SeaConAZ

• Lin, Ning; Hjelle, Harald M.; Cullinane, Kevin; Bergqvist, Rickard Y; Eidhammer, Olav & Wang, Yuhong [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2016). Potential solutions to upstream buyer consolidation in the China-Europe container trades : An exploratory study. In Zhang, Runtong; Zhang, Juliang; Hensher, David; Fu, Xiaowen; Hua, Guowei & Tang, Mincong (Ed.), International Conference on Logistics, Informatics and Service Sciences (LISS 2016) : Proceeding. IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). ISSN 9781509011018. p. 1–11. doi: 10.1109/LISS.2016.7854484. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The Asia-Europe container trade is the most important trade in the world in terms of volumes transported (overtaking the Trans-Pacific trade in 2014). The typical structure of the supply chains associated with this trade is that containers are stuffed in China and the cargo is subsequently cross-docked at a major European logistics hub or closer to the customer, for further shipment to the final retailing point. This may be one of the reasons why short sea container shipping has only a limited market share of intra-European cargo flows, since once the cargo is unloaded from containers, it is more likely to be forwarded by land-based modes of transport. Paving the way for a greater proportion of cargo being cross-docked in China rather than Europe, may prove to be more cost-efficient and less environmentally damaging than the typical solution. This paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the typical solution and alternative solutions such as buyers' consolidation and concludes that new alternative solutions are worth investigating further. The potential for shifting from the typical solution to new alternatives is dependent on the identification of key decision makers in the design of these supply chains. As such, a careful analysis of this must be undertaken and the capability of Logistics service providers (LSPs) in China assessed.

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• Lin, Ning & Hjelle, Harald M. (2017). CO2 EMISSIONS MITAGATION POTENTIAL OF BUYER CONSOLIDATION ACTIVITY AND RAIL-BASED INTERMODAL TRANSPORT IN THE CHINA-EUROPE CONTAINER SUPPLY CHAINS. Full text in Research Archive
• Lin, Ning; Hjelle, Harald M. & Bergqvist, Rickard Y (2017). Cost Saving Potential of Upstream Buyer Consolidation and Downstream Intermodal Rail-based Solutions in the China-Europe Container Trades. Full text in Research Archive
• Hjelle, Harald M. (2016). Hvilken godstransportform er mest miljøvennlig? Full text in Research Archive
• Vingen, Anita & Hjelle, Harald M. (2016). Skoas reise og klimaavtrykk. Høgskolen i Molde forskar på potensialet for meir klimagunstig sjøkontainarfrakt for langreiste varer. [Journal]. Romsdals Budstikke. Full text in Research Archive
• Lin, Ning; Hjelle, Harald M.; Cullinane, Kevin; Eidhammer, Olav; Bergqvist, Rickard Y & Wang, Yuhong [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2016). Upstream Buyer Consolidation and Downstream Short Sea Shipping in the Asia-Europe Sea Container Supply Chain – An Exploratory Study. Full text in Research Archive
• Hjelle, Harald M. (2016). Dine skos miljøfotavtrykk kan bli mindre. p. 38–39. Full text in Research Archive
• Lin, Ning; Hjelle, Harald M.; Cullinane, Kevin; Bergqvist, Rickard Y; Eidhammer, Olav & Wang, Yuhong [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2016). Potential Solutions to Upstream Buyer Consolidation in the China-Europe Container Trades. Full text in Research Archive
• Lin, Ning (2019). The performance of upstream buyer consolidation in China-Scandinavian containerized trades. Molde University College - Specialized University in Logistics. ISSN 9788279622703. Full text in Research Archive
• Hjelle, Harald M.; Lin, Ning; Bergqvist, Rickard Y; Eidhammer, Olav; Mangan, John & Yang, Zaili [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2019). Alternative supply chain designs for containerized cargo from China to peripheral regions in Europe : final report of the SeaConAZ project. Møreforsking Molde AS. ISSN 9788278303177. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The Asia-Europe container trade is second only to the trans-Pacific trade in terms of volume transported. In the typical structure of the supply chains associated with the Asia to Europe inbound container trade, containers are stuffed in China, and the cargo is subsequently cross-docked at a major European logistics hub or a distribution center closer to the customer for further distribution to the final retailing points. However, this solution may not be optimal from the perspective of total logistics cost and CO2 emissions. Upstream buyer consolidation at the origin and/or a downstream intermodal system at the destination have been regarded as potential solutions that improve the performance of supply chains under certain circumstances. The present research identifies new supply chain solutions in sea-based China-Europe cargo flows. Based on the identified new solutions, the performance of potential solutions in terms of logistics cost and CO2 emissions can be compared with those of more traditional solutions, thus revealing under which circumstances the new solutions may be preferable. The core of this research is based on case studies obtained from Scandinavian chain retailers as well as a large number of interviews with central actors in the China-Europe trades, with particular focus on cargo-flows destined for peripheral regions of Europe, represented by Scandinavia and Ireland. The findings suggest that the solutions characterized by upstream buyer consolidation and a downstream rail-based or maritime feeder-based systems may have positive impacts on logistics cost and CO2 emissions. The analysis suggests that such new solutions might be desirable as an alternative to the usual arrangements in this China-Europe container trade, in particular in situations where there are limited order quantities from each vendor, there are many different vendors located within a confined geographical region in China, where total order volumes are big enough from one region in China to achieve a sufficient utilization of consolidated containers, where cargo is characterized by small units which are not palletized, where the final retailing points are far from Central-European logistics hubs, and where the majority of the importers’ cargo-flow is sourced in China.

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