Sustainable logistics at Mobilise
With the Sustainable logistics team we go back to the core of sustainability. Indeed to make logistics sustainable and future-proof, you need to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Our research targets the three main concepts of the above definition set by the Club of Rome: the current needs, the compromising aspect and the future needs.
The current needs in logistics are set by todays practice and related best practices. To capture these current needs, the Sustainable Logistics Group is working on a daily basis together with the industry, policy and NGO's. We incorporate business as usal and evolving knowledge from academic literature into innovating projects like:
- the Ecozone with Bpost in which the delivery of the future is tested.
- the living lab environment of the Brussels Construction Consolidation Center
- the digital twin environments for synchromodal transport of the PILL and Dispatch projects
- the European project MIMIC in which construction logistics is researched
- or the European project Cairgobike in which the right ecosystem for cargobikes is created.
This list represents well some of the key logistics domains of the group: e-commerce, last mile logistics, construction logistics and inter- and synchro-modal transport.
Freight transport is generating externalities (like air pollution, CO2, accidents, congestion, etc.) with related compromising effects. Mobilise uses the External Cost Calculator to calculate and monetarize the sustainibility impact of logistics activities. The calculator has been used for many actors like Nike, Colruyt, Port of Brussels or AB Inbev, and it forms the basis for the Lean & Green (Star) evaluations and the Logistics Sustainability Index ©. The calculator creates awareness, which leads to sustainable choices. One of such choices is avoiding transport activities. Mobilise is researching transport demand (circular logistics, reverse logistics, short supply chains), bundling (consolidation centers) and reducing driven kilometers thanks to vehicle routing improvements. Next, comes act & shift. Transport should be allocated to the most sustainable transport modes. Mobilise is a leading expert in the field of intermodal and synchromodal transport. SYMBIT is a tri-modal agent-based transport model allowing to research the potential and impact of sychromodal supply chains. Lastly, you can anticipate new technologies. Mobilise is researching electric and autonomous logistics solutions.
By simulating the future, Mobilise wants to generate insights to enable sustainable decision making. Mobilise is able to perform sustainability assessment of future or hypothetical situations thanks to its inhouse simulation model TRABAM. This agent-based transport model for Belgium calculates both internal and external transport costs. Additionally, decision making considers the stakeholders involved and their criteria to prevent future friction and protest. The group is developing and applying user behavior and elicitation methods and Multi-Actor-Multi-Criteria Analysis (MAMCA©) to support sustainable decision making.
List of projects
|
MIMIC aims to demonstrate how SMART Governance concepts can be used as an aid in the construction and city planning processes to facilitate and support logistics to, from and on urban construction sites to improve mobility and reduce congestion within cities and thereby reduce the negative impact of construction sites on the surrounding community (2018-2021) |
|
BCCC (2018-2021) |
|
PILL explores the real world for the possibilities of the Physical Internet (PI) concept, in which goods are routed as if they were data on the (Digital) Internet. By involving logistic stakeholders, we make the step from theoretical concepts to applicable tools connecting the silos of the logistics practitioners and contributing to the logistic data space and the sytem structure in PI (2021-2023). |
|
The project focuses on organizational and technical enablers for seamless synchromodal transport services in Flanders. Given the real-time dynamics and complex nature of synchromodal transport, we aim to build a platform represented by a Digital Twin in order to provide a testbed for studying unexpected events and contextual details that affect transport processes within a risk-free environment (2019-2023). |
|
We calculated the sustainability impact of the transport of building materials via inland waterways and Watertruck+ instead of using road transport (2022). In the past, we also performed such analyses for Colruyt, Nike, AB Inbev, Port of Brussels amongst others. |
|
Gateway2Britain aims to support the logistic service providers to cope with the administrative burdens of the Brexit. The Sustainable Logistics Team mapped the logistic flows between Belgium and Belgian gateways and Great Britain (2022). |
|
bpost delivers mail and parcels emission-free in Mechelen, the so-called Ecozone. The Sustainable Logistics Team assessed the logistic changes and end result and calculated the sustainability impact (2021). |
Roadmap Flemish climate goals for Freight transport |
Commissioned by the Flemish Government dep. MOW, we listed all measures that can reduce the CO2-emissions of freight transport, evaluated those measures with all stakeholders, assessed their impact via transport models and proposed a roadmap to meet the goals set by the government (2017-2019). |
|
City Logistics in Living Laboratories (H2020): To develop solutions that result in up-scaling and roll-out of strategies, measures and tools for emission-free city logistics in urban centres by 2030 (2015-2018). |
BOARD |
Location analysis for omnichannel retail & distribution in Brussels, considering the impact of e-commerce and the analysis of mobility patterns (2015-2019). |
|
In the Lean&Green program, companies make a plan to reduce their CO2 emissions by 20% within 5 years time. The Lean&Green Stars are granted to those companies realizing this ambition. The Sustainable Logistics Team is the evaluator of both Lean&Green and te Star proposals (2015 - ongoing). |
|
The EIT Urban Mobility project ZEUS (Zero Emission off-peak Urban deliverieS) aims at providing concepts for silent and emission free city deliveries. Keeping up with the (growing) supply needs of cities is essential, and it is even more important to do this in a way that is cleaner, safer and less intruding for the urban environment. |
|
CIVIC aims to increase understanding among stakeholders on how to improve construction logistics. CIVIC explores how public authorities can support implementation of smart solutions (JPI: 2016-2018). |
|
Logistics Sustainability Index is an indicator of the sustainability performance of logistic activities. The Sustainable Logistics Team developed the tool commissioned by VIL. |
|
The CAIRGO Bike project (2020-2023) is part of the GOOD MOVE Regional plan to ensure a sustainable transition of the economy and improve the overall quality of life for Brussels inhabitants.
|
SRP |
The SRP (Strategic Research Project) is taking place in collaboration with other MOBI teams aiming to I) modelling AV vehicle technology, II) investigation of the overall impact of AV on e.g. the eco-system, III) investigation of user behavior and societal impact of AV for passenger mobility purposes including simulation and IV) investigation of user behavior/acceptance and societal impact of AV for logistics purposes with focus on the last-mile and including simulation. |
|
Circular Brussels (2017-2019) analysed the perception of Brussels’ households towards the circular economy for electrical and electronic equipment. It focused on reverse logistics, and particularly on consumers’ preferences for the collection of used appliances. |