consolidated transport flows and intermodal transport chains

01.03.2008 - 30.08.2009
Research funding project
The research project ¿Conceptualization, simulation and evaluation of multimodal, cross-company logistic models for co-operative, regional pooling of transports¿ (Trans-Austria) tries to develop solutions for the problem of the increasingly negative impact caused by cargo transports due to the emergence of new production facilities in Central and Eastern Europe. As a result of lacking traffic and logistical infrastructure, the additional transportation, that is often just crossing Austria, is mainly truck-traffic and therefore, has especially detrimental effects on people and the environment. By optimizing the material and transportation logis-tics, it is on one hand possible to shift certain traffic to alternative means of transportation (train, ship) or on the other hand by means of freight-pooling to avoid part of the road trans-port altogether. The automotive industry with its geographically distributed production networks comprising system suppliers, component suppliers, parts and material suppliers is characterized through a high ¿transport-intensity¿ and has played a leading role in the buildup of new production facilities in Central and Eastern Europe. By example of the cargo traffic between suppliers in Middle and Western Europe and Romanian component suppliers to the automotive industry in the Timisoara region, showcase solutions for the problem described above will be devel-oped. The presented solutions are supposed to carry the potential for an extension into dif-ferent sectors of the economy or other regions. Starting points of the chosen approach are the logistical processes and transportation chains of the originators of the traffic, the manufacturers and their suppliers. The recording and vi-sualization of the structure and the requirements of the transport chains and a subsequent categorization and grouping into compatible process-clusters, is supposed to allow an esti-mation of potential for optimization and further supply the relevant data for a simulation mo-del. This simulation model is a central tool for uncovering optimization potential. In combina-tion with cost-factors, actual costs for existent transportation relationships can be derived, which allow the calculation of potential savings through consolidated shipments. Moreover, alternative scenarios for intermodal transportation can be derived. Regional, co-operative pooling of transports is a new concept for the co-operatively operating logistics and transport processes. In the past, similar approaches failed due to insufficient consideration of the goals and utility functions of the involved partners and a lack of organ-izational bracing. Therefore, a model co-operative, cross-company shipping agency will be developed. This co-operative model will be supplemented by a logistics model, which will be evaluated with respect to economic and logistical criteria. All those models will be aggregated into a process and simulation architecture, which allows the random configuration of transport chains and which allows the conveying of the results of this project to different sectors of the economy or other geographical regions.

People

Project leader

Project personnel

Institute

Grant funds

  • FFG - Österr. Forschungsförderungs- gesellschaft mbH (National) Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG)

Keywords

GermanEnglish
Intermodalintermodal
TransportbündelungPooling of Transports

Publications