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- Naz, Farah, 1991-
(author)
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Improving Transport Efficiency in the Construction Supply Chain
- 2024
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Construction is responsible for a large part of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions worldwide (39%) and environmental concerns in construction are growing. Construction is transport intensive since the final construction products like buildings are built directly at the site of use and all resources need to be transported to and from the construction site. The environmental impact of construction transport is significant and requires attention since 90% of the transport within construction is road transport. However, historically both regulatory bodies and the construction companies have overlooked construction transport causing transport to remain unnoticed as a separate activity. Construction transport efficiency (CTE) is low, but CTE can be improved using solutions such as logistics services, digital tools, and information sharing which in turn add value to the involved actors and reduce CO2 emissions. However, there is a need to better understand how to improve CTE.The purpose of the thesis is "to investigate how to improve construction transport efficiency by using logistics services, digital tools and information sharing to add value for the involved actors".Three research questions (RQs) have been developed to achieve the purpose of the thesis:RQ1a: What activities constitute construction transport?RQ1b: What are the challenges in improving construction transport efficiency?RQ2: How can logistics services, digital tools and information sharing improve construction transport efficiency?RQ3: How does improving construction transport efficiency add value for the involved actors?To answer the RQs, a case study has been used as a primary research approach to develop an in-depth and detailed understanding of construction transport. The thesis comprises five studies over the period of five years. Data has been collected mainly through observations, interviews, and company’s internal statistical data. Furthermore, construction transport flows have been studied from different actor’s perspective such as transporter, main contractor, material supplier, and waste collector.The thesis highlights the lack of efficiency within construction transport by identifying value adding, non-value adding, and necessary but non-value adding activities. The underlying reasons for the low CTE are lack of planning, poor communication, and lack of standard operating procedures (SOPs). Lack of planning leads to poor routing, empty travelling, and an increased number of transport. Likewise, poor communication results in outdated plans, last-minute changes, delayed deliveries whereas lack of SOPs results in non-standardized processes, lack of proper loading and unloading zones and improper material handling leading to damages. Due to poor transport planning, poor communication and lack of SOPs, construction transport uses more resources (such as time, fuel, vehicle, energy, and effort) than needed, adding less value to the involved actors (i.e. transporter, main contractor, material supplier and waste collector) as well as impacting the environment negatively.The thesis emphasizes the value of logistics services (such as material management, on-site vendor management inventory (VMI), waste management) for the involved actors in terms of improving CTE and how CTE can be improved using logistics services, digital tools and information sharing. Given the critical importance of delivery reliability within construction transport, the thesis provides value by detailing the time taken by each activity within construction transport flow via value stream mapping approach. Moreover, the thesis broadly adds knowledge to Logistics and Construction Management research areas whereby focusing specifically on construction transport—so far unnoticed as a distinct activity.
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- Gutiérrez Chiriboga, Jorge, 1973-
(author)
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Roadblocks to Implement Electric Freight Transports : Challenges for Commercial Vehicle Manufacturers and Hauliers
- 2024
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The freight transport industry is crucial for the global economy and a key element of all supply chains and logistics systems. The demand for freight is expected to more than double over the next three decades. Freight transport’s externalities and negative impact on the environment have been highlighted in previous research and reports. At the same time, the latest IPCC (2023) report highlights the urgency to dramatically cut emissions to mitigate the effects on climate change caused by human actions, which also relates to freight transport, which in essence is a result of the design and management of supply chains. A way of reducing GHG emissions from logistics operations is to implement a variety of environmentally friendly strategies, processes, and activities designed to minimize the environmental impact of such operations. Switching to vehicles powered by zero-emission and non-pollutant technology is one of the proposed strategies to reduce the environmental impact of logistics operations. Electromobility is foreseen to become one of the main pathways to decarbonize supply chains and logistics operations. However, the transition to electromobility entails that many actors in the supply chain are affected. Two important actors in the transition are the Commercial Vehicle Manufacturers (CVMs), as technology providers, and the hauliers, as technology adopters. The implementation of Heavy-duty Battery Electric Vehicles (HBEVs) in rod freight transport entails that, as technology providers, and the hauliers, as technology adopters, are exposed to a range of challenges The purpose of the thesis is to describe and explain the challenges of implementing BEVs among Commercial Vehicle Manufacturers (CVMs) and Hauliers. This thesis targets the intersection of electromobility and supply chain management and aims to contribute to the body of research on green logistics by investigating managerial and business-related aspects of the implementation of HBEVs in road freight transports and to shed light on the subject to practitioners outside academia. The research has been performed through literature reviews and case studies. The case studies include interviews, document studies and observations from two commercial vehicle manufacturers (of which one is a main case and one is a reference case), and eight haulier companies. The research reveals that the challenges for both CVMs and hauliers relate to Technology, Finance, Market, Organization and Policy. Further, the challenges take different shape depending on the actor’s perspective, for example, a technology-related challenge for the CVMs such as battery capacity, translates to a technology-related challenge for the hauliers in terms of limited range. Finally, the challenges can be interrelated and might have a reinforcing effect in many cases, which inhibits, even further, the transition to electrified freight transports. For instance, challenges related to technology have a direct impact on operations and finance. The limited range of HBEVs – a technology challenge – results in a less flexible freight vehicle, that requires a more careful planning from the hauliers’ side – operational challenge. The loss of operational flexibility entails that it’s more difficult for the hauliers to accept unplanned transport assignments from transport buyers, which has a direct impact on the haulier’s earning capacity – a financial challenge.
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