Sustainability

Logistics has changed extensively in recent decades. Initially characterized by the classical functional structuring procurement - production - distribution, the task of logistics in our days is to integrate value chains into global networks. In future, logistics challenges will proceed even faster. Logisticians from science and practice estimate that the next 10 years will bring as many changes as the past 50 years. To keep pace with this dynamic change the knowledge about future developments and trends that will shape the logistics of tomorrow is key to success. From our perspective, four global core developments will significantly influence the planning, coordination and proceeding of product flows in the future: supply chain risk, technology, environment and geopolitical orientation and change of social structures. These developments open up opportunities for logistics but include also major challenges.

In an increasingly turbulent environment, today enterprises are confronted with the challenge of aligning available capacities with the capacities required using targeted measures. An approach is presented to support the selection of measures quantitatively.

BLG Logistics experiments with the concept of “True Greenness“ to develop ecologically-oriented concepts beyond process optimization and CO2 Compensation.

Drive-train electrification intended to create sustainable mobility by enhancing efficiency and identifying supplements and alternatives to crude oil is integral to many vehicle manufacturers’ strategies. However, innovations in the field of electromobility, i.e. mobility rendered possible by electrically powered vehicles, will only establish themselves when they generate genuine value added for customers and are environmentally compatible. Thus, cost effective configuration of a ubiquitous (public, semi-public) infrastructure that supports the use and market launch of electric vehicles constitutes one of the key challenges and will necessitate support from new planning approaches and models.

Since the turn of the millennium companies are confronted with a tightly interwoven network consisting of changed framework conditions. Thus, for many companies it is necessary to form a network, together with a simultaneous securing of liquidity. Additionally, it is important to consider ecological values. The selection of adequate concepts in the supply chain management in combination with the right extent in logistic services poses a major challenge. However the dynamic assessment and selection of logistic concepts is quite possible. This article presents such an approach.

The vision of the “Internet of Things” describes networked, interactive objects which are capable of autonomous decision-taking. The potentials of this vision for logistics in the automotive and food sector go from tracking and tracing throughout the supply-chain, via quality assurance and monitoring through to new service models and consequently completely novel sources of revenue. Key elements of the “Internet of Things” such as auto-identification technology or sensors are already mature and ready to be used in logistics. On the basis of a series of industry case studies, this article describes the current situation in industry with regards to these technologies and identifies future potential. To facilitate the analysis, it presents an instrument by which the level of implementation of the technologies of the “Internet of Things” can be measured.

An engine of Asian development, India holds outstanding potential for investment in its logistics sector, which is experiencing above average rates of growth. However, high transport costs and long delivery times greatly detract from India’s prospects in the logistics sector. Despite these problems, India still offers investors excellent long-range prospects since it is working hard to eliminate the recognized problems.

sperous technology - until 2010 79 % of the users plan to extend the usage of RFID in logistics. However, the majority of users lacks in economic success with their current RFID applications. The reasons lie in the difficulties of building a solid business case and the complexity of the implementation itself. This article presents strategies of successful companies - focusing on partner integration - to cope with this complexity.

In this paper we show an integrative solution to freight traffic reduction. Beside telematic systems we also regard software for planning and control of swap bodies in the area of courier express and parcel provider. The objective is to design a decision support tool for transport planning to support users to solve their daily problems of tour planning. The software prototype introduced in this contribution was provided in the context of the BMWi promoted project Inwest and will be evaluated in field test in third quarter of 2009.

Strategic Sustainability Management represents the basic business mission in addressing the socio-political principles of sustainable development and belongs to the key challenges for companies of any size or sector. An analysis of scientific literature and empirical studies allows categorization into value-oriented, stakeholder-oriented and identity-oriented motives. This article gives a systematic review of the current managerial motivations for strategic sustainability management.