Lean and green supply chain management through intermodal transport: insights from the fast moving consumer goods industry

Colicchia, Claudia; Creazza, Alessandro; Dallari, Fabrizio

Abstract

Combining efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability is crucial for companies to succeed in today’s context of fierce competition. This paper investigates how intermodal transport can be adopted for managing supply chains according to a Lean and Green approach. A scenario-based estimation tool was developed to quantify the potential demand for intermodal transport. The tool was applied to the Italian Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) supply chain. Following, a single longitudinal case study on an FMCG company (Procter & Gamble) was carried out to investigate the enabling factors for the adoption of intermodal transport. Our results show that it is possible to shift demand from road to rail: a number of pathways for action were identified that related to planning and management, assets, train services, collaboration, legal issues and incentive schemes. Also, a collaborative business model for making the modal shift possible was presented. This paper is original because it offers an investigation of Lean and Green Supply Chain Management through intermodal transport by adopting a supply chain perspective and providing a bridging link between academic studies and field evidence.

Citation

Colicchia, C., Creazza, A., & Dallari, F. (2017). Lean and green supply chain management through intermodal transport: insights from the fast moving consumer goods industry. Production planning & control, 28(4), 321-334. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2017.1282642

• Acceptance Date: Jan 11, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Jan 31, 2017
• Publication Date: Mar 12, 2017
• Deposit Date: Feb 16, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 1, 2018
• Journal: Production planning & control
• Print ISSN: 0953-7287
• Electronic ISSN: 1366-5871
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 28
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 321-334
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2017.1282642
• Keywords: Supply chain management; Green supply chains; Lean systems; Intermodal transport; Fast moving consumer goods
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/448437
• Publisher URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09537287.2017.1282642
• Additional Information: Peer Review Statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope.; Aim & Scope: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=tppc20