Participating in the EU’s FENIX Project

What is the FENIX Project?

FENIX created the infrastructure, called the ‘FENIX Connector,’ to help develop the first European-federated architecture for data sharing. So far, the project has created a network to exchange data and collect resources between 11 different pilot sites.

Launched in 2019, the FENIX project’s first phase was a 4-year initiative to support the development, validation and deployment of digital information systems throughout the European Union’s core transport network. The project’s setup has enabled B2A (business-to-administration) and B2B (business-to-business) partners to share data across both preexisting and future platforms, with 45 total beneficiaries receiving funds, including shippers, logistics service providers, and port authorities.

The project’s partners gathered in a February 2023 general assembly to mark the end of a successful first phase with a week-long schedule of conferences and presentations. P&G (Procter & Gamble) hosted the event at their Business Innovation Centre in Brussels, which was attended by different participants in logistics optimization projects.

OIA’S Involvement

P&G was one of several organizations that received funding for a pilot site, with their site located in Willebroek, Belgium. As P&G’s 4PL (fourth-party logistics) service provider, OIA Global played an integral role for over three years, particularly for several projects targeting “blind spots” in the supply chain:

• Enhanced visibility for container movements that are gated into inland container terminals as they travel to the loading port.
• Document exchange using blockchain technologies to request and receive digitally signed certificates from the chamber of commerce.
• CO2 and NOx emissions transparency on current trade lanes.

Jelte Tempelaars, Global Head of 4PL and 5PL, and Jessica Morgan, 4PL Quality and Continuous Improvement Lead, attended the FENIX project’s general assembly in Brussels. 

The Willebroek pilot site resulted in five successful use cases that have now been fully tested, deployed, and are being implemented into P&G’s daily operations. Furthermore, OIA Global 4PL is working to continuously improve these tools’ capabilities and eventually scale up their usability for P&G’s export locations across Europe.

OIA will remain heavily involved with FENIX as the second stage of the project commences. Ongoing and future initiatives include recycling export containers for imports to reduce the number of trips from warehouse to terminal and using electric barges to transport containers from terminal to port.