Smart organisation of transportation by Anna García and Rebecca Holmes


Logistics issues in Smart cities

First of all, we should define what we understand as a smart city, according to wikipedia, a smart city is: “A smart city is an urban area that uses different types of electronic data collection/sensors to supply information used to manage assets and resources efficiently”. If we pay attention to the definition, we will assume that smart cities require specific transportation methods which improve mobility systems, decrease traffic congestion and optimise the use of public transport. But, how should transportation companies act to adapt into this new era? Are traditional transportation systems compatible with the growing tendency of smart cities?

Low efficiency of transportation models has made this industry the second more important in the emission of CO2. Sustainable transportation models are widely recognized to be one of the main concern for future logistics systems.

The ENCLOSE project

The ENCLOSE Project, started in May 2012 under IEE (Intelligent Energy Europe programme), with the objective of raising awareness about the challenges of energy efficient and sustainable urban logistics in European Historic Towns and about the opportunities to achieve highly significant  improvements and benefits by implementing and operating suitable and effective measures.

Some of the applications of the programme in EU towns are:
  • SULP: Sustainable Urban Logistics Plan
  • Urban Consolidation Centres, optimised urban freight transport and delivery plans, clean vehicles and low emission technologies, etc.
  • SUMP: Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans

There were a lot of strategies implemented, but now we are going to focus in the ones that involve transportation of goods and services:
  • Parcel distribution in Trondheim city by using electric and hybrid cars replacing 5 diesel vans.
  • Town delivery services using biogas fuel
  • Enhancing the use of fully electric buses
  • Regulate the access of commercial vehicles to some areas
  • Awareness policies

The programme could demonstrate that policies in transportation can decrease the pollution generated and increase the livability of a city.

More info. on the ENCLOSE case: http://www.corp.at/archive/CORP2014_67.pdf



The case of Mercadona

Mercadona is one of the largest supermarket chains in Spain, with millions of customers every single day. Due to the high demand in this market, it is crucial that the company has efficient transport logistics in order to satisfy customers wants and needs. Alongside this, environmental management is a focus point for the company, as they aim to save energy and manage waste efficiently. One of the main objectives of Mercadona is ‘transporting more using fewer resources’, and they do this by implementing technologies to plan fuel efficient routes and by maximising lorry loads.





‘Last mile’ concept

This concept refers to the last phase of a journey (the one in which Mercadona products reach the different stores) which often takes place in urban areas. One of Mercadona’s strategies is to offload products into stores during off-peak hours. The main reasons for doing this is to lower the impact of the transport of goods on cities (prevent high congestion) and to lower the number of journeys needed to transport products.

Going back to Mercadona aiming to be more environmentally conscious, unloading products during off-peak periods has led to a reduction of up to 70% in fuel consumption per tonne transported. Other key advantages include:
  • A saving of up to 10 trips a week for each point of sale.
  • A reduction of 30% in distance travelled.

In terms of alternative methods of transport to road, Mercadona uses both rail and sea routes. Sea routes in particular are highly efficient when transporting non-perishable products.

Closer suppliers

The company works to lower the average distance run by the trucks between integrated suppliers and warehouses, in addition to the distance between the warehouses and the stores.

To conclude, here are some key figures to show changes within a year as Mercadona becomes more efficient and environmentally aware.







Anna García and Rebecca Holmes

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