Development of an ecosystem model for the realization of Internet of Things (IoT) services in supply chain management

Information services based on the Internet of Things (IoT) help to integrate information and material flows and to optimize supply chain management (SCM). However, the design, implementation and operation of such services require strong cooperations between different types of company. Firms that are actively involved in SCM, such as logistics service providers, have to set up their own ecosystem in order to realize and run such services. Following this line of thinking, the aim of this paper is to support logistics companies with recommendations for the design of their own IoT ecosystem and the realization of IoT services. The grounded theory methodology is used to develop a theoretical IoT ecosystem model. A model with 19 different roles, their relationships and value contributions emerged during the research process. Our findings help companies to understand the implementation of IoT services, to find the right partners with which to cooperate, and to establish their own ecosystem.