Alessandro Creazza

The research project presented in this paper is part of the Program of Scientific Research of National Interest (PRIN) funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR). The project, entitled “Modelling, simulation and testing of innovative logistics networks for drugs management in healthcare”, involved two research centers of LIUC University: C- Log (Logistics Research Centre) and CREMS (Center for Research on Health Economics, Social and Health Care Management). A structured review of the literature concerning the distribution at a local level of incontinence pads and long-term oxygen was performed to highlight research gaps in the current knowledge regarding the distribution of the considered medical devices at a local level. Moving from the outcomes of the literature review, an empirical investigation was performed to fill the identified gaps: a sample of five Local Health Authorities of Lombardy Region (Bergam o, Lecco, Milan, Pavia and Sondrio) was studied through the case study methodology and the benchmarking technique. The analysis of the processes related to the distribution of medical devices allowed to partially fill the literary gap observed. The results showed that it is not possible to state the existence of an optimal distribution model considering efficiency and effectiveness; however, they offered the opportunity to analyze the dynamics of distribution in different territories and to derive guidelines for a general design of distribution models.

Urban freight transport is of vital importance for every activity of cities and their inhabitants. Cities, in fact, must be continuously replenished in order to play their crucial role as places of production and consumption of goods and services, as well as development of social relationships. Urban freight transport has become more and more a key issue in the general concept of urban mobility as a factor of economic, social and environmental competitiveness of cities. The White Paper on Transport issued in 2011 by the European Commission identifies a number of actions to support the development of integrated city logistics systems. Likewise, the Italian National Plan for Logistics 2011-2020 identifies as a key priority the implementation of suitable measures for improving the management of urban freight transport. In the light of the mentioned European and national prescriptions, it is therefore necessary that Regions and Local Authorities must be led by the objective of defining a series of actions aimed at improving the management the of urban freight transport, making it more competitive and efficient. This paper provides an overview of the main city logistics practices suitable for dealing with the management of the freight transport, presenting a critical analysis of their main features and describing their scope of application through a series of best practices at a national and an international level.

Italy, despite its current economic difficulties, maintains a prominent role in international trade, thanks to its entrepreneurial culture, strongly focused on the quality of its products. Little attention has been traditionally paid to management of logistics and distribution on an international scale. Starting new trade relationships with foreign partners outside the EU often leads to administrative burdens, that increase operating costs for Italian companies. Firms need to know how to properly manage the international logistics processes and, when such activities are overwhelming due to their innate complexity, companies can rely on Customs Assistance Centers (CADs), established to provide an expert support to companies for the optimal management of the international logistics flows. The operational peculiarities of CADs allow firms to better manage customs operations, thus reducing the complexity, the risk, the cost and the time related to customs procedures. The contribution of CADs has wider impacts, which positively affect the entire national economic system. Thanks to their intensive support in carrying out the institutional duties, CADs help the National Customs Agency to foster the quality of the provided services, especially with respect to the procedures for risk analysis and the control of strategic operations. This implies also an enhancement of the international competitiveness for the overall Italian logistics and infrastructure system.

Mega-events, such as the forthcoming Expo 2015 Universal Exposition, have been defined as large-scale cultural events that run for a limited time, are "stage-managed", have popular mass appeal and enjoy international significance. Mega-events pose a number of special problems in terms of logistics management. One of the tasks of logistics during mega-events is to support the replenishment of food supplies to the venues. Considering that the theme of Expo 2015 is "Feeding the planet, energy for life", the role of food in this event significantly soars, since food will be the main character for the participant countries and for the attendants. Given this background, the objective of this study is to present a systematic framework to design the logistics operations for supporting the food replenishment flows of Expo 2015. This framework considers Expo 2015 specific characteristics, the peculiarities of its venue, as well as lessons learned from previous events. It allowed to define the characterization of the players of the food supply chains within Expo and of their logistics requirements, to identify the most suitable business model with reference to the role of the Organizing Committee in the management of the logistics operations, to identify the most suitable logistics model with reference to the processes included in the replenishment of food to the venue and to define the necessary logistics resources in terms of warehousing spaces, vehicles, materials handling equipment and manpower.

The Logistics & Transportation industry plays a fundamental role in the development of the regional economy, both for its autonomous value creation capability, and for its essential role in ensuring a high level of competitiveness to the Lombardy manufacturing system in the international markets. The main purpose of the research presented in the current paper is to describe the evolution over time (especially during the recent crisis) of the Logistics & Transportation industry within the Milanese Logistics Region (MLR - including the provinces of Milan, Monza & Brianza, Lodi, Pavia, Como, Varese, Bergamo, Novara, Piacenza). Our study allowed also evaluating the effect of the deep crisis which recently involved the international marketplace, with particular reference to its impact on the network of companies operating in the MLR (both demanding and offering logistics services), and on the international trade flows in terms of economic characterization. Only by following the evolution over time of the organization of the supply chains it is possible to identify and define suitable economic and infrastructural policies for the territory and its companies.

Expo 2015 "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life", hosted by Milan, represents a development opportunity not only for the regional first city, but for the entire Lombardy. The potential implications connected to the considered mega-event may relate to the improvement of the quality of life through the enhancement of sustainable mobility, to better employment opportunities and economic growth, to the improvement of environmental, technological and infrastructural issues. Milan Expo 2015 will represent, therefore, an important business opportunity for Lombardy, with particular reference to the service industry. The sector of the logistics services is not excluded from these "virtuous circles" of economic growth. In this research, through the analysis of the characteristics of mega-events and the need for logistics services to support their hosting, we present an investigation of the development opportunities offered by Milan Expo 2015 to the Lombard transport and logistics providers, and we examine how these companies could be helped and supported for reaping the potential benefits arising from the considered World Exposition.

The logistics system of the Milanese area was thoroughly studied in previous works by the C-log, the Logistics Research Centre of LIUC University. Specifically, a territory named "Milanese Logistics Region" (MLR - including the provinces of Milan, Monza & Brianza, Lodi, Pavia, Como, Varese, Bergamo, Novara, Piacenza) was analysed and mapped along with its logistics nodes, its logistics flows and the players operating within it. For adequately studying the system of its infrastructures, it is though necessary to consider a broader area which extends over the current and provisional infrastructural axes of the MLR, ranging from Novara to Verona, crossing Milan and Brescia. In the past few years, numerous infrastructural developments and projects involved this extended area. Following an exhaustive mapping of its current infrastructural system and an analysis of the mentioned infrastructural developments and projects, in this paper we present a model aimed at assessing the level of accessibility of the considered area for the transport of goods. We aim also at evaluating the increase of the level of accessibility due to the examined infrastructural developments and projects by 2015. Therefore, we provide an economic quantification of the benefits deriving from the infrastructural system improvement, with respect to the increase of the turnover for the logistics companies, due to the enhanced level of accessibility of the infrastructures.

Performance Measurement plays a key role in business practices. Indeed, it is a process that enables decisions making as it is allows to quantify the efficiency and effectiveness of past actions through the acquisition, collection, selection, analysis and interpretation of data. Therefore, the definition of an effective and comprehensive system of performance measurement is one of the key priorities on the agenda of top managers of companies. The objective of the project is to propose a model for measuring the operational performance in the logistics sector. The system to be measured is represented by the transport systems for Primary and Secondary Distribution, seen as macro-business processes, according to UNI 11155:2005 norm. Through an extensive literature analysis we identified the main scientific contributions on performance measurement for the investigated system. Moving from the characterising elements of the most significant reviewed models, we propose an innovative performance measurement approach, built by integrating the selected contributions from the literature and by combining the critical success factors related to productivity of the system, the use of resources and the level of service and cost efficiency. The purpose of the model, developed for the Primary Distribution segment (Full Truck Load) is the definition of an index of the overall business performance for the macro-process under consideration, indicated as Overall Transportation Performance (OTP). By applying the model to a real case and through a sensitivity analysis, at the level of elementary variables, we validate the proposed approach.

Palletised units loads represent a key element for efficient and effective supply chain management in grocery retail industry, being pallet the most diffused device for consumer packaged goods trasportation, handling and storage. Thus, pallets are progressively becoming a relevant logistics cost to be managed by grocery retail companies. Consequenlty, there needs to analyse different strategies and systems to manage pallets in the most suitable way for specific companies and operating contexts. The present paper, after an introduction concerning pallets and their physical features, defines the pallet supply chain, identifying all the involved players and the interaction processes. The following paragraphes analyse different pallet management strategies, studying the consequent operating and management implications for grocery retail companies. In particular, the paper focuses on EPAL pallet based exchange system, describing its critical aspects and performing a comparison with the other alternative pallet management solutions, in order to define the relative optimal application boundaries.

Recent evolutionary trends in world economics, with increasing market globalization and company production relocation, is changing the traditional logistics network structure. Companies feel need to rapidly configure their distributive systems, in order to ensure flexibility. Among strategic decisions, logistics facilities localization alternatives play an essential role, due to their impact on supply chain efficiency and costs. The aim of the present study is to deeply analyse logistics real estate business environment. After an introduction regarding market players, with the explanation of their respective roles and range of activities, an European and Italian location attractiveness outlook is discussed, in terms of rents, yields and logistics stock. Then, best practices concerning localization strategies and building design solutions are presented. Finally, after a focus on Lombardy market area (the most important national economic and productive region), some short term development issues for the Italian logistics real estate market are traced. Keywords: logistics real estate, supply chain management, facility location, distribution networks planning.