Potential of routing protocols for freight in open logistics networks: the case of FMCG in France
Résumé
Logistics networks intensely use means of transport and storage facilities to deliver goods all around the world. However they are still poorly interconnected and this fragmentation is responsible for a lack of consolidation and thus efficiency. To cope with challenging emissions targets, an improvement by an order of magnitude in supply networks is sought. This is the purpose of the Physical Internet. If from a logical point of view, this concept should improve efficiency by merging flows, no demonstration of its potential has yet been carried out based on real-world flows. To reach this goal, we used flows from the Fast Moving Consumer Goods sector (FMCG) in France and a model of interconnected logistics networks to simulate their routing. Unlike vehicle routing problems, flow routing is a new research field. Routing is therefore proposed based on a combination of knapsack algorithm to fill transportation means and of shortest path to minimize travelled distances. Various routing protocols and scenarios were tested and encouraging results were measured according to sustainability indicators such as CO2 emissions, energy used, cost, lead-time, delivery time, and so forth. As this is a first work in the field of routing flows, the simulation model also suggests potential improvements.