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IntraCity E-Mobility Hamm (ICEM)
Abstract
In Deutschland leben bereits heute rund 75 % der gesamten Bevölkerung in Städten und auch für die kommenden Jahre wird ein anhaltendes Wachstum prognostiziert. Angesichts dieser Verdichtung der Lebensräume ergibt sich jedoch gleichzeitig eine erhebliche Verschärfung der bestehenden Verkehrs- und Umweltsituation, zu der insbesondere die zunehmenden Versorgungsverkehre einen erheblichen Beitrag leisten. Die nachhaltige Förderung umweltfreundlicher Verkehrsmittel und darauf abgestimmter Wirtschafts- und Logistikkonzepte stellt ein besonderes Anliegen dar.
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Keywords
Innovation, green logistics, last-mile logistics, E-commerce, night deliveries,
Abstract
Logistics are undergoing constant and increasingly innovative changes: horizontal as well as vertical integration, traditional trade as well as e-commerce are changing the market structure. Another fact is that “the greening of” or the sustainability of a supply chain is probably becoming as important as efficiency and effectiveness. One of the most important yet problematic parts of the supply chain is “the last mile”. First of all, in most cases, this is the least efficient part of the supply chain due to the high degree of “empty running”. Secondly, the last mile is “ICT-sensitive” and, as a result, a lot of capital investments need to be made to bridge the last mile satisfactorily. Thirdly, basically the high degree of “home deliveries” implies extra (high) costs. In parallel, and partly in answer to the previous issues, a number of technological developments are constantly leading to improved sector capabilities, and a number of process innovations are re-shaping the way last-mile logistics business is done.
In this paper, innovations in “the last mile” will be identified, technical as well as process-related, that have significant positive impacts on last-mile logistics performance. This identification will be done by using case studies and best-practices. Special attention will also be paid to the relation with green and sustainable logistics. To that purpose, a scan is made of a wide array of last-mile innovations.
The final goal of this paper is to illustrate some important innovations in the last part of the supply chain which can have significant increases in efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability/”environmental friendliness” of the supply chain.
In the first part of the paper, the “problematic nature” of the last mile will be described and defined more in detail. In the second part, innovative last-mile concepts will be described using case studies and best-practices. Attention will be paid to process as well as technological innovations. Examples are given of situations in which the innovative concepts have been applied, successfully as well as unsuccessfully. For the business-to-consumer (B2C) market, the e-commerce sector is a good case study. Amazon.com can be used as an example of implementing innovations in the last-mile on a successful way, whereas several other e-commerce companies went bankrupt during the e-commerce collapse around the year 2000. The defunct of these companies was in most cases a result from the very high costs of the last-mile in their supply chain. Webvan.com is an example of such an unsuccessful innovative last-mile strategy.
Attention will also be paid to night deliveries to supermarkets in urban regions with a high level of population density and the problems with noise levels. Concerning the definition of “last-mile logistics”, deliveries to supermarkets can not be considered as “full part of the last mile”, although some case studies about deliveries to supermarkets during the night can be used to learn important lessons about innovative concepts to reduce noise levels and environmental levels for the last mile.
Fourth, an overall assessment is made and policy conclusions are drawn focusing on the concepts which have the highest merit from being further analyzed in detail, and eventually being implemented with government support.
Abstract summary
This paper deals with the assessment of innovative concepts in last-mile logistics on their performance effects, for the sector as well as for the wider society and the environment.
The advent of new technologies in last mile deliveries is about to cause a disruption in the traditional business model applied in urban cargo transportation, thus presenting innumerous research opportunities in this field of knowledge. In this context, identifying new operation models and vehicles that could be applied for last mile deliveries in urban areas becomes crucial. Therefore, this paper aims to identify, through a systematic literature review, the main types of vehicles addressed in the literature that could be used in the last mile of urban freight distribution in order to increase the sustainability of this type of operation. The results indicate a trend for the implementation of smaller and lighter vehicles for last mile deliveries in urban areas: 47% of the studies suggest, among other alternatives, the use of bicycles and tricycles; while 53% of the articles support the use of light commercial vehicles. Another trend observed in this type of distribution, indicated in 64% of the studies, is the shift from conventional (fossil fuels) to alternative sources of energy (electricity).
Electric vehicles (EVs) address the challenges global megatrends impose on freight transporting companies in urban areas. EVs decouple transport costs from depleting oil reserves and are free of tailpipe emissions. They are, technically, suitable for urban transport tasks which are often characterized by short, pre-planned tours and enable battery charging—or changing—at the depot. Despite these promising potentials, electric urban freight transport is still a niche market. The literature suggests the main obstacle for mass usage is the high purchase price, since profitability is considered the most important factor by nearly all companies. A descriptive statistical analysis of urban freight initiatives deploying EVs in the European North Sea Region identifies two current trends, and clusters profitability concepts of good practice examples in Europe. The study suggests that one trend is to deploy slow and light electric vehicles such as electric cargo bikes, scooters or heavy quadricycles, often combined with micro-consolidation hubs. In the second trend, medium heavy electric trucks substitute conventional vehicles in last mile logistics. Here, concepts that fully exploit the strengths of EVs to increase their productivity reach profitable operations. These include: (i) reducing the capital investment for EVs, (ii) increasing the kilometre range to benefit from low operational costs, (iii) capitalizing on the vehicles’ sustainable image and (iv) exploiting of new business opportunities. The findings have implications for policy makers and companies, and they encourage the use of EVs in freight transport to abate freight transport-related emissions.
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