WORKSHOP AT TU DARMSTADT ON “RETAIL SYSTEMS AND TRIPLE CHALLENGE: EFFICIENT, RESILIENT, SUSTAINABLE”

On July 12, 2023, the workshop “Retail Systems and the Triple Challenge: Efficient, Resilient, Sustainable” organized by the Production and Supply Chain Management department under the leadership of Prof. Christoph Glock took place at TU Darmstadt. The event also marked the official start of TU Darmstadt's participation in the Retail Logistics & Innovation Lab. Lars Siebel, Head of Logistics and Supply Chain Management at REWE Markt in Cologne, commented: “The challenges in retail logistics are diverse – from sustainability, resilience, diversity, and good work to cost efficiency. New solutions are needed for these complex conditions, which we aim to develop in collaboration and innovation with TU Darmstadt in the coming years.”






After a welcome note by Prof. Matthias Klumpp (Politecnico di Milano) and Prof. Christoph Glock, Andreas Hillmann (Head of Transport Logistics, REWE Group) and Prof. Riccardo Mangiaracina (Politecnico di Milano) kicked off the event. In his management keynote titled “Challenges in Retail Logistics: Resources, Methods, and Questions for Research,” Mr. Hillmann presented REWE logistics. He addressed current challenges and highlighted potential research questions to be tackled in the Retail Logistics & Innovation Lab.

Prof. Mangiaracina then delivered the academic keynote. In his lecture titled “Last-mile Logistics Concepts for Sustainable and Resilient Distribution in Retail Systems,” he presented his research work. He also discussed models for optimizing last-mile logistics using drones and big data analytics. In the afternoon, the participating researchers used the opportunity to exchange ideas about their current work. Contributors included Jelle de Vries (Erasmus University, Rotterdam School of Management), Katharina Berendes (University of Göttingen), Matthias Klumpp (Politecnico di Milano), and Dominic Loske (REWE/TU Darmstadt).



Topics related to innovations in retail logistics systems are at the center of the newly established Retail Logistics & Innovation Lab. The involved researchers investigate sustainability, digitalization, and the relevance of the human factor in logistics processes through method-based analyses and simulations. These topics are analyzed in collaboration with REWE Group logistics executives led by Andreas Hillmann and Fabian Nevries. Besides TU Darmstadt, the research cooperation includes TU Milan (Politecnico di Milano), the University of Göttingen, and REWE Markt as a practical partner. Key research results on general issues in retail logistics are presented and published to the professional public – in June 2023, the lab team won the ISSL Best Paper Award of the German Logistics Association (BVL) in Dresden for a contribution on resilience in retail logistics.



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