Partners from 8 countries (Italy, Poland, Greece, Slovenia, Spain, Germany, Hungary, and Austria) have engaged in seeking an answer to the question: “Are we creating logistics from a regional perspective?”. The CASTLE project, aimed at improving public policy regarding transport and logistics with a particular focus on the needs of the SME sector, involves conducting research and analysis to create a new tool for regional policy. Poland is represented in the CASTLE project by the Institute of Logistics and Warehousing (ILiM) and the Marshal’s Office of the Wielkopolska Region (UMWW).
The CASTLE project is tasked with helping public authorities identify shortcomings in the logistics systems of small and medium-sized enterprises. As part of the project, best practices are being identified and experiences exchanged. Initiatives for Regional Logistics Forums and Logistics Competence Centers will also be developed.
The project focuses on the following 4 topics:
- Strengthening regional logistics markets.
- Increasing demand for logistics services among manufacturing companies.
- Development of a logistics training program for the SME sector.
- Institutional consolidation and creating conditions for public-private cooperation (Regional Logistics Forums, Logistics Competence Centers).
Project partners conducted an analysis of best practices in their regions, and then selected twenty of the most suitable best practices from all those collected.
From the presented Polish practices, five were selected that met the project’s rigorous criteria. They concern:
1. Revitalization of rail transport in Wielkopolska
The action (as part of the CORELOG project) aimed to shift selected goods flows from road transport to rail transport by activating business areas around railway stations in district towns. The goal of the practice was to reduce road traffic congestion, decrease the number of accidents and negative environmental impact, make better use of existing rail infrastructure, and increase the competitiveness of rail transport.
2. Organization of joint transport processes in a group of enterprises
A practice carried out as part of the CORELOG project, the main goal of which was to create a new model for organizing common transport processes by SME sector enterprises, consistent with the principles of sustainable development, as well as reducing road traffic congestion in the regions participating in the project.
3. Polish Logistics Competence Center – POLLOCO
The goal of the project was to support the development of intermodal transport infrastructure, which allowed for accelerating the integration of Candidate Countries with the Trans-European Transport Network.
The Center achieved this goal by acquiring and gaining competencies in the field of designing, implementing, and operating logistics centers, as well as by creating IT solutions supporting the activities of logistics operators, logistics centers, and their networks.
4. Creating 4PL (fourth-party logistics) logistics concepts
The main areas of interest are activities aimed at developing software that can be useful to companies at the stage of planning the transport process and choosing the mode of transport, as well as a tool enabling contact with transport service providers on specific routes.
5. Creating a transport planning tool within the Electronic Logistics Platform
The action aimed to develop software intended to support the rationalization of transport processes and the reduction of transport costs. The software was made available by the Electronic Logistics Platform developed by the Institute of Logistics and Warehousing (www.epl.net.pl).
The goal of the best practices is to create clusters, networks, and cooperation in logistics with an emphasis on the SME sector. The consolidation of practices should therefore support the competitiveness of the regional economy, promote the environmental friendliness of logistics, and improve it by creating knowledge and exchanging it between regions.
As part of the CASTLE project, Regional Logistics Forums are organized. These are new and stable mechanisms and structures that connect public and private entities (decision-makers, officials, entrepreneurs, representatives of science and research institutions) in order to improve policy actions. They fulfill three basic functions:
- Utilizing EU experience at the local level.
- Transferring best practices to each CASTLE region, taking into account their specific characteristics.
- Development and creation of sustainable regional logistics policies in each project region, taking SMEs into account.
