i-LOG

I-Log - Final Meeting
The Project

The Project - Background

We are living in a world that is constantly evolving where markets are developing on a global scale. Technologies and communications allow us to think and to act instantly. It is necessary to adapt constantly the tools as well as the way we think. The market needs every day faster ways to communicate and exchange goods.
In this scenario logistics represents a strategic instrument of incredible importance to guarantee the economic growth and of the industrial development.
But at the same time, the development of a more intense use of this instrument, uncontrolled and conceived out of a global plan which allows the reduction of energy wastes, has a dreadful impact on environment and on the health of the population.
Looking for a solution to resolve the contradiction of a rapid development, the I-Log project, promoted by the Marches Region within the CADSES Interreg III-B 2000-2006 of Communitarian Initiative Program, fosters the development of innovative services in the fields of transportation and logistics, in order to support the SMEs’ competitiveness and taking into account the environmental impact that these will have on the territory.
The CADSES space is characterized by the widespread presence of SMEs and is a strategic area since it is where the north-south and east-west corridors meet. The social and economic development of this space relies on the ability of SMEs to face changes brought about by global, regional and local threats. The main threat to SMEs is represented by the increasing gap between international groups and industrial clusters, networked companies and networks of enterprises, which may leave SMEs and local SMEs system out of value creation chains. Logistics represent a strategic leverage to compete on a global scale since it can ensure the delocalisation of production phases, higher service standards and closer enterprises’ relationships with customers and suppliers. Nevertheless SMEs’ interconnection to logistic networks is not taken for granted: to compete in terms of costs and service quality, SMEs should be equipped with logistic interfaces which can reduce the information gap between them and specialized logistic operators. Moreover the rapidly increasing transport volumes indicate one of the most obvious burdens on CADSES’ environment and sustainable transport that may have an adverse impact on the quality of life in a regional and local context. A new joint space integrated within CADSES, in accordance with the ESDP and CEMAT principles, requires new instruments and strategies to overcome SMEs’ peripheral position and produce long-term competitive advantages for SMEs, in particular finding out ways for coordinating and organizing the logistical demands of local SMEs.