Simulation-Based Evaluation Of The Hub-And-Spoke Concept To Support The Centrally Managed Supply Of Urban Factories

Abstract

The progressive urbanization and increasing decentralization of manufacturing lead to a growing need for the integration of manufacturing plants into urban areas. As a result, industrially induced traffic volumes and emissions are increasing in these areas. Therefore, it is important to manage urban logistics as effective as possible to reduce costs and environmental impacts. A promising approach to support the effective supply of urban factories can be seen in a centrally managed supply. Especially the hub-and-spoke concept is known to solve the problem of the last mile, e.g. within the parcel-industry. That is why most past research activities about hub-and-spoke concepts focus on deliveries to individuals or deliveries in the retail sector while only considering parcel deliveries. However, differing from the parcel industry the supply of urban factories requires especially just in time and just in sequence deliveries. Therefore, new approaches are required which help to analyse if and how a centrally managed supply of urban factories can support the reduction of traffic volumes and with this costs and environmental impacts. In this contribution we conduct a feasibility study on the effectiveness of a centrally managed supply of urban factories using a simulation approach. Based on the analysis of possible stakeholders and different hub concepts, we take a closer look on the application of the hub-and-spoke concept for urban logistics and provide a simulation based evaluation realized with the software Simulation of Urban Mobility (SUMO).