Public purchasing as game changer in smarter and cleaner urban freight distribution. Presentation by Susanne Balm and Walther Ploos van Amstel

1. PUBLIC PURCHASING AS GAME CHANGER
IN SMARTER AND CLEANER URBAN
FREIGHT DISTRIBUTION
URBE Conference
1 and 2 October 2015
Rome, Italy
Susanne Balm
Project leader E-mobility & City Logistics
Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences
Co-authors:
Walther Ploos van Amstel (AUAS)
Luke Mackaay (AUAS)
Daniel Schulz (AUAS)

2. AMSTERDAM UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES
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• Based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• 50,000 students and 3,600 employees
• 80 bachelor and master programmes
• Practical orientated research addressing real-life challenges
• Close collaboration with both academics and professionals
• A joint Executive Board with the University of Amsterdam

3. RESEARCH PROGRAM
URBAN TECHNOLOGY
Technologies for a sustainable, liveable and connected city
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Smart Mobility
& Logistics
Smart Urban
Design
Smart Energy
Systems
Circular Design
and Smart
Production
Urban analytics
Business Models

4. PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS CAN ACT AS GAME
CHANGER IN SMARTER AND CLEANER
URBAN FREIGHT
For two reasons:
1. Product characteristics
• High volume and homogenous goods
2. Characteristics of the organization
• Public organizations can benefit directly from sustainable transport as it
contributes to their own objectives: accessibility, healthy living, being a
role model in terms of social responsibility.
4Volume and direct benefit are missing in many small scale city logistics initiatives

5. PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH
• How many freight deliveries do we generate with our purchases?
• A lot! Difficult to quantify adequately, but expected to be > 60.000 a year
• Do we favor sustainable transport?
• Yes, as it improves livability around the campuses
• Do we want to be a role model?
• Yes! We want to be a sustainable organization.
• How can we stimulate sustainable transport as public organization?
• Research has identified potential solutions
• How do we get there?
• Behavioral change
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6. Amsterdam University of Applied
Sciences
• 50.000 students
• 3.600 employees
TWO EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
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University of Amsterdam
• 32.000 students
• 5.000 employees

7. CHARACTERISTICS
• Many different buildings in City of Amsterdam
• Many purchasers
• A lot of development going on: renovation and construction
• Underutilized inventory spaces in buildings at city border, but
scarcity in inner city
• Mail delivery roundtrips between buildings
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8. PREVIOUS RESEARCH (END OF 2014)
• Questionnaire to suppliers | respons of 278
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9. THREE POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
1. Consolidating at the source
2. Change of purchase policies
3. Delivery at a central address
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HAVE BEEN SUBJECT OF RESEARCH
(FEB – JUNE 2015)

10. POTENTIALLY MORE SUSTAINABLE
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But what are the opportunities and
challenges for realising the solutions?
All three solutions can potentially reduce transport movements,
associated pollution and costs.

11. LITERATURE STUDY
The decisions of purchasers
determine whether the full
potential of GPP is used.
Their behavior is
considered to be a critical
success factor.
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Corporate social responsibility
Green public
procurement (GPP)
Logistics as
GPP criteria
Amount of available research

12. 1. CONSOLIDATING AT THE SOURCE
Aim Various suppliers consolidate the transport of their
deliveries upstream in the distribution network
Stakeholder
group(s) with a
lead role
• Supplier
• Logistis service / transport provider
Opportunity Suppliers seem to be willing to discuss the
possibilities, be transparent, and cooperate.
Challenge • Transport operators that currently carry out the
transport seem to be less willing to cooperate and
to share data. They fear a loss of business.
• Influence of purchasing organization is limited as
agreements already exists between supplier and
transport operator.
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13. 2. CHANGE OF PURCHASE POLICIES
Aim Take logistics considerations into account in tender
procedure
Stakeholder
group(s) with a
lead role
Receiver
Opportunity Use next tender(s) to start with new strategy and
include “green and efficient transport” as selection
criteria
Challenge • To make sure that employees in purchase or
procurement functions at a tactic/operational level
act in line with the policy.
• To incorporate potential side effects for existing
transport networks.
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14. 3. CENTRAL DELIVERY ADDRESS
Aim Using a central delivery address for the deliveries to
UvA-AUAS that allows to consolidate the last mile
(using low emission vehicles)
Stakeholder
group(s) with a
lead role
• Receiver
• Supplier
• Logistics service / transport provider
Opportunity • Use of existing inventory space
• Synergies on city level when broad city distribution
center (with multiple functions) is used. The volume
of the public organization can make current UCC
initiatives (more) viable.
Challenge • To obtain transparent data required to share costs
and benefits and consensus on invoicing tool
• Logistics knowledge is required to efficiently use
the central delivery address without loss of service. 14

15. IMPACT ON PURCHASE DECISIONS
• Strategic purchasing: set objectives with regard to transport and
logistics
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16. JOINT COMPARISON
1. Consolidating
deliveries at the
source
2. Change
purchase policy
3. Central delivery
address
Strategic
decisions
Who should initiate/lead
the change? What are the
(common) objectives?
How to develop
green delivery criteria
in tender
procedures?
Who should initiate/lead
the change? What are the
(common) objectives?
Tactic
decisions
How the select the
appropriate partners?
How to redistribute costs
and benefits in contracts?
How to assess green
delivery criteria of
suppliers?
How the select the
appropriate partners?
How to redistribute costs
and benefits in contracts?
Operational
decisions
How to make sure that
transport data is shared?
How to monitor the
criteria in practice?
How to make sure that
the hub address is used?
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17. CONCLUDING REMARKS
• The environmental and social impact caused by the transportation of
products is highly neglected in GPP.
• Considering the buying power of public organizations, they could act
as game changer in the implementation of urban freight solutions.
This requires several changes:
• Strategic level: clear objectives (and scope) should be set. E.g. air
quality, CO2, transport movements
• Tactical level: suppliers should be selected based on these criteria.
Lead buyers, involved in tender procedures, need assessment guidelines
• Operational level: employees should be committed to act in favor of
green logistics criteria. How to create understanding? How to monitor results?
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18. THANK YOU
Questions and discussion
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Susanne Balm
Project leader E-mobility & City Logistics
Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences
s.h.balm@hva.nl
www.hva.nl/urbantechnology