CORE improves supply chain security through enhanced visibility in a commercially sensitive way

The CORE-project

International trade and logistics is associated with unwanted threats of criminals and illegitimate traders. Threats like terrorist attacks and cybercrime pose new challenges to safeguard our society in our economy that becomes more and more digitised. The challenge is how we can cope with these developments and enhance supply chain security without increasing the friction costs in global trade, which is what's currently happening. CORE has the answer, based on a vision developed by TNO and its partners.

This vision builds upon business strategies to achieve real-time end-to-end visibility and enhance control over the  supply chain for commercial reasons: synchronising supply chain processes, more efficient planning and execution, creating agility and resilience in the supply chain to anticipate and cope with unforeseen disruptions and deviations, and reduce the administrative burden linked to trade and logistics transactions and declarations. For more then a decade, TNO collaborates among others with Dutch Customs, TU Delft and the trade community to sharpen this vision and further develop this concept into concrete implementation models and corresponding standards.

In CORE, two binding concepts are being further developed, demonstrated and implemented: seamless interoperability and trusted trade lane supervision. First, seamless interoperability is our approach to facilitate data re-use throughout the supply chain and with authorities and to accelerate real-time end-to-end visibility along the supply chain in a cost-efficient way. This requires harmonisation of the data models used in global trade and logistics and supervision bodies such as customs, through common ontologies, semantic models, standardisation of real-time events and corresponding event-driven connectivity architectures. TNO is the architect of this IT enabling development agenda.     

Second, trusted trade lane supervision is our approach to recognise that in some trade lanes customs risks are effectively managed and controlled by the supply chain partners. If those partners also share this in a transparent way with customs, hardly any additonal control and supervision is needed. Be aware that this type of chain control goes beyonfd the reach of already existing trusted trade progammes, such as Authorised Economic Operator. Trusted trade lane supervision is the way this recognition becomes ready for operational use. CORE developed this operational model and demonstrates its use in a number of demonstrations, including customs authorities to apply it in their daily routines. TNO coordinate this development and demonstration agenda.

In a "€ 50-million" project, with strong engagement of The World Customs Organisation (WCO), The European Shippers' Council (ESC), The European Freight Forwarder Association (CLECAT), the International Road Union (IRU)  and  major logistics companies (a.o. Maersk Line, DHL, Procter & Gamble) the CORE project is a flagship project with the potential to achieve true impact and make Europe more secure and more competitive at the same time.