Identification of collaborative shipping opportunities using BBaRT

Abstract

A growing trend in improving logistics e ciency is to set up logistics partnerships with other companies. One can distinguish between vertical and horizontal supply chain collaborations. Vertical collaborations are established between suppliers and buyers. An example of vertical collaboration is sharing information on customer orders upstream the supply chain in order to reduce demand uncertainty for the suppliers. Horizontal collaborations are established between companies that operate at the same level in di erent supply chains, i.e., between suppliers or between buyers. Sharing transportation capacity when moving freight is an example of horizontal collaboration, an option that bene ts the environment and yields substantial network e ciencies. It is even possible that two co-opetitors set up a horizontal cooperation (Leitner et al., 2011). Horizontal partnerships in logistics have the potential to generate substantial gains by leveraging the overlaps in transport networks (Leitner et al., 2011). Whereas vertical collaborations have already been successfully established for many years, horizontal collaboration initiatives are more recent and are expected to become more widespread in the near future