Enhancing stock efficiency and environmental sustainability goals in direct distribution logistic networks

Abstract

In modern business, industrial companies embrace lean philosophy to increase their efficiency moving toward the so-called continuous improvement of industrial processes. In parallel, according to the international regulations and stakeholder pressures, rising attention is toward sustainable environmental, i.e., green, practices. A relevant scientific area addresses the topic of matching lean management (LM) and green management (GM) principles within logistics, from a quantitative and optimised perspective. This paper follows this stream and proposes a bi-objective model optimising stock efficiency and environmental sustainability in the design of direct distribution logistic networks. The former goal belongs to LM, the latter belongs to GM. The model application to an Italian case study showcases its benefit reducing the average stock without a relevant increase of the emissions due to frequent replenishments. A cost analysis of the results completes this paper to include the economic dimension within the study boundaries.