Cooperation within the Supply Chain

In this WP the client perspective will be the focal point in the development and assessment of the solutions. For the
client the movement of the commodities is most important, with the mode used (such as railways) being no more than
a facilitator. The supply chain is sensitive to disruptions; a delay in one of the transport movements will impact the
logistical processes further on in the supply chain which can lead to increased logistical cost. The performance of rail
and its interconnectivity with other modes should therefore, be assessed in a larger context to be able to understand
and address the client needs.

Therefore, solutions for operational incidents such as train delays, diversions, or cancellations, should be approached
with the client in mind. For instance, real-time information exchange opens up the possibility to anticipate and in doing
so, reduce the costs of the delay. Additionally, the selection of alternative solutions should take into account the required
arrival time of the commodities for the next operation in the supply chain. The connection to other modes at a terminal
is one of these next operations which can be optimised with a proper method of cooperation.

Broadening the scope from sole rail to intermodal cooperation within the complete transport system opens up a wider
set of solution possibilities. The overall aim of improving the position of the rail transport in the transport chain (and
thus opening it up to more options to increase anticipation, flexibility and reliability) is, to include rail links in more
transport strategies for more clients and consequently to increase the overall use of railways.

To perform the activities in WP 4 the following tasks have been defined:
• Assessment of the current situation regarding cooperation in the supply chain: successes and bottlenecks
• Business models enabling collaboration in the supply chain
• Governance models enabling cooperation in the supply chain
• Validation of solutions applied in Living Labs
• Roadmap for implementation of cooperation in the supply chain

There will be frequent communication between this WP and the three Continuous Improvement Tracks in order to identify the requirements
and needs of these Continuous Improvement Tracks. These needs and requirements will be taken in account as much as possible. Also this WP
will be linked to activities and results from WP 3 (cooperation within the rail sector) and WP 5 (information availability).