The core subject of the research project being pursued under the direction of Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences is the development and piloted application of an innovative and sustainable last mile logistics system based on a crowd logistics approach, student drivers are allocated on-demand to transport orders in peak loads.

The system should be more efficient overall with IT-supported bundling effects in delivery at product and contractor level.

In the project, approaches of Sustainability Customer Relationship Management (SusCRM) will be further developed to strengthen sustainability as a central marketing factor and to develop incentive systems for participation in a sustainable logistics system at various stakeholder levels.

The goal is the development of a sustainable logistics system on the ecological (emission and traffic reduction), social (fair employment) and economic (long term competitive) level.

The combination of the different project partners and their special know-how offers the best conditions to successfully implement the project

Key features of the project

Significant features of the logistics system are, on the one hand, the very positive effects on the ecological dimension and on the regional transport system, since it is based on electrically driven cargo bikes and thus (at least locally) is emission-free and traffic-friendly. On the other hand, it holds interesting economic potentials for the logistics service provider, as it is more elastic compared to conventional systems of CEP service providers based on combustion vehicles, especially in the personnel area due to the lack of license requirement. This elasticity is to be significantly increased by the crowd approach, thus strengthening the competitiveness of this ecologically sensible logistics system.

Another special feature of this project is, as part of "combined delivery", the transport is bundled both regarding the delivered products and the responsible logistics service providers. This results in a much more efficient and therefore more environmentally friendly logistics. However, this places new demands on the system, both at the organizational and the technical level.

In addition, the project develops approaches to strengthen sustainability as a central marketing factor and to develop incentive systems for participation in a sustainable logistics system at the levels of logistics customer (b2b) and end customer (b2c) as well as at the employee level.

The basis of the project is the newly developed last-mile logistics system of the Bremen-based company Rytle, which represents a highly efficient system of mobile hubs, electro mobile cargo vehicles and a digital infrastructure. The system will be used as a pilot in a defined test field in Bremerhaven.

Duration of the project

The planned duration of the project "NaCl" lasts from June 2018 to May 2020