Sustainability is the key factor for successful companies. The constantly rising oil price, widely varying customer preferences, ever shorter product life cycles, growing cost pressure and the persisting economic crisis are forcing companies to review and restructure their processes and systems. Logistics plays a central role in this respect, as it offers concepts that ensure the efficient use of resources, the intelligent connection of interfaces and the necessary freedom of action for new ideas and innovation. As a result, logistics and supply chain management make a key operational and strategic contribution towards driving the competitiveness of today's companies.
The aim of the BVL working group on "Sustainable Production Logistics" is to develop solution models for resource-sparing, energy-efficient and sustainable intralogistics and inbound logistics geared equally towards both economic and ecological criteria. The focal points of the working group are:
Development and operation of sustainable logistics centres
Calculation of energy balances for logistics centres
Logistical requirements for infrastructure, buildings, intralogistics and processes
Technological options for the resource-sparing design of logistics centre
incorporating energy recovery and the generation of renewable forms of energy
Resource-sparing operator models and system architectures
Definition of a requirement and design profile for sustainable logistics centres
Presentation of innovative solution models for new development and modernisation projects
Impacts on employees and customers
Resource efficiency in inbound logistics
Limits to the consideration of inbound logistics (tier level)
Presentation of measurement and assessment procedures for the determination of resource consumption in supply processes
Identification of suitable KPIs and consumption drivers for the documentation of resource consumption in inbound logistics
Comparison of supply processes in terms of resource efficiency
Resource-sparing emergency routines incorporating the IT information library
Incentives and recommendations for the implementation of resource-efficient inbound logistics
Resulting strategic insights for the implementation of sustainable logistics concepts
Guidelines for sustainable logistics centres
Decision-making criteria for the organisation of inbound logistics
Impacts on social/societal/regional aspects
Requirements for system architectures and business models
Recommendations for companies in industry and the logistics service sector as well as political decision-makers
The initial findings of the working group will be presented in the autumn of 2010. If you have any questions or suggestions, you can also contact Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hartmut Zadek in Magdeburg.