Our researchers have developed strategic visions and models which act as support to the Dutch government in its decision-making policies to cut down the number of kilometres travelled by vehicles and reduce the emission of dioxides. One of these projects is the agrologistics vision for the year 2015. The following is a summary of the full paper, which is written only in Dutch.
Escalating congestion poses a threat to the continuity of the agribusiness since logistics plays a critical role in the sale of agricultural products. On the other hand, market developments demand that the agricultural supply chain of the future responds in a quick and high-frequent manner to changing market needs. Products would have to be delivered within a manageable and reliable lead time to a great diversity of outlets. Customers have more specific wishes, quality has to be guaranteed and the delivered product has to show details of its origin and nutrition value.
Besides the market, the government and society also exert their share of the pressure. This has resulted in stricter regulations to protect the environment, the space and living conditions. The transport of agricultural products would have to be organised more efficiently to conform to a higher utilisation of loading capacity, and environmental-friendly concepts would have to be found. The central question of this study is therefore: How will the role of logistics for the sale of agricultural products look like in 15 years' time and what kind of knowledge has to be built up to enable it to live up to its role?
If logistics can accomplish its role efficiently, it can help, on the one hand, to cater to the demands of the consumer, and, on the other hand, to reduce unnecessary transport kilometres and the demands on the environment, space and living conditions. An example is the bundling of deliveries by different suppliers. This can result in a high frequency of deliveries to retailers, as well as a reduction in transport kilometres. This study has developed a model for the role of logistics in 15 years' time comprising the following interlinked building blocks: quality-driven logistics, stocks in transit, cross-docking, and joint distribution facilities. Adjacent developments, such as more efficient use of road transport and the alternative transport modes - rail, inland waterways and pipelines - play an important role in further solving the congestion problem.
Quality-driven logistics is necessary to tackle the demands of customers with regards to customisation, quality guarantee and product information. An essential aspect is an intelligent tracking and tracing system and the use of intelligent load carriers. Tracking and tracing systems would not only enable the correct amount of goods to be located, but also that which is of the right quality. Or at least, in such way that by control of the storage conditions at the level of the load carrier, the right quality can be guaranteed at the time of delivery.
In order to also provide for the other logistical demands of the future (responsiveness, high frequency of delivery, controllable and reliable lead times, and involvement of a great diversity of outlets), time-related concepts play an important role in agricultural supply chains. If goods are already sent before the customer actually places an order, the distribution network will comprise an assortment of products ('stocks in transit') which could respond to and has a high frequency reaction to the demands of the consumer. By speeding up or delaying their transportation, a controllable and reliable lead time can be realised. The stock is based on sales forecasts derived from aggregated historical point-of-sale data. The actual orders would be automatically placed on a high-frequency level and drawn upon based on current point-of-sale data. To keep the stocks in transit to a minimum, a wide coverage of outlets has to be involved. The application of cross-docking would shorten the lead time and therefore increase the 'depth' of this coverage (due to a shorter lead time, more customers can be reached in time). The application of joint distribuiton facilities will increase the 'breadth' of this coverage (due to more flexibility in distribution, more customers can be reached in time). City distribution centres are an example of an intensive form of co-operation in which storage and transhipment facilities fulfil a public function.
The underlying principle in each of these time-related concepts is the combining of cargo-loads. While this is necessary in the face of more rigorous market demands, the bundling of cargo-loads contributes also to the reduction in the number of transport flows. Moreover, denser flows make the setting up of measurement points for objective quality measurements, cost-wise speaking, more easily attainable. The latter is a necessary condition for quality-driven logistics.
The application of the above logistical concepts within agricultural supply chains requires the development of knowledge which is currently lacking, and the harnessing of existing know-how. In quality-driven logistics, sensor technology and ICT for objective quality measurement and quality change models have to be incorporated into an intelligent quality-driven tracking and tracing system. To achieve this, research has to be carried out to enable the entire assortment of products to be subjected to objective quality measurements, quality change models, interaction among themselves, and an optimal harvesting time. It is important that this knowledge development takes place in two steps. Firstly, a device which makes use of existing know-how has to be developed and implemented. Thereafter, this device will form the basis for incorporating new and to-be-developed knowledge.
The concept of stocks in transit requires the development of a method for assigning products to outlets, and a control concept that can speed up or delay the transport flows and maintain a stock policy.
Cross-docking requires the automatic transhipment of goods. Needed in this aspect is the standardisation of load carriers, and an IT-infrastructure with a uniform barcode system for goods. The implementation of cross-docking requires the use of point-of-sale data. The fact that different incoming streams would be bundled in cross-docking underlines the fact that research is needed to find out the interaction among products.
Before joint distribution facilities can be realised, the organisational, financial and juridical consequences have to be studied. In particular, the combined tranpsort of different cargo-loads would mean a better utilisatin of loading capacity for goods transport and with it, lead to a reduction of the demands on the environment, space and living conditions. It is also evident that research has to be carried out to investigate the relationship among products and their traceability.
Knowledge is currently lacking for the harnessing of alternative modalities is the standardisation of load carriers, the development of faster transhipment techniques, and the juridical, financial and organisational aspects. The analysis of these non-technological aspects is of great importance for the realisation of a new transport and distribution infrastructure.
