Behind the scenes with Marinus: OTM 5.0

Filogic co-founder and CTO Marinus Brink even sits on the working group responsible for the development of this model. We spoke with him about everything he does in the background to make your work as efficient as possible!

First of all, can you tell us a bit more about the OTM working group?

Marinus: ‘Certainly! This working group was set up in 2019, a few years after the introduction of the Open Trip Model. The OTM was originally developed and released to the market by a logistics software vendor to exchange execution data with control towers. But the model became increasingly well known in the market, and it was not long before I got involved on behalf of Filogic.

It was immediately clear to me that the added value of this open source data-sharing model went far beyond what it was being used for at the time. For the exchange of transport orders, for example. So initially the OTM working group was set up for that reason.

As true techies, we set out to find the answer to the question: What is the minimum needed to exchange a transport order between our systems, without having to connect them to each other manually every time?’

What is the current status of the Open Trip Model?

‘We have certainly found the answer to that question. The OTM is now an official Dutch standard, is increasingly being embraced, and the group of IT providers using it is growing considerably. Transport orders are being exchanged digitally on a large scale. A nice gain for logistics service providers, because it means they no longer have to retype orders from a PDF document or email.

As a working group, we still meet every other week to simplify the OTM or extend it with new data flows. Which ones these are is determined by requests from the market. How we do this is set in stone: with as little data as possible. Because the simpler we keep it, the easier adoption is for other IT providers.’

Which extensions are on the agenda?

‘We started with the transport order, of course, but we are now also working on other data sources. Think of the National Road Traffic Data Portal (NDW). This is already made available by the government, but it cannot yet be easily used within the logistics sector. To do that, you first have to dive deep into the code. That takes a lot of time and is a real shame, because it concerns important data.

Using current traffic information and smart traffic lights, you as a transport entrepreneur can, for example, better estimate the expected arrival time of your order. The OTM working group ensures that this kind of information can indeed be easily processed in, for example, a TMS and an FMS (Fleet Management System). We take care of the correct translation and interpretation so that the user can get started with it right away.’

How do you see the future of the OTM?

‘So over the coming months we will be translating more and more data sources into the OTM. We are getting the OTM ready to communicate information about, among other things, roadworks, maximum permitted speeds and low-emission zones to logistics service providers in a structured way.

As an early adopter, I have built up a lot of knowledge on this subject. For that reason, I have also been asked by Topsector Logistiek to model this kind of government data into the OTM. I advise on what needs to happen to translate their data sources, which are already publicly accessible, into something usable for the logistics service provider.

A wonderful challenge, and in the end we have one shared goal: that the OTM can be deployed as widely as possible. And if it were up to me, we as IT providers would offer this entirely free of charge. The sooner the whole industry adopts it and uses it optimally, the better.

Then we can focus fully on developing TMS features instead of constantly setting up standard integrations all over again. More standardisation creates room for creativity in other areas. That only makes our work more enjoyable and is what truly helps the market!’