SUCCESS

INSPIRATION

Between 1970 and 2010, the share of people in Europe living in cities and towns grew from 50% to 72%. By 2050, 82% of the European population will be living in urban areas. This growing population increases the need for new infrastructure and the construction/reconstruction of buildings in cities.

The construction industry is not only one of the biggest freight transport ‘consumers’ in urban centers, but also one of the biggest ‘producers’: construction, despite the recent industry crisis, is still the economic backbone for all EU cities. The construction supply chain (CSC) is often fragmented, with many suppliers delivering to many different trade contractors on the same site in an urban area. The consequences include an increase in pollution, congestion, noise, accidents, degradation of infrastructure and of the quality of life, and the rise of transportation and production costs.

SUCCESS has chosen to target the construction industry as a major sector impacting on city logistics which has unexploited potential for improvement in the efficiency of goods, waste and service trips in EU cities, by addressing the challenges pinpointed by the European Commission and in particular by improving the understanding of urban freight and introducing more resource-efficient, environmentally-friendly, safer and seamless supply chain innovations.

Innovation

Coordinated by the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) and part of the Mobility for Growth call in the Smart, Green and Integrated Transport challenge of the European programme Horizon2020, SUCCESS is underpinned by the assumption that city logistics calls not only for a suitable system of regulations and public actions introduced by city authorities, but also for the introduction of supply chain innovations by the business decision makers of the same supply chain. Therefore, SUCCESS includes the direct involvement of the key players in the construction industry so that real impacts are delivered.

The focus of the SUCCESS project is on reducing the negative impacts and cost of freight distribution in urban areas by improving the knowledge and understanding of freight distribution and service trips for the construction sector and by demonstrating the impacts in terms of transport and environmental efficiency. The project looks at to what extent and how the concepts of Supply Chain Management and Construction Consolidation Centres (CCCs) could bring about tested and replicable solutions (i.e. adequate collaborative frameworks and, as a result, sustainable business models) to address problems in the construction supply chain, focusing on distribution networks, construction sites and reverse logistics.

The main objectives of the SUCCESS project are to improve construction logistics in urban areas from an operative and economic point of view, to gather relevant data from the four pilot sites in order to design optimised solutions and validate the results with stakeholders, and to understand the impacts of the use of CCCs on construction sites, distribution networks and reverse logistics. The project will also formulate a reliable and sustainable business model on the use of CCCs, optimisation and ICT tools, and stakeholder cooperation and share these at European and international level.

Impact

The main impact of the project will be a reduction in the negative consequences and costs of freight deliveries and service trips generated by the construction supply chain in urban areas. Addressing the European Commission’s call to action on urban logistics, SUCCESS will deliver impacts in three core areas:
•    improving basic knowledge and understanding on freight distribution and service trips in urban areas
•    assessing innovative policies and solutions to ensure the better use of infrastructure and vehicles
•    assessing innovative policies and solutions on consolidation and distribution centres in urban areas

The SUCCESS project will supply construction companies operating in urban areas and related business stakeholders, as well public authorities, with tools, tested measures and guidance to shape their actions towards zero emission city logistics in urban centres by 2030. Four ready-to-use working plans tested on the pilot sites will prove the real effectiveness of the proposed solutions. These will include organisational and operational directives, ICT and optimisation tools, and sustainable business models to address problems in the construction supply chain, focusing on distribution networks, construction sites and reverse logistics. These solutions will be replicable and can be extended to non-partner cities and companies.

SUCCESS project leader Francesco Ferrero presents a summary of the project's results at CIVITAS Urban Freight Conference 2018:

This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 633338.