On 20th May, 2025, Shiqi Sun successfully defended his PhD at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) with his thesis entitled "Facilitating Trust and Logistics Collaboration in the Era of Physical Internet". His research focuses on overcoming the trust issues that hinder collaboration within the logistics industry.
Shiqi Sun holds a Master's degree in Logistics and Supply Chain Management from Lancaster University. Prior to that, he obtained a Bachelor's degree in Transportation at Dalian Maritime University with a specialization in port operations and management. His research focuses on the optimization of logistics and mobility systems and trust issues, combining both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, including surveys, agent-based simulation and stochastic modelling.
In his thesis, Shiqi identifies a significant gap: logistics participants currently have varying perspectives and limited disposition on trust, which falls short of what is required for what is required for more advanced logistics concepts. The problem is more evident nowadays as the climate-neutral goal of the EU calls for imminent changes, which are not happening in the industry.
To address this issue, Shiqi developed a novel communication-based protocol named CPIR (communication-based Physical Internet routing) protocol, leveraging the concept of Physical Internet, the latest generation of logistics paradigms. CPIR can avoid at least 93% of data sharing through a dedicated data sharing mechanism and limit the data visibility. On the other hand, a simulation on the Belgium scale demonstrates that the quality of routes is only marginally compromised. Therefore, this protocol lowers the required level of trust for the same degree of collaboration. In this way, the paradox of 'collaboration and trust, which came first', can be unlocked.
The findings also emphasize the need for more trustworthy approaches to facilitate collaboration among logistics stakeholders. It also points out that an automated system will be needed for the future, which further challenges trust.