Reducing lead-times in cooperative distribution networks
Publication - January 2016
The academic and professional attention to the large synergies hidden in horizontal collaborations is increasing. This study attempts to address the impact of collaborative transport on transportation lead-time and lead-time variability by empirically investigating a group of SMEs involved in a collaborative distribution network.
Data Collection and Analysis
Data was collected for seven pre-cooperation and eight cooperative orders over a period of 14 months. The results of the Mann-Whitney U-test show a significant average reduction of 30.8% in the duration of lead times. Lead-time variability was also found to be reduced as a result of changes in the coefficient of variances and the Bartlett’s test for homogeneity of variances.
Impact of Horizontal Collaboration
Horizontal collaboration in transport could eventually lead to reduced lead times and lower variability, which in turn reduces supply chain costs. This can be achieved through direct routing and avoiding multi-transshipment routes, which diminishes the uncertainty and variability by reducing the number of stages in the transport chain.
Competitive Advantage
Effective lead-time management is considered a source of competitive advantage as it can reduce supply chain costs by lowering inventory levels. It also has the potential to improve performance and customer service by offering higher product quality service levels.
Authors
- Hadi Ghaderi
- Wout Dullaert
- Walther Ploos van Amstel
City Logistics research group
Clean and sustainable cities are attractive places in which to live, work and invest. At the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, the City Logistics research group is conducting practice-oriented research into opportunities for smart and clean city logistics.