record. 5. 9. 3 Impact The implementation of the‘Truck Business'solution required a significant change in working culture at N c. Cammack
trucks at any time allowing better communication and discussion for improving efficiency. Before the solution implementation everything was on one person's desk written on sheets of paper.
Customers are satisfied very with the services rendered. N c. Cammack & Son is gathering new customers through word of mouth promotion done by their current clients.
Customers are impressed particularly by the quality and detail of information they can access online regarding their stock levels
or regarding the status of their jobs owing to the track and trace solution. The track and trace solution assigns a specific number to each job according to the current status of the transport from its assignment to the invoicing.
and improve the majority of their operational processes without making significant financial investments. Although N c. Cammack & Son initially did face resistance from their employees,
Standard solutions for small enterprises exist providing the same features as the‘Truck Business'solution.
or undervalue its services and end up running at a loss which ultimately would mean the closure of the company.
and trace solution in 2002 to allow their customers to follow up their transport activities on a Web interface.
It particularly points out the difficulties of guaranteeing a good quality of information in an environment of multiple and small supplier, as it is the case for Saima Avandero in Italy.
Logistics and forwarding services Primary customers: All sectors Year of foundation: 1993 (Saima bought Avandero) Turnover in last financial year (€:
*e-Communication with customers 5. 10.1 Background and objectives Saima Avandero is one of the top five international freight-forwarding specialists on the Italian market.
The company offers its customers an integrated logistic service including the delivery of tailor-made services that interconnect logistic and transport services.
A solid network of transport suppliers ensures that Saima Avandero can offer freight services like bulking, combined transport and special transports all over Europe.
Saima Avandero faces intense competition on its market with the main competitors being TNT DHL, Kuehne & Nagel and Schenker.
To better face the growing demand of the market, Saima Avandero joined the Belgian group ABX LOGISTICS in 1999.
we also have to provide an information service on the entire transport chain for our customers'.
The primary driving force to implement this service was to match the growing needs of its customers for traceability of their transports:
some of Saima Avandero's most important customers wanted more visibility on their transports. This is why Saima Avandero decided to develop a solution.
The objective for the solution was to provide the status of the transport over aweb interface to customers. 5. 10.2 E-business activities The track
The main requirement for the solution was to give customers access to a database where information about their transports orders is stored.
Customers should be able to access this information in different ways, according to the specifications they define.
or through any other communication means like e-mail, fax or phone in case the supplier is connected not directly to the Saima Avandero database.
The supplier will then confirm the transport order (through the system or other communication tools.
and some of the customers are satisfied very with it while others complain about the low quality of information available for some transports.
or manually. 5. 10.3 Impact Even if some customers are satisfied very with this solution, overall Saima Avandero is satisfied not completely:
is to provide a homogenous level of data quality to the customers. For some transport, the quality of data is very good
and Saima Avandero receives complaints from their customers. Some strategic customers for whom the company puts many efforts in place to maintain the data quality at a high level are satisfied
however with the solution. E-business in the transport & logistics industry 174 5 10.4 Lessons learned This case illustrates barriers that companies can face
Solutions that are aimed at providing data to customers encounter huge issues if the quality of information cannot be guaranteed in cases where a company depends on a third party to provide the data it is very important to get a clear commitment of this third party on the respect
the main objective is to provide services and information to travellers in order to ensure an easy access to the network of all public transport operators in this region.
Information provider to public transport passengers Primary customers: Public transport authorities, Norway operators Year of foundation: 1986 Turnover in last financial year (€:
In 2008 the ownership of Trafikanten was changed slightly as 6 new shareholders entered the company representing Norwegian PT operators, PT branch organisations and two airliners.
The original 3 shareholders still have the majority of shares. Trafikanten's main objective is to promote public transport
. Even if Trafikanten does not operate in a competitive marketplace due to their specific business model, they compete indirectly with operators providing information to travellers
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is key for Trafikantens activities. The efficiency of the company is fully dependant on the development of those solutions.
All future services planned are based on Information and Communication technologies. The first information service provided by Trafikanten set up in 1988 was located a centrally service centre to manually sell tickets
and provide information to customers. At the same time a call centre was opened for travellers. ICT at the time was used to give precise information and fast answers to travel enquiries.
there were long waiting times for customers until a call was treated. The objective of developing the traffic planner was to reduce the duration of each call
and to be able to serve an increasing number of telephone customers. In 1992 Trafikanten put the first travel planner in place did they develop it?.
Prior to the start of the project, a one-year planning phase took place where Trafikanten brought the stakeholders
7 stakeholders and 3 full time project officers from Trafikanten assisted by an external consultant.
Since the project had a big impact on all operators it needed a great involvement of all stakeholders and partners from the very beginning.
Passenger satisfaction and the attractiveness of public transport services can increase considerably if reliable and clear passenger information is available before a journey is planned
E-business in the transport & logistics industry 179 5. 11.4 Lessons learned This case demonstrates a successful solution implementation in the public transport area that allowed achieving significant benefits in terms of passenger communication and service
The project being managed by a common organisation that is recognised by all involved stakeholders contributed to the success of the project.
Interview with Jarl Eliassen, Managing director Trafikanten, 03/01/08 Presentation of Trafikanten and their services Websites:
Operation of public bus and train transport Primary customers: Passengers Year of foundation: 1981 Turnover in last financial year (€:
Markus Bergman IT director at Värmlandstrafik AB 5. 12.1 Background and objectives Värmlandstrafik is a public transport authority (PTA) responsible for providing public transport services to passengers in the Värmland region
defining the contracts, setting up requirements that concern the respect of E-business in the transport & logistics industry 181 passenger comfort, security and environment and controlling the respect of the requirements and the activity of the operators.
and the shareholders, including the county council and the different municipalities. IT solutions play an important role in supporting the company in achieving its objective of providing good transport services while keeping the costs at a low level
through: improving operational efficiency and lowering costs through internal IT solutions thanks to increased efficiency of Business processes;
improving customer services and customer communication through Web based and mobile information services for passengers (Travel planner, Timetables etc), ticketing systems,
and use and have a better control on the respect of agreed requirements by the operators in terms of comfort, quality, security and environment.
and environment. 5. 12.2 E-business activities The solution chosen by Värmlandstrafik had been developed initially by Nordic Port and the Public transport Authority (PTA) in West Sweden,
When more organising authorities became customers in the system, a user society was formed,@FRIDA, which now manages the development of the system.
but also to set up concrete and achievable goals for the environment for the different regional authorities. 5. 12.5 References Research for this case study was conducted by Caren Hochheimer, Altran, on behalf of the Sectoral e-Businesswatch.
outlook and policy implications Due to the high turnover and number of jobs in the European TLS industry and its interrelation with almost all other European economy sectors, any improvements to the competitiveness and effectiveness
of European transport and logistics enterprises will have a positive impact on other industries and, undoubtedly, will also have an impact on the European economy as a whole.
Based on the results of the E-business Survey presented in Chapter 3, the impact of ICT on companies'performance that have been drawn in Chapter 4 and the results from case studies analysis (Chapter 5),
and a greater potential for exploiting cost-saving opportunities. For micro and small companies the feelings that the company is too small
In international comparisons, EU TLS enterprises are on average level with their counterparts in USA in their use of ICT.
although, Polish enterprises are not far behind in its use of some ICT technologies. Sectoral comparison:
Therefore, investments in training and skill-formation are at least equally important as investments in ICT capital itself
in a knowledge economy driven by rapid technical change, the ability to empower the work force is a necessary complementary measure to ICT adoption.
costly investments bear the risk of becoming ineffective. IT practitioners. Interviewed SMES often lack a coherent ICT investment strategy
or the related skills-partly because most SMES cannot afford to employ ICT practitioners. According to the present report, only about 9%of small firms and 33%of medium-sized firms employ ICT practitioners i e. have their own ICT department.
investments in training and skill-formation are at least equally important as investments in ICT capital themselves
Central Policy Area No. 6 deals with facilitating ICT uptake across the European economy. The ebsn (European E-business Support Network for SMES) is an e-business policy coordination platform,
Following-up on these recommendations, the European commission adopted a policy Communication on"e-Skills for the 21st Century:
Specifically for the TLS sector, the following actions to counteract the problems of ICT adoption in the sector have been developed: COM (2006) 314 final-Communication:
radio spectrum and standards and called for an RFID Stakeholder Group to provide an open platform allowing a dialogue between consumer organisations, market actors,
and business models Sector associations Business intermediaries Competence centres Improving ICT skills and managerial understanding and skills for ebusiness Facilitate knowledge transfer between research centres and enterprises.
Counteract e-business skill-shortages in the market e g. by promoting multi-stakeholder partnerships in ICT training programmes.
Create opportunities for dialogue between SMES and ICT service providers. European commission National Governments Regional Governments Competence centres Chambers of commerce Member States (via their e-business programmes) Other intermediaries Developing standards for ebusiness, facilitating the process of interoperability
and little incentive to change business models when returns are unclear. In a nutshell SMES'ICT requirements are that they support their core business,
Moderate financial support can be given in the form of prizes for competitions featuring innovative e-business applications. 124 Potential small business benefits
based on the Sectoral E-business Watch Survey results (see section 3. 4. 1). A faster deployment of an ERP systems among medium-sized and small enterprises would create a much broader base for sectoral e-business
and productivity gains in European enterprises. Now there is a positive market environment to attain this goal:
driven by market requirements, and enabled by technological advances, ICT companies are increasingly addressing the SME market.
In this context, the European commission, the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund launched, in May 2006 the Joint European Resources for 124 Other possible tools could include microcredits, strengthening equity capital, mezzanine financing, securisation of loans, etc.
E-business in the transport & logistics industry 192 Micro to Medium Enterprises (JEREMIE) initiative, which allows European Member States
small and medium enterprises. Improving ICT skills and managerial understanding and skills for e-business Skills requirements arise as an important issue
A product of such discussion could be an assessment of required skills for enterprises in the TLS.
such as how to effectively integrate e-business processes into existing business models and strategies to change organisational structures.
investments in training and skill-formation are at least equally important as investments in ICT capital themselves
Thus investments in e-skill formation and training have to be prioritised. This is also in line with the recommendations made in the recent"Small Business Act"for Europe,
Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the regions. COM (2008) 394 final.
E-business in the transport & logistics industry 193 that most of the companies feel that their customers/suppliers are prepared not (65%of the firms, 76%of the larger firms.
standards multiply and companies at lower levels of the supply chain need to adopt various standards required by their customers.
and complementary investments can lead to innovations, and innovations are associated positively with turnover growth. Innovative firms are more likely to grow.
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The E-business Survey 2007 methodological notes Background and scope The Sectoral E-business Watch collects data relating to the use of ICT and e-business in European enterprises by means of representative surveys.
in retail, transport & logistics Retail Transport & logistics services 2248 3 RFID adoption Manufacturing sectors Retail Transport services Hospitals 434 4 Intellectual
Property rights in ICT SMES ICT manufacturing ICT services Software publishing 683 Questionnaire The questionnaires for Projects 1 and 2 contained about 70 questions
Automated data exchange (Project 1)/ E-business with customers and suppliers (Project 2) C: e-Standards and interoperability issues (Project 1) D:
The highest level of the population was the set of all computer-using enterprises (and, in Project 1
761 Project 2 Retail and transport 2. 1 Retail 52 1, 151 2. 2 Transport services and logistics 60.10,60. 21+23+24
Strata by company-size Target quota specified Size-band Project 1 Manufacturing Project 2 Retail & transport Micro enterprises (up to 9 employees
The survey was carried out as an enterprise survey: data collection and reporting focus on the enterprise,
defined as a business organisation (legal unit) with one or more establishments. Due to the small population of enterprises in some of the sector-country cells, the target quota could not be achieved (particularly in the larger enterprise sizebands) in each country.
In these cases, interviews were shifted to the next largest sizeband (from large to medium-sized, from medium-sized to small),
so that results reflect the structure and distribution of enterprises in the population of the respective sector or geographic area.
and by the number of enterprises. 130 Weighting by employment: Values that are reported as employment-weighted figures should be read as"enterprises comprising x%of employees"(in the respective sector or country.
The reason for using employment weighting is the predominance of micro-enterprises over other kinds of firms.
If the weights did not factor in the economic importance of different sized businesses, the results would be dominated by the percentages observed in the micro size-band.
Weighting by the number of enterprises: Values that are reported as"x%of enterprises"show the share of firms irrespective of their size,
i e. a micro-company with a few employees and a large company with thousands of employees both count equally.
The results for follow-up questions can be computed on the basis of enterprises that were asked the question (e g."
"in%of enterprises with internet access")or on the basis of all companies surveyed. In this report, both methods are used,
In practice, however, in some industries and in some countries the complete population of businesses consists of only several hundred or even a few dozen enterprises.
In some cases, every enterprise within a country-industry and size-band cell was contacted and asked to participate in the survey.
This means that it is practically impossible to achieve a higher confidence interval through representative enterprise surveys in
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