A pilot programme involving haulier AF Blakemore and tech firm Digital Catapult, which used cutting edge route planning technology, has succeeded in slashing CO2 emissions by upto 30% and reducing transport costs by almost 40%.

The scheme saw AF Blakemore, which carries out deliveries for supermarket retailer Spar, use a shared digital infrastructure to create more intelligent vehicle slot filling, routing, and tracking.

The solution is designed to allow competing logistics providers to safely share information on available truck space across their collective fleets, without the need for a single party to have full control or visibility of the entire system.

It was trialled in a real-world industrial environment, and saw distributed ledger technology (DLT) and the internet of things (IoT) combined with an algorithm developed by project partner Fuuse, to optimise route planning and truck use.

Vehicle transport capacity was matched with shipment needs across multiple UK organisations, demonstrating the potential to cut CO2e emissions by 15-30%, as well as delivering a 37% decrease in overall transport costs and a 9% improvement in vehicle fill rate for AF Blakemore.

The project, titled the Logistics Living Lab, is a UK Research and Innovation backed project, is led by Digital Catapult and delivered as part of the Made Smarter Innovation  Digital Supply Chain Hub, which has so far helped over 40 startups and SMEs to secure more than £3m in funding.

Tim Lawrence, director of the Digital Supply Chain Hub at Digital Catapult, said: “When we launched the Made Smarter Innovation Digital Supply Chain Hub three years ago, we knew the potential of deep technologies for UK supply chains, but as we begin to see the results of the flagship projects like the Logistics Living Lab, we can start to realise potential into impact.

“The solutions built through this unique industry collaboration deliver a triple benefit to the UK logistics sector by empowering the organisations that make up our complex supply chains, to become more efficient, reduce costs to improve their bottom line and make a lasting environmental difference to positively contribute to the future of the planet.”

Phil Roe, Logistics UK president, said, “Decarbonisation is the biggest challenge of the age and the pressure on the logistics sector to play our part is significant. We must deliver this in line with our efforts to overcome challenges in trade, insufficient infrastructure and a shortage of skills.

“What the Logistics Living Lab project has demonstrated is that digital technologies and close industry collaboration can play a crucial role in accelerating the journey to net zero, allowing UK logistics businesses to focus on optimising their operations to contribute to boosting growth for the UK economy.”

The project’s activities and outcomes are now detailed in a newly published report, accessible through the Digital Supply Chain Hub.

Digital Catapult and its partners plan to scale this solution to further decarbonise the UK logistics sector and are calling on companies interested in collaborating to contact the team for more information.

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