About this Research Topic
Due to the increase in e-commerce last mile delivery volumes, the participation of customers has switched from a passive position to an active one. Satisfying customers' needs with respect to delivery times and delivery costs has become one of the most important key performance
indicators in a highly competitive retail and transport industry. More specifically, the ever-increasing number of online orders and the associated time pressure have put a strain on companies. This is even more challenging for populated city environments due to congested traffic networks and a lack of parking spaces. In operations research literature, manufacturing and transportation are rarely investigated together as an integral problem. Transportation has typically been an activity that falls out of the service range/expertise of manufacturers, hence is generally assigned to logistics service providers (LSPs) after the completion of production. Within the context of city logistics, manufacturers are increasingly embracing the challenge/opportunity of offering last mile service solutions. In particular, the inclusion of last mile delivery in manufacturing has appeared to be indispensably necessary for certain industry sectors. Likewise, there is much opportunity for circular economy - for example - reverse logistics involved in remanufacturing supply chains. Despite the opportunities, there is limited research looking at manufacturing and transportation from a more holistic perspective.
This Research Topic seeks to cover relevant advances through original high-quality papers that address recent developments and future perspectives in the theory, practice, and application of methods. On the methodological side, we welcome all relevant research methods, such as modelling, simulation, case study, literature review etc. We note that the findings of the research should be directly utilized or have demonstrable potential to be employed by manufacturers and LSPs to improve their practices. Indicative topics include, among others:
- City logistics
- Smart/digital manufacturing
- Circular economy and sustainability
- Sharing economy
- Production planning techniques
- Novel supply chain configurations
- Optimization for manufacturing and logistics
- Big data and artificial intelligence
indicators in a highly competitive retail and transport industry. More specifically, the ever-increasing number of online orders and the associated time pressure have put a strain on companies. This is even more challenging for populated city environments due to congested traffic networks and a lack of parking spaces. In operations research literature, manufacturing and transportation are rarely investigated together as an integral problem. Transportation has typically been an activity that falls out of the service range/expertise of manufacturers, hence is generally assigned to logistics service providers (LSPs) after the completion of production. Within the context of city logistics, manufacturers are increasingly embracing the challenge/opportunity of offering last mile service solutions. In particular, the inclusion of last mile delivery in manufacturing has appeared to be indispensably necessary for certain industry sectors. Likewise, there is much opportunity for circular economy - for example - reverse logistics involved in remanufacturing supply chains. Despite the opportunities, there is limited research looking at manufacturing and transportation from a more holistic perspective.
This Research Topic seeks to cover relevant advances through original high-quality papers that address recent developments and future perspectives in the theory, practice, and application of methods. On the methodological side, we welcome all relevant research methods, such as modelling, simulation, case study, literature review etc. We note that the findings of the research should be directly utilized or have demonstrable potential to be employed by manufacturers and LSPs to improve their practices. Indicative topics include, among others:
- City logistics
- Smart/digital manufacturing
- Circular economy and sustainability
- Sharing economy
- Production planning techniques
- Novel supply chain configurations
- Optimization for manufacturing and logistics
- Big data and artificial intelligence
Keywords: Supply Chain, Transportation, Manufacturing, Production Planning
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
