The fact that freight processes today still largely follow traditional, paper-based procedures, is no coincidence. “Paper has seemingly always been around – and it is, still, easy to handle,” says Jonas Kassan, Team Lead at the Global Project Management Office at Rhenus. However, as the lead of the „Electronic Transport Documents“ Working Group in the Open Logistics Foundation and its “eCMR” project, he doesn’t see this as a case for defending the conventional consignment note. Quite the opposite: His motivation was to create a digital solution for the document that is just as intuitive for all participants to use. And a digital solution is urgently needed: While paper-based processes may appear simple, they cost time and resources – on all sides, and for all involved. The eCMR, which is the electronic version of the traditional consignment note that enables paperless processing of goods transport, offers advantages such as faster handling, fewer errors and increased transparency.
Community counts
The new ready-to-use software for the digital consignment note is no accident, but the result of a collective effort envisioned by the founders of the Foundation in 2021. “We see IT as possibly the most important driver of innovation today – for our sector and beyond. We are convinced that we can only achieve digitalisation in logistics together. Connectivity, compatibility and interoperability of IT systems in logistics beyond company boundaries is our clear objective,” says Dr. Stephan Peters, Chairman of the Board of the Open Logistics Foundation and board member at Rhenus. “The development of the eCMR shows how powerful we are as an industry when we drive innovation together.” Rhenus, along with Dachser, DB Schenker and duisport, is a founding member of the Foundation, and the digital consignment note is its first lighthouse project. It is intentional that the software developed via the Open Logistics Foundation is available as open source, as Stefan Hohm, board member of the Open Logistics Foundation and CDO at Dachser, explains. “Open source simplifies access to digitalisation and drives the standardisation of commodities within digital value chains.”
For the eCMR, open source has proven itself not only as a technical development model, but also as an expression of the power of collaborative action. “Of course, Rhenus could have solved the task technically on its own, but only within the group could we create a legally and organisationally accepted solution,” says Markus Sandbrink, CIO of Rhenus, describing the benefits of joint development. The eCMR is based on a standard process in logistics. For such so-called commodities, companies today still all too often develop their own solutions – instead of pooling their efforts with other companies as in the Open Logistics Foundation.
The diverse composition of the Working Group and project is one of the key success factors of the new eCMR: More than 25 logistics service providers, transport platforms, as well as logistics and IT service providers – many of them companions in the industry, some with existing individual eCMR solutions – worked together on the new standard. The software benefits from considering many different perspectives. The participating companies also represent numerous European countries. Their representatives contributed valuable insights on national regulations and specifications that are crucial for an international solution. RA Dr. David Saive, LL.M., Legal Product Owner at the Open Logistics Foundation, accompanied the project and ensured legal compliance of the software alongside technical development.
Compatibility inside
In recent years, various companies, transport platforms, and logistics IT service providers have repeatedly tried to digitalise the CMR consignment note. As a result, a variety of software and solutions emerged. Their shared problem: compatibility. Different systems and standards make seamless data transmission and processing difficult. In practice, this often leads to participants having to revert to paper or keep it in parallel. Broad market adoption failed to materialise. With the eCMR from the Open Logistics Foundation, the goal of unified compatibility in the transport sector is now within reach. The new open source software establishes a common standard for the digital consignment note – not a formally certified one, but a de facto or industry standard, legitimised by collective development and business support. At the same time, the eCMR contributes to cost savings through more efficient processes.
Shorter waiting times
By the end of 2023, Dachser and Rhenus had provided the „proof of concept“ for the eCMR on a real transport route. This was followed by actual software development within the project. Logistics service providers associate a variety of benefits with the eCMR. Faster processing of lorries during handovers – whether at the sender or recipient – is one of them. According to Ingo Müller, Department Head of Prototyping & Testing at Dachser, time savings in some reference cases have reached up to 60 percent. “This means significant relief for everyone involved in the transport chain – from drivers and dispatchers to the recipients of the goods,” explains Müller, who co-leads the “Electronic Transport Documents” Working Group and the “eCMR” project with Jonas Kassan. “By digitalising freight documents, we significantly reduce waiting times and enable more efficient processing.”
Just how great the optimisation potential is becomes clear when looking at current procedures with traditional paper documents. The sender hands over the consignment note – an original with three carbon copies – to the carrier. Both parties sign: The sender to confirm handing over the goods, the carrier to confirm receipt – thus forming the transport contract. One copy stays with the sender, the original and two others travel with the shipment. At the recipient’s end, the same process occurs: The carrier confirms delivery on the consignment note, the recipient confirms acceptance. All of this happens in seconds with the eCMR – thanks to an innovative and, crucially, legally compliant signature solution.
Legally secure handover
The eCMR does not rely on the electronic signature, which would correspond to the analogue personal signature customary for consignment notes today, but on the advanced electronic seal. The advantage: Advanced electronic seals are not tied to natural persons but represent legal entities – companies and organisations. For example, when the tax office seals an electronic tax notice, it is clear that the document originates from the authority – who technically triggered the seal does not matter. The electronic seal essentially functions like a trusted company stamp, usable only by expressly authorised employees. From a technical perspective, advanced electronic seals and advanced electronic signatures are quite similar. Both use digital signatures based on secure cryptographic processes and certificates. Had the previous analogue process been directly transferred into the digital world, every employee would have required their own certificate for digital signature – a considerable administrative burden. The advanced electronic seal simplifies the process: Employees can identify themselves through their affiliation with the company and thus securely authenticate the electronic consignment note. Moreover, the advanced electronic seal can easily be integrated into existing digital employee management systems, which are already widely used today in large European enterprises. For the technical implementation, the Open Logistics Foundation involved experts from ecsec GmbH (see interview in the experts´ blog). This company specialises in innovative solutions in information and communication technology security, security management, smart card technology, identity management, internet security and electronic signatures. Its expertise stems from decades of experience in international research and industrial projects. The use of the advanced electronic seal complies with both the eCMR protocol and current European legal regulations on digital identity.
More efficient processes
Alongside the time savings during processing, Jonas Kassan of Rhenus sees another major benefit in the invoicing process: Until now, the sender could only issue an invoice after receiving the original paper consignment note back – a process which could take weeks depending on the recipient’s processing time and postal delivery. Both sender and carrier must wait for their payment. With the eCMR, this process is greatly accelerated: As soon as the recipient digitally confirms receipt of the goods, the confirmation is transmitted to the sender’s system in real time – and the invoice can be issued immediately.
“For Markant customers, the eCMR is of crucial importance because this ‘electronic’ document is another building block enabling fully paperless deliveries. Automation based on structured data offers enormous savings potential for sender, freight forwarder and recipient,” explains Reiner Sailer, Lead Service Owner at Markant Services International GmbH. The company, a member of the Open Logistics Foundation, specialises in digital transformation and automation within the FMCG and retail sector’s value chain – particularly for suppliers and retailers in grocery, wholesale and specialised retail. “By simplifying logistics processes, the eCMR makes a vital contribution to strengthening resilient supply chains – especially in the FMCG sector,” says Sailer. Particularly promising for the company is the expectation that the eCMR will provide a much broader data basis on the transport process than before. These additional insights offer the Markant Group new opportunities to develop value-added services for its clients.
However, the eCMR offers benefits not only for invoicing but also for improving the traceability of goods during transport. Until now, shipments have often gone off the radar – especially in the case of part loads or when passing through intermediaries. This regularly results in queries from recipients and significantly increases communication efforts for logistics service providers. As Jonas Kassan succinctly puts it, “That’s when the phone calls start.” With eCMR, the sender always has precise information about the location of the goods and can provide accurate updates to their
customers.
Another cost advantage stems from eliminating paper – both as a material and in terms of its transport. But Jonas Kassan from Rhenus takes it a step further. Looking at archiving, “The CMR must be retained for ten years. At Rhenus alone, the paper fills hundreds of square metres of basement storage. And if a document actually needs to be checked, finding it is a huge effort…”. The eCMR eliminates these problems: Switching to the digital waybill not only saves time, it also saves money. Rhenus, for example, has calculated that, depending on the use case, savings of up to one euro per document can be achieved. Processes become more transparent and less error-prone – from start to finish. This figure aligns with calculations by other logistics service providers, some of whom cite savings of up to €4.50. Transport platforms, such as member company Transporeon, even offer a calculator on their website that allows companies to determine how much they can save per consignment note by using the eCMR.
Next phase: Implementation
Logistics service providers Rhenus and Dachser have now integrated the eCMR into their IT systems as part of two use cases and are deploying the digital consignment note on their routes. It is not only the internal demand from branches and sites that is driving adoption, but also the growing demand from customers. In these two use cases, the logistics service providers collaborated with logistics IT service providers Markant and Blue Yonder, who actively supported or accompanied software development in the Foundation’s eCMR project. Blue Yonder, also a member of the Open Logistics Foundation, enables companies to make more accurate forecasts and dynamically manage capacities, inventories, and transport via its AI-driven supply chain platform. “Working closely with a logistics provider on a real-world application sharpened our understanding of the industry’s requirements and at the same time paved the way for future innovations,” says Robert Recknagel, Head of Operations at Blue Yonder. The company plans to use the new or real-time data from the digital process to help its clients manage their supply chains more quickly and precisely. However, de facto standards like the eCMR do not become established overnight – unlike regulations that are mandated with a fixed deadline.
Adoption in waves
Jens Leveling, Technical Advisor to the Open Logistics Foundation and Team Lead for Data Driven Logistics at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML, is well aware of this. The first components for the eCMR were developed at the Fraunhofer IML as part of the large-scale “Silicon Economy” research project, funded over five years by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport, and were published in the Open Logistics Repository. The institute also initiated the founding of the Open Logistics Foundation and brought the founding companies together. It remains a strategic partner of the Foundation to this day. Jens Leveling has accompanied the development of the eCMR software both from a research perspective and in practice. The software architect expects a “wave-like spread” of the open source standard. “Each new wave is triggered
when a major player in the market adopts the software,” he said. “That player naturally brings their customers along – including many smaller businesses.” This results in growing interconnection between companies and platforms. Transport platforms could also play a key role in driving the adoption of the standard. It initially surprised some observers that several of them actively contributed to developing the eCMR software as members of the Open Logistics Foundation. One example is the multinational logistics software provider Transporeon, which has been offering its own digital consignment note solution since mid-2023. Has the company created more competition for itself in the market by participating in the Foundation’s eCMR project, thereby harming its own business model?
The answer is a clear no. “In logistics, there are too many isolated solutions on the one hand, and on the other, high barriers to data sharing. As a result, the benefits of digital solutions are only accessible to a few – and even then, not to the full extent,” says Serge Schamschula, Head of Ecosystem at Transporeon. “In this sense, large platforms and their users also benefit when shared standards help software solutions reach a wider audience.” The eCMR software of the Open Logistics Foundation is not only available to companies that helped develop it or are members of the Foundation. Any company can download the software and its components from the Open Logistics Repository, customise them, and use them. Both downloading and using the software, including for commercial purposes, are free of charge. Companies with in-house IT departments can integrate the software into their existing systems themselves. Businesses without internal IT resources can engage external IT service providers. Installation takes only a few hours. Customisation, however, requires more expertise and time – depending on the changes to be made. This creates a large market for consulting and implementation services. IT providers involved in the eCMR project are especially well suited for such projects. They can set up, operate, and maintain individual instances for companies. Although the Open Logistics Foundation’s eCMR software is now available in a ready-to-use version, development is far from complete. Like any software, long-term operation requires regular updates to ensure continued functionality. This is because operating systems, devices, and other software environments interacting with the eCMR evolve, and the software must be adapted accordingly. At the same time, new security risks emerge, necessitating continuous security updates. Despite comprehensive testing, unforeseen bugs – just as in proprietary software – can never be completely ruled out and must be fixed. Over time, opportunities also arise to make the software more efficient, faster, and more stable. To support companies that want to develop new use cases, the Open Logistics Foundation’s Head Office has established a dedicated task force. User feedback plays a central role. “Every company that uses the eCMR software is asked to provide feedback to the Open Logistics Foundation,” says Ingo Müller from Dachser. “These suggestions are incorporated into future updates or are implemented directly by the community.”
Collective progress
Every open source project also thrives on collaborative progress, and the Open Logistics Foundation actively encourages it. Modifications or extensions to the software by users are not restricted. Companies may use the software without limitation under the Open Logistics Foundation License – even to expand their service portfolio and monetise related offerings. This also applies to new features developed by companies. The base – i.e. the core standard that ensures compatibility – should, however, not be changed without compelling justification. For the Open Logistics Foundation and its projects, it is essential that companies make their enhancements and new functionalities accessible to the open source community. These contributions can be submitted through the Contribution Process set up by the Foundation (see page 20). How much an entire industry can benefit when many companies participate in a development effort is demonstrated by the example of the Linux operating system, which has grown into a stable, secure, and versatile solution through collective expertise.
Joining forces
Logistics is a diverse industry with many players many different structures. But one thing unites them: The drive for digitalisation and sustainably efficient supply chains. “The potential that open source solutions offer for logistics is immense,” agree Dr. Stephan Peters and Stefan Hohm. “Let’s take the eCMR as our starting point – join the Open Logistics Foundation and let’s work together on building an efficient digital logistics landscape for the future!”
