New local and urban logistics solutions for the distribution of food products

Urban logistics is a crucial topic, since it affects significantly the sustainability of cities. The increase in eCommerce sales also poses new challenges for urban logistics, due to the growing number of last mile deliveries. Thus, it is fundamental to explore new solutions and to define guidelines intended to assure sustainability. Extant literature has identified different logistics solutions that can be employed in an urban context to improve the urban distribution, in terms of efficiency, service level and environmental sustainability. For the sake of illustration, among the emerging innovations: refrigerated parcel lockers, alternative vehicles (e.g., cargo bikes) and the introduction of digital solutions (e.g., platforms as virtual markets for local agricultural products). However, further research efforts are needed to develop guidelines useful for Italian cities. In this regard, it should also be considered that there are different typologies of food products that can be distributed in an urban environment, (e.g., e-grocery orders, prepared meals - i.e., food delivery). Each typology of product has its peculiarities and a specific distribution problem to be addressed. 
 

The task is intended to investigate new local and urban logistics solutions for the distribution of food products. 
First, data about the flows of the different food products in an urban environment will be collected via secondary sources and case studies, to understand current criticalities and areas of improvement. Milano will be considered as the reference city for this investigation. 
Second, some innovative logistics solutions to improve sustainability of local urban distribution will be identified. Logistics solution may regard:
1) the development of new distribution networks (e.g., by introducing local hubs);
2) the employment of specific last-mile delivery solutions (e.g., parcel lockers);
3) the introduction of digital solutions (e.g., platforms as virtual markets for local agricultural products). 
Some examples of solutions that will be investigated are refrigerated parcel lockers and alternative vehicles (e.g., cargo bikes) for the last-mile delivery. 
In the end, focusing on the most promising solutions, their impact will be evaluated in different scenarios by means of assessment models.
 

The main expected results are:
1. For the main typologies of food products, description and analysis of urban flows, mainly in terms of distribution network, infrastructures, transport modes and managerial issues. 
2. Description of the main logistics solution to be adopted to improve the environmental sustainability of urban distribution.
3. Assessment of the impact of the most promising logistics solutions identified in ii). The impact will be based on a set of key performance indicators.