This research concerns the analysis of the organisation of transport of cut flowers from Dutch growers. The performance of transport in the current supply chain is analysed with a focus on the total transport costs, and the service level which is primarily defined by the lead tim
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This research concerns the analysis of the organisation of transport of cut flowers from Dutch growers. The performance of transport in the current supply chain is analysed with a focus on the total transport costs, and the service level which is primarily defined by the lead time of products. Based on the assessment of the current performance and a review of literature on various forms of transport organisation, two alternative configurations of transport are developed. All transport of deliveries that is individually organised and executed by growers in the current situation, are redesigned in these alternative configurations. The aim of this research is to investigate whether an improvement in the organisation of transport can be achieved by increasing the coordination in transport of these deliveries. The first configuration is based on the consolidation of products from multiple growers in a local hub. The second configuration collects products in a round trip, thus combining multiple growers in a delivery. Both configurations show potential for improvement by achieving a reduction of transport costs and an increase in utilisation of available vehicle capacity, however the lead time of products increases in both configurations.