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Starting January 2021, the new micro-depot in Dortmund will commence operations. In close collaboration, agiplan GmbH and Fraunhofer IML support the city of Dortmund in realizing the temporary micro-depot at Dortmund’s Ostwall. The medium-term goal is to achieve a more climate-friendly delivery by KEP service providers in the Dortmund urban area.
(Mülheim/Ruhr; Dortmund) The micro-depot at Ostwall, a transshipment point for climate-friendly delivery of courier, express, and parcel services in Dortmund’s city center established by DOPARK GmbH on behalf of the city of Dortmund, involves UPS, DPD, GLS, and Amazon Logistics. With the joint and thus space-saving operation of a micro-depot by various service providers, the city of Dortmund sets an example for cooperative emission-free delivery traffic in other municipalities as well. The parcel service providers have decided to jointly use a temporary micro-depot at Ostwall as part of the participation process of the funding project Emission-Free City Center.
Increasing Shipment Volume Due to Online Trade
“The increasing shipment volume, especially due to online trade, poses greater challenges for our cities. Micro-depots represent an effective approach to ensure efficient urban logistics in the future. In Dortmund, we want to test how sustainable added value can be created through cooperation among logistics service providers. The city will thus take on a lighthouse function for other municipalities,” explains Dr. Christian Jacobi, Managing Partner of agiplan GmbH, which provided advisory support for the concept, developed the operator concept, and is searching for suitable real estate locations and the right stakeholders.
From January 2021 to February 2022, the parcel service providers UPS, DPD, GLS, and Amazon Logistics will deliver transport goods in reusable overseas containers from the temporary micro-depot at Ostwall, south of Agnes-Neuhaus-Straße, and transfer them for fine distribution in the city on the so-called last mile to climate-friendly means of transport such as cargo bikes. The micro-depot at Ostwall thus creates infrastructural conditions for climate-friendly parcel transport, among other things, using electrically assisted cargo bikes and other electric vehicle concepts. The supply chain proceeds as follows: Packages are dropped off and taken by a delivery vehicle to a regional logistics center.
A Delivery Van Brings the Packages to the Micro-Depot
There, they are loaded onto a truck and delivered to the regional distribution center responsible for Dortmund. A delivery van picks up the packages there and brings them to the micro-depot at Ostwall. There, the shipment is loaded onto a climate-friendly transport vehicle – for example, a cargo bike – and thus reaches the destination address in the city center emissions-free and city-friendly.
“Logistics on the last mile is in a tension field of increasing shipment volume, rising environmental awareness, and economic challenges. Through the piloting and close scientific support of micro-depot concepts like this one, we will gain important insights. Together with our partners in Dortmund and in the economy in general, we can thus contribute to city-compatible logistics – even beyond the project,” emphasizes Prof. Dr.-Ing. Uwe Clausen, head of the Fraunhofer IML and director of the Institute for Transport Logistics at TU Dortmund.
The micro-depot at Ostwall is one of 16 measures of the EU funding project Emission-Free City Center. The European Union and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia support the funding project Emission-Free City Center from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). As a temporary facility, the operation will be tested for 14 months. During this time, practical and experiential values can be collected, and the permanent establishment of a micro-depot in an existing property can be prepared. In parallel with the operation of the temporary micro-depot, urban properties will be examined for their logistical usability for a permanent micro-depot.
About agiplan
agiplan GmbH is a consulting and planning company for businesses and public authorities. Our aim is to increase the efficiency of our clients and sustainably enhance their competitiveness. To achieve this, we optimize production and logistics processes, design layouts and plant structures, and enhance the value creation of entire supply chains through intelligent networking. We solve complex tasks in the planning and construction of factories and logistics centers as general planners. We are also committed to the public sector: We develop creative concepts in the field of regional and urban development and advise authorities and public institutions on issues of energy efficiency and European structural policy.
Announcement from the City of Dortmund
Photo: © agiplan
