Conquering the last mile

Researchers from Cardiff Business School will investigate the last-mile delivery concept after successfully securing SPARK Seedcorn funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Panalpina Group.

The £3,000 project sees Dr Emrah Demir and Dr Irina Harris partner Ms Nicole Ayiomamiyou from Panalpina to link developments in transportation planning technology with social and business models.

Last-mile is a term used in supply chain management and transportation planning to describe the movement of people and goods from a transportation hub to a final destination.

“Our research will survey current technological developments at different points of transportation planning to better understand how they can be effectively managed.”

In the UK, EU and beyond

The project builds on existing research and delivers a detailed picture of last-mile delivery in the UK, EU and beyond.

Dr Irina Harris, Senior Lecturer in Logistics and Operations Modelling, said: “New technologies are driving the creation of innovative business models that will impact on last-mile deliveries in B2B and B2C environments...”

This project is supported by the Panalpina Centre for Manufacturing and Research a joint industry-University initiative that aims to achieve world-class research with impact in the fields of logistics and manufacturing management.

Based in Cardiff Business School, the Centre bridges the gap between theory and practice in these areas for the benefit of the economy, environment and society.