Under-utilisation of road freight vehicle capacity: A case for eco-efficiency through collaboration

The road haulage sector experiences a considerable amount of inefficiency, characterised by sub-optimal utilisation of an individual vehicle’s cubic load fill and weight hauling capacity. This study firstly aims to understand why – despite its evident economic and environmental cost – this phenomenon has existed over the years. Next, an overview of initiatives and opportunities for improving freight vehicle capacity utilisation will be given. This paper by no means attempts to suggest that part-loaded or empty trucking can be fully eliminated. What is argued however is that there is theoretical scope for reducing the socio-environmental externalities of these activities while sustaining – if not increasing – the benefits that road haulage offers to the economy. Alongside direct mitigation of energy efficiency (by vehicle technology and/or modal shifts), maximizing existing vehicle capacity utilization must also form an integral part of efforts to green modern road freight logistics.It is suggested that horizontal collaboration and multi-actor co-loading of freight vehicles holds the greatest potential for improving vehicle fill rates. This requires little capital investment and would mean that the same degree of utility is delivered with fewer individual vehicles on the road. However, it is also argued that a collaborative road freight model may come in conflict with modern customer demands and production patterns, which typically involve rapid just-in-time deliveries of ever smaller consignments. Subsequently the widespread outsourcing of road freight operations to external third-party operators has not resulted in pronounced gains in vehicle capacity utilisation. It appears that a transport operator has very limited ability to better consolidate goods within its vehicles, unless its contractors offer an operational environment where this is possible. This paper suggests that a platform be established that will enable transport purchasers (contractors) to identify synergies in their logistical flows. This should help to move away from one-vehicle-to-one-customer arrangements, and develop an approach where a single moving vehicle’s available capacity is viewed as a service that is available for the benefit of several actors at the same time

A bibliometric analysis of selection of third-party logistics providers

19 páginasPurpose – To carry out a bibliometric review of third-party logistics service (3PLS) provider selection and identify the current stream of the field. Design/methodology/approach – Begins by setting the keywords for the search query to properly set the limit and scope of the research. The input selected for the study are papers, conference papers. Key indicators like publication productivity, citation, conceptual mapping, and research front are presented and discussed. The tools used for gathering the output were Rstudio and VosViewer. Findings: 3PLS provider selection is a topic studied mainly by surveys, case studies, and mathematical models' application. The selection decision is a multicriteria decisionmaking process and is mainly guided by quantitative models. Future research: 3PLS provider selection should include additional financial performance analysis. Last-mile distribution or collaborative distribution (covid19 as the main driver) and selection models applied to ecommerce could be developed. Practical implications: Managers could adapt the available publications and their models to their industry. Scholars can apply the model to different industries to set more robustness to the current conceptual and theoretical framework.Maestría en Gerencia InternacionalMagíster en Gerencia Internaciona

Improving route optimization for outbound vehicle distribution at an automobile manufacturer

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, September 2012.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 78-79).With rising fuel costs and increasing rates among specialized shipping carriers, cost mitigation in outbound distribution is increasingly important for automobile manufacturers. Many manufacturers have turned to specialized, licensed supply chain software to optimize their distribution network to determine the appropriate path for each product from factory to dealer. While these software programs include robust algorithms for optimizing the network, they are only as strong as the user inputs. To gain maximum value from supply chain software, automotive companies must fully understand the structure of their networks, their costs, and their constraints to ensure that the model is all-inclusive. This paper attempts to understand the distribution model used at Nissan North America by formulating the model algebraically with a linear program. With insights to the model design, we uncover several opportunities for improvement. Specifically, we create a more inclusive objective function by ensuring that all relevant costs are captured so that the model optimizes the "total landed cost." We also highlight several opportunities for increased model flexibility in areas where the model is over constrained -- both in its mathematical constraints and in its structural design. With increased flexibility, supply chain software has more alternative paths in the network to choose from, increasing the opportunity for the program to find a lower cost solution. Lastly, we stress the importance of using the software for scenario analysis to create a more responsive supply chain. When implemented, the improvements presented in this paper yield a cost savings of over $10 million. The principles of the model improvements in this thesis can be applied to distribution optimization in any industry.by Elizabeth Katcoff.S.M.M.B.A

DiversiTree: Computing Diverse Sets of Near-Optimal Solutions to Mixed-Integer Optimization Problems

While most methods for solving mixed-integer optimization problems seek a single optimal solution, finding a diverse set of near-optimal solutions can often be more useful. State of the art methods for generating diverse near-optimal solutions usually take a two-phase approach, first finding a set of near-optimal solutions and then finding a diverse subset. In contrast, we present a method of finding a set of diverse solutions by emphasizing diversity within the search for near-optimal solutions. Specifically, within a branch-and-bound framework, we investigate parameterized node selection rules that explicitly consider diversity. Our results indicate that our approach significantly increases diversity of the final solution set. When compared with existing methods for finding diverse near-optimal sets, our method runs with similar run-time as regular node selection methods and gives a diversity improvement of up to 140%. In contrast, popular node selection rules such as best-first search gives an improvement of no more than 40%. Further, we find that our method is most effective when diversity is emphasized more in node selection when deeper in the tree and when the solution set has grown large enough.Comment: 30 pages, 11 figures, submitted to INFORMS Journal on Computin

Exploratory research into supply chain voids within Welsh priority business sectors

The paper reports the findings resulting from the initial stages of an exploratory investigation into Supply Chain Voids (SCV) in Wales. The research forms the foundations of a PhD thesis which is framed within the sectors designated as important by the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) and indicates local supplier capability voids within their supply chains. This paper covers the stages of initial data gathering, analysis and results identified between June 2006 and April 2007, whilst addressing the first of four research questions. Finally, the approach to address future research is identified in order to explain how the PhD is to progress

Towards sustainable logistics and supply chain management

The 27th annual NOFOMA Conference in Molde, Norway, 3-5 June 2015, was hosted by Molde University College in Cooperation With NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The Post Conference Proceedings consists of papers from the conference proceedings for which the author(s) have granted the copyright to NOFOMA 2015 as a part of the Nordic Logistics Research Network

Knowledge Integrated Business Process Management for Third Party Logistics Companies

The growing importance of logistics as well as the increasing dynamic complexity of markets, technologies, and customer needs has brought great challenges to logistics. In order to focus on their core competency in such a competitive environment, more and more companies have outsourced a part or the entirety of the logistics process to third party logistics (3PL) service providers. 3PL has played a crucial role in managing logistics processes within supply chain management. Logistics processes require and supply various types of knowledge for planning, developing, operating, controlling and improving business processes. Therefore, in the current knowledge era, knowledge integrated business process management (KIBPM) is of significant importance for 3PL. This work applies KIBPM in 3PL from both a theoretical and practical perspective. The methodology for this study is a combination of literature and primary source research. From the theoretical perspective, it reviews the related literature on knowledge, KM, KIBPM and 3PL. It next analyzes application potentials as well as basic theories of KIBPM in 3PL, and proposes a framework for application. Furthermore, it studies the issues, knowledge sources and content, as well as KM approaches from the strategic and operational perspectives. In particular, it discusses the dynamics, logistics networks, business process networks and tacit knowledge sharing in 3PL. From the practical perspective, a case study of a leading 3PL provider demonstrates the drivers, practices and approaches of KIBPM application. The case study is based on in-depth interviews and extensive access to the secondary data of the firm. It analyzes the core business processes, the process knowledge and key activities of KM in the formulation of business strategy and the operation of business processes in contract logistics. In addition, it applies the proposed framework in this case. Furthermore, it discusses the findings from the literature and case study that relate to the research questions, compares the differences and similarities of KM in 3PL between theory and practice, and puts forward some research and managerial implications. This study has come to the conclusion that it is more effective and efficient to integrate KM in business processes. Knowledge of market, customer requirements, partners, and competitors and collaborative KM in the logistics networks are essential when choosing competitive strategies, process designs and development strategies for business. 3PL needs dynamic capabilities to sustain competitive advantage through KM. In operation, knowledge related business procedures and domains, as well as the results in project management of warehousing, intermodal transport and cooperation between geographic networks, have considerable value for business process execution, evaluation and improvement. 3PL motivates tacit knowledge sharing and effective knowledge acquisition, production, warehousing, distribution and application with a trusting organizational culture, process oriented structure, appropriate technology, and incentive measures. However, while KM is a tool for improving the competency and performance for the organization, learning capability is more important to keeping sustainable competitive advantage in the long term for 3PL. The application of KIBPM in 3PL supports business process management at both the strategic and operational levels. It especially contributes to business development, collaborative projects, intermodal transport, and logistics service improvement

Towards sustainable logistics and supply chain management

The 27th annual NOFOMA Conference in Molde, Norway, 3-5 June 2015, was hosted by Molde University College in Cooperation With NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The Post Conference Proceedings consists of papers from the conference proceedings for which the author(s) have granted the copyright to NOFOMA 2015 as a part of the Nordic Logistics Research Network