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Investigation of the construction logistics processes during the design phase of the construction of the new Delft City Hall, part of the Spoorzone project. The main goal of the research is to investigate how construction logistics analysis during the design phase can enhance the project efficiency while at the same time minimizing local external effects such as the distortion of the life of local citizens, traffic congestion, etc. The research is conducted with the support of Ontwikkelingsbedrijf Spoorzone Delft B.V., suggestions provided related with the development of a logistics plan for the construction site.

As a response to the current negative developments in the chemical business, IMLOG developed its Lead Logistics Provider concept for PRODA. This concept takes care of all road and intermodal (containerized) transports of liquid bulk chemicals of PRODA throughout Europe. Most of the transports are performed by IMLOG, but for specific transports IMLOG is supported by LLP transport partners. After almost two years operating the concept issues have arisen, which indicates that there is room for improvement within IMLOG’s LLP concept. Eye-catching issues involve lost of market feeling by PRODA, poor concept success measurement and operational inefficiencies. These issues formed the motive for a project to first identify IMLOG’s LLP concept related issues, followed by the determination of the improvement opportunities resulting from these issues. Finally the carefully selected improvement opportunity is elaborated by means of a functional design. Therefore the following design objective is adopted within the project: Design an improvement measure based on a carefully selected improvement opportunity within IMLOG’s LLP concept. To be able to fulfil the project objective certain problem design questions are formulated. Answering these question guides the design objective fulfilment process. These problem design questions go in more detail on: • Understanding on the LLP concept from a theoretical perspective. • Understanding on IMLOG’s LLP concept for PRODA. • To what extend IMLOG can be classified as a LLP. • Lessons to be learned from comparing theory with practice and practice itself. • Factors that influence the decision for elaborating on a certain improvement opportunity. • Fundamental changes related to the functional design. • Important topics towards implementation. PART I – Identification of IMLOG’s Lead Logistics Provider concept issues The LLP concept is a form in which a LSP provides it logistics service to its clients. Just like other logistics provider forms, a LLP creates value by relating the buyer and the seller of a product. Outsourcing of logistics activities by the buyer or seller determines to be the reason why LSP exist. The relationship between the LSP, the buyer and/or the seller can range from pure transactional towards fully relational. A relationship on partner level (a partnership) arises when LSPs are involved in the business of its customer on a strategic level. Success of a partnership depends on qualitative and quantitative factors for which both the logistics services serve as input. Logistics services are being delivered by combining resources under control of coordination mechanisms. From a theoretical perspective the LLP concept can be classified as a hybrid of an operational 3PL with the responsibilities of a 4PL. Characteristics of the LLP concept (LLP key success factors) are derived from this classification. Operating the LLP concept should also contribute in relieving the logistics business from currently experienced issues. Therefore a set of structural issues, also known as pitfalls, is formulated. The LLP key success factors and pitfalls will serve as starting point in the determination of IMLOG’s LLPness by comparing literature with practice. IMLOG’s LLP concept was initiated by PRODA’s need for lower logistics costs, improved customer service levels and improved sustainability within the supply chain. Within the LLP concept a distinction is being made between physical and administrative logistics services. Main physical logistics services involve transportation, storage and container cleaning. LLP transport partner management, transport order and transport chain coordination, payment portal, track & trace and optimisation/integration are considered to be administrative logistics services provided by IMLOG’s LLP concept for PRODA. The organisational structure of the LLP concept is mainly formed around the four types of transport offered by the IMLOG’s LLP concept: LLP transport partner transport, short distance road transport, long distance road transport and intermodal transport. Issue are identified by determination of IMLOG’s LLPness from a theoretical perspective and investigation of the IMLOG’s LLP concept in practice. The determination of IMLOG’s LLPness resulted in concept issues. The quality level of the partnership between IMLOG and PRODA involving the LLP concept is medium, where improvement can be realised by focussing more on the relational elements in the partnership instead of the operational ones. IMLOG’s LLP concept for PRODA fulfils 50 percent of the LLP concept critical success factors identified. Four of the critical success factors are not fully met, but with slight changes in the concept these factors could also be met. Only one critical success factors scores very low on IMLOG’s LLP concept for PRODA: IMLOG fulfils no leading role in logistics, supply and demand chain integration. From this can be concluded that IMLOG cannot be classified as a LLP in the concept it provides for PRODA from a theoretical perspective. With confronting IMLOG’s LLP concept for PRODA with the pitfalls identified in literature it can be concluded that most of the pitfalls are encountered. No continuous improvement, no extensive performance measurement programme and a lack of pro-activity are the most important pitfalls encountered. On the other hand with its LLP concept IMLOG was able to completely avoid the pitfalls involving a lack of flexibility and tailored systems and structures and the absence of pan European coverage. Investigation of IMLOG’s LLP concept in practice resulted in relationship issues, service fulfilment issues and business process issues. The relational issues originate from unmet expectations by PRODA caused by the absence of extensive benchmark activities in the concept and pro-active information supply from IMLOG’s side. Service fulfilment issues are identified by analysing performance data from the beginning of IMLOG’s LLP concept for PRODA. It can be concluded that the service levels are increased against lower cost after the deployment of IMLOG’s LLP concept for PRODA. Nevertheless the performance data show that the number of underweight shipment and the number of late deliveries know very unstable behaviour, which can be identified as the two main service fulfilment issues. Numerous business process issues are identified which are involved to the daily key operational processes within IMLOG’s LLP concept for PRODA. Most of the issues identified involve internal processes of IMLOG LLP department, where a few issues are related to the interface between IMLOG, the LLP transport partners and PRODA. PART II – Determination of improvement opportunities & selection The identified issues serve as input for the determination of four main improvement opportunities within IMLOG’s LLP concept. The first step in this determination process involves clustering the identified issues in three improvement domains: the relationship domain, the service fulfilment domain and the business process domain. Based on the issues clustered in the three improvement domains, four main improvement opportunity types are derived. First type of improvement opportunity involves business approach change, which results from the relationship domain. If IMLOG would like to adopt itself towards the theoretical LLP, certain major changes cannot be by-passed. These changes will influence IMLOG’s current way of performing business: its business approach. The second improvement opportunity defined is Customer Relationship Management (CRM), derived from the relationship domain as well. CRM provides an integral approach with a focus on customer development and customer retention. By adopting a CRM strategy unmet expectations at the customer’s side can be eliminated through a good understanding of each other perception of requirements and performance. Enabling factors in CRM are availability of information and the use of an extensive performance measurement programme. The third improvement opportunity defined is the performance measurement structure. Both identified concept issues and service fulfilment issues shows that performance measurement in IMLOG’s LLP concept is not optimal. By developing and implementing an extensive performance measurement structure, the related issues can be solved. The fourth type of improvement opportunity lies in business process change solving the service fulfilment and business process issues clustered in the domains of the same name. All except two identified business change improvement opportunities are directly related to operational functions within IMLOG’s LLP concept; the remaining two involve supporting functions. Based on the nature of the business process change improvement opportunity identified a certain change programme are proposed; ranging from rightsizing to business reengineering. The selection for a certain improvement opportunity to elaborate upon is made by comparing all identified improvement opportunities on four factors. These factors are facilitation of growth, improvement of internal performance, creating a win-win situation and the challenge in the elaboration process. In close collaboration with IMLOG is agreed that business process change involve the most promising improvement opportunities. When improving IMLOG’s internal business processes, not only IMLOG benefits. The customer benefits as well, by higher services levels and probably reduced costs. In special the container assignment process will be main topic of interest within the design task. Reengineering the container process will result in a totally new process design on container assignment, although some basic principles will be applied in the assignment processes. PART III – Design of an integral container management system Besides the container assignment process, two other container management functions can be improved through centralisation. Taking these two additional container management functions into account next to the container assignment process, a functional design of an integral container management system is developed. This system knows three main functions: container assignment, container maintenance coordination and empty container repositioning. The key in the integral container management system is that all three container management functions are centralised in the Centralised Container Management System (CCMS). This is in contrast with the current situation where these three functions are managed on a regional level. Following this design task scoping process requirements are formulated which serve as input for the CCMS’s functional design development process. Within the CCMS each container management function knows a process for which a functional design is made. The container profile, containing all information on container characteristics, is the main element within these three processes. For the container assignment process the shipment order profile, containing the shipment order characteristics, is essential as well. In this process a container is assigned to a certain shipment order based on a match between the container and shipment order profile. Database checks and incidental notifications trigger the container maintenance coordination process through which all arrangements for maintenance are made. Empty container repositioning is responsible for solving imbalances in IMLOG’s network involving empty containers. Empty containers are shipped to the areas in IMLOG’s network where they are needed the most. For each of the processes the involvement of different actors including their interfaces is presented. Key Performance Indicators are proposes as well to be able to measure the performance of the three processes and the CCMS in total. All but one of the earlier defined requirements are fulfilled within the functional design presented. The requirement that was not fully fulfilled within the design proved to be not accurate according practice. Issues being solved and efficiency improvement of the container management related processes are highly expected when implementing the presented functional CCMS design. To provide insight in the steps prior to the CCMS implementation, important topics are identified. Resources needed in the process toward a full operational CCMS are addressed, including the costs related to this process. The importance of change management in the development and implementation phase is discussed as well. Automation thru a Decision Support System (DSS) can be identified as a major factor in optimisation of the container management processes. Therefore the principles of a Decision Support System are discussed. Eventually steps concerning further development towards a full operational CCMS are identified. Conclusions & recommendations The design objective in this project is fulfilled by identification of issues and improvement opportunities, selection of one from which a functional design is made. Looking at IMLOG’s LLP concept it can be concluded from a theoretical perspective that IMLOG does not fully fulfils the profile of a true LLP from a theoretical perspective. Although the current form of IMLOG’s LLP concept could perfectly be developed towards a true LLP. The identified issues serve as perfect opportunities in this development process. Looking at the current practice of the IMLOG’s LLP concept a lots of improvement opportunities can be identified. Optimisation of internal operational processes forms in here a perfect start. Additionally a stronger focus on relationship management in IMLOG’s LLP concept is needed to improve customer satisfaction. An extensive performance measurement structure will support relationship management, but provides more detailed insight on IMLOG’s internal performance as well. To take full advantage of the extensive performance measurement structure an appropriate Information system is needed. An extensive information system will enable optimisation of IMLOG’s internal processes through automation as well. For successful implementation of the CCMS, a broader scope in the development process must be adopted. This allows the design to be tailored to its environment which should positively influence the CCMS performance on the long run. Automation is a very important enabling factor in improving the efficiency of processes; therefore a high level of automation should be applied within the CCMS. The success of the CCMS depends on highly on the support within the IMLOG company: change management should be extensively applied in creating this support. Furthermore opportunities on including multiple order assignment per container per day, real-time container assignment and integration of transport planning and the CCMS should be investigated for further efficiency improvements.

As a result of the shift in focus from outbound logistics, which includes the flows to the customers, to inbound logistics, an inbound logistics decision support model is developed in this research report. This model offers the user the possibility to discover the potentials that are resting in optimizing inbound logistics. The design of this model is based on the next design statement: "Develop a model to assess and quantify the effect of inbound logistic concepts on costs".

Bij DuraVermeer wordt er decentraal op de projecten ingekocht met een centrale coördinatie. De leverancierselectie en evaluatie wordt hierbij per werkmaatschappij verschillend uitgevoerd. Door het ontbreken van een digitaal beoordelingssysteem is het momenteel niet mogelijk voor DuraVermeer om de prestatie informatie van leveranciers mee te nemen in de selectie beslissing. Momenteel heeft het beoordelen van de leveranciers van DuraVermeer veel weg van een administratieve handeling om te voldoen aan de eisen van de ISO normen.

This thesis explores the potentials of adopting loose-coupling concept in interface design of knowledge management systems for construction industry. For this purpose a prototype was developed which enables users to access relevant information to their work without getting engaged in any extra activity to translate their needs into systems’ languages. The need to maintain, capture and reuse this knowledge within the organization in order to make its effective use in the long term and in order to avoid costly and time-consuming relearning; has led to a profound branch of specialty in the management disciplines referred to as knowledge management. Since the introduction of IT to knowledge management the term knowledge management system (KMS) in a broader use refers to ICT systems particularly devoted to the creating, retrieving, storing and distributing knowledge in an organization.

The high level complexity of today’s supply chains, their strive for ever increasing efficiency, and their global structure have rendered supply risk management more important than ever, forcing companies to start taking measures against supply chain vulnerabilities, especially on the inbound side. A great deal of the risks on the inbound side of a firm is caused by the inability of a supplier to provide the purchasing company with the raw materials demanded. Given these conditions, SABIC in Europe is interested in adopting a risk management approach on its entire supply base. To provide a solution to this problem, this research has been conducted in the form of a single case study facilitated by the European Procurement Department of SABIC in Europe, backed up by an extensive literature review. The outcome of the project is a 3-step raw materials business continuity plan: identification of critical raw materials, identification and assessment of supplier risk sources, and identification of suitable risk reduction methods.

Since 1990, this energy consumption in transport has been increasing at an average annual growth rate of approximately 1.6%. Freight transport activity, as one of the main contributors to this growth, is forecasted to increase by 50% by 2020. As a result, a number of policy issues have been raised, which can be summarized as follows: - Congestion in the European transport system is having a negative impact on cost and time of transport and is increasing fuel consumption. - Freight transport needs to be in line with EU’s climate change targets. - Freight transport is highly dependent on fossil fuel which is not in line with EU’s oil independence policies. Following these concerns, the White Paper on Transport: Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area was published on 28 March 2011 by the European Commission. In this document, it was evident that the EU, for the first time, directly targeted the European freight industry and expected a reduction of CO2 emissions and a shift away from road freight to alternative modes. After noticing the shift of EUs attention towards freight, Toyota Motor Europe, raised the question concerning the effect this shift will have on its European supply chain operations. This concern initiated a study which calumniated in the formation of this Master thesis document. The study focuses on the possible effects the EU initiatives will have on European freight and subsequently Toyota’s freight activities. The research resulted in the construction of a model which was used to forecast the future modal split and CO2 emissions of Toyota’s freight activities. In order to support the initiated study, a research objective was developed and its scope was defined. The main objective was to study the effects of EU policies on the EU freight industry with regards to developments in “freight costs” and “CO2 emissions factors” and to further on, analyze the subsequent influence on the business of Toyota Motor Europe concerning its “modal split” and “total CO2 emissions”. Based on the defined research objective and the scope, the main research question was defined as: “How will the targets, outlined in the EU White Paper, change European freight and to what extent and effect will Toyota Motor Europe’s freight activities, with regards to modal split and total CO2 emissions, be affected by the changes?” In order to answer the research question, the research methodology was designed and the methods which were to be used were selected. The methods were the following: - Literature Review - Direct Observations - Stakeholder Analysis - Qualitative interviews and Stated Preference Surveys - Spread Sheet Modeling The modeling technique which was decided to be used for the study was spreadsheet modeling. The tools which were to be utilized during the development of the model were subsequently identified as follows: 1. Scenario Development; 2. Value of Time Analysis (VoT); 3. Constant Elasticity of Substitution Analysis (CES).