the Internet of Things means richer data and deeper intelligence for all parties in a supply network. And that doesn’t just apply to product visibility. By allowing devices to “talk to each other” in the right way, IoT can help supply chain professionals:

-Reduce asset loss. Know about product issues in time to find a solution.

Save fuel costs. Optimize fleet routes by monitoring traffic conditions.

-Ensure temperature stability. Monitor the cold chain – according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, about one third of food perishes in transit every year.

-Manage warehouse stock. Monitor inventory to reduce out-of-stock situations.

Gain user insight. Embedded sensors provide visibility into customer behavior and product usage.

-Create fleet efficiencies. Reduce redundancies – deadhead miles account for up to 10 percent of truck miles, according to the EPA, and 28 percent for private fleet trucks, according to the National Private Truck Council.

Supply chain is not only about supplying products or services, but also moving together with the products and services all related information attached to the products/services. The internet is an effective medium to share and transfer the information to all relevant parties in the supply chain. This  will definitely increase the level of satisfaction of all stakeholders and at the same time reduce the cost of the supply chain operation.

The use of the internet in supply chain leads to fast documentation & reporting of cargo status, reduce cost by eliminating errors and simplify the transfer of information process, eliminate replication of data, high level accuracy of information, high level of consistency of the information given to various parties in the chain of transport, help to synchronize the interface among the supply chain systems, and so forth.

Thanks Dear Noha and Muhammad

My opinion is that the main challenge that modern supply chains face is lack of trust and insufficient collaboration among the actors involved. IoT provides a wealth of readily available information on all fronts, which certainly enables optimisation in almost every aspect of operations management. However, the ability of this information to enhance cooperation among the SC actors depends on their attitude towards sharing this information among each other.

I have participated in an IOT meetup, in a search of answering this Q then I find the attached document.

I hope it'll be helpful for U

regards 

know it's my Q too,  that how we can enter IOT in supply chain OR models?! 

Thank You Indeed Fatemeh

IOT could impact Supply Chain through the improvement of urban logistics performance, more precisely the performance of the last mile delivery with the placement in the trunk of connected cars. In this case, there are no more failures in deliveries (versus a success rate about 85 - 90% otherwise).

Internet of things can help in complete ordering process staring from asking for an quotation to payment status in a single platform where both buyers and suppliers are having equal status. All activities like order finalization, inspection call raising, issuing MDCC (Material dispatch clearance certificate, MRN (Material receipt note), due payment date and payment release information can be managed with single login.

Traditional systems are being augmented by advanced technology - Internet, leading to real-time visibility throughout the chain. Real-time visibility means that at any time we can identify where inventory is in the channel, its level, what customer it is promised to, what shelf (bin) it sits on, and what orders are expected and when. Real-time visibility through internet will lead to tremendous reductions in lead times and their variability. 

Its very interesting discussion

I think following publications are relevant to the discussion

Internet of Things (IoT): A vision, architectural elements, and future directions

J Gubbi, R Buyya, S Marusic, M Palaniswami - Future generation computer …, 2013 - Elsevier

Ubiquitous sensing enabled by Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) technologies cuts across many areas of modern day living. This offers the ability to measure, infer and understand environmental indicators, from delicate ecologies and natural resources to urban environments. The proliferation of these devices in a communicating–actuating network creates the Internet of Things (IoT), wherein sensors and actuators blend seamlessly with the environment around us, and the information is shared across platforms in order to develop a common operating picture (COP). Fueled by the recent adaptation of a variety of enabling wireless technologies such as RFID tags and embedded sensor and actuator nodes, the IoT has stepped out of its infancy and is the next revolutionary technology in transforming the Internet into a fully integrated Future Internet. As we move from www (static pages web) to web2 (social networking web) to web3 (ubiquitous computing web), the need for data-on-demand using sophisticated intuitive queries increases significantly. This paper presents a Cloud centric vision for worldwide implementation of Internet of Things. The key enabling technologies and application domains that are likely to drive IoT research in the near future are discussed. A Cloud implementation using Aneka, which is based on interaction of private and public Clouds is presented. We conclude our IoT vision by expanding on the need for convergence of WSN, the Internet and distributed computing directed at technological research community.

The internet of things in an enterprise context

S Haller, S Karnouskos, C Schroth - Future Internet Symposium, 2008 - Springer

This paper puts the Internet of Things in a wider context: How it relates to the Future Internet overall, and where the business value lies so that it will become interesting for enterprises to invest in it. Real-World Awareness and Business Process Decomposition are the two major paradigms regarding future business value. The major application domains where the Internet of Things will play an important role and where there are concrete business opportunities are highlighted. But there are also many technical challenges that need to be addressed. These are listed and it is shown how they are tackled by existing research projects with industrial participation.