OLOCAP

Today, consumers are increasingly choosing food products that are sourced locally. However, the growth of short supply chains—sometimes seen as an alternative to the mass retail industry—requires innovations to address sustainability challenges and minimize environmental impacts. Indeed, this trend is having a significant impact on small-scale producers, who are facing increased and highly diverse demand and often find themselves having to manage their own logistics, including—and especially—delivery. The OLOCAP project addresses the issue of logistics in local food supply chains from a multidisciplinary perspective. Management sciences help to understand the motivations of the various stakeholders (producers, consumers, service providers, etc.) and to identify producers’ needs. Based on field studies, they define sustainable economic models and the key constraints facing these organizations, in order to determine the most appropriate organizational structure. Computer science develops the algorithms that will support certain decisions, such as the consolidation of delivery routes, the determination of locations for intermediate stockpiles or shared retail outlets, as well as the platform that will implement the results of these studies. The objectives are to reduce the time spent on distribution and, consequently, to minimize environmental impacts.

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