Case Study
The Mechelen city council has the ambition to move to a zero-emission supplying of the city by 2030. The city is investigating how this ambition can best be achieved through various projects, and concluded a covenant with 29 companies to achieve this goal. ODTH signed this covenant as a logistics partner.
In an initial pilot project, packages from various suppliers are collected at the ODTH City Hub in the Mechelen-South industrial park. From there, a fully loaded electric van leaves for the city centre, where the van serves as a mobile hub for ECO couriers. This allows deliveries to be made faster and in larger quantities to traders in the city centre.
The case study resulted in the following benefits:
1
Sustainability
The consolidation of goods contributes to sustainable urban logistics and reduces the negative impact on the environment. By reducing traffic, congestion and emissions, we contribute to a greener and more liveable city.
2
Collaboration
At the City Hub there are countless opportunities for collaboration and networking between different companies and logistics service providers. This promotes synergies, knowledge exchange and innovation in urban logistics.
3
Safe location
By centralising goods in a central hub for consolidation, businesses can be assured of the safe receipt of their goods. From the moment of delivery to the hub, businesses are assured that the goods are in good hands.
4
Personalised rental
Rental of custom-made SME boxes for businesses (from 60 m²). The SME is responsible for organising the storage in its box, which is accessible to it during the site’s opening hours. This allows businesses to make optimum use of their (expensive) retail space.
Relocation to Mechelen-North:
After an initial test phase at the former ODTH in Mechelen-South, the City Hub was moved to the ODTH warehouse in Mechelen-North. In the future, ODTH is also looking at other locations to further expand this concept.
“With the expansion of the car-free zone, it is crucial to try out such innovative projects together with businesses and thus evolve into a strong economic centre in which logistics still contribute 10% to mobility flows.”