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The development and advancement of human civilization have led it to its next great step - the exploration and colonization of outer space. Humans have had a continuous presence in outer space for more than twenty years, but until now, this was on the level of individual, isolated space missions. Reaching the cosmic level of civilization requires the planning and development of sustainable, long-lasting systems of space logistics. Previous scientific literature did not define the space logistics system adequately, nor did it identify the key elements and stakeholders/participants of such systems. The contribution of this article is in providing an encompassing definition of space logistics, the definition of space logistics system structure, and the role of different categories of logistics centres in its planning and development. The article provides a brief literature review in the domain of all types of human activities that take place in outer space and relates them with the realization of logistics processes to support those activities. Based on that, the main processes and functions that would take place in space logistics systems are defined, which dictate the emergence of diverse, specialized categories of space logistics centres. The identification and planning of appropriate space logistics cetres categories impacts the development directions and patterns of sustainable space logistics systems and enables the spatial integration of systems that cover enormous geographical dimensions and distances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Procurement logistics stands out as one of the basic sectors in a logistics company. The other sectors in a company depend on procurement as it can cause downtime and delays that affect the entire company. In addition to the impact on the company itself, procurement can also have an impact on end-users, given that efficient procurement is one of the factors of competitiveness. One of the basic tasks of procurement logistics is the selection of suppliers. For this reason, the aim of this paper was to propose approaches based on AHP-QFD and ANP-QFD methodology in order to select suppliers. On that occasion, the evaluation of three suppliers was performed by applying eight criteria (price, product quality, on-time delivery, location, communication, reliability, flexibility, and reputation). The results of the application of the described methodologies also showed a different ranking of suppliers depending on the chosen methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number and spatial dispersion of households and their resources (means of transport, storage space, human resources, etc.), a large number of daily trips of various motives (shopping, work, school, tourism, waste disposal, etc.), makes households important participants in logistics chains. Moreover, these features make them potentially very important providers of logistics services of delivery, storage, waste collection, etc., both for other households and for companies. The use of logistics services, resources of households, i.e. individuals, known as crowd logistics, is experiencing rapid development with the advent of numerous networks and applications, through which users connect with each other and get the opportunity to state and accept requests for logistics tasks. In this paper, the role of households in the performance of logistics demands of other households and companies is analyzed and the basic crowd logistics services are structured, with special reference to the services in the last mile of the supply chain. Also, the basic benefits were identified, as well as the disadvantages, problems and challenges in the application of this concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of intermodal transport (IT) systems is one of the global and European imperatives with the goal of mitigating logistics activities (especially transportation) negative impact on the environment, but also to improve the efficiency of logistics systems. Despite its importance acknowledged long ago, the treatment of IT greatly varies in different countries. In the developed countries, IT has an institutional character and clearly defined development directions, while in the developing countries, the problems of IT in most cases are ignored. The main scientific contribution of this paper is in being the first one to assess the status of IT in the countries of the Danube region. Seven criteria and six evaluation scenarios, that were not present in the existing literature in this form, are defined, which represents another contribution of the paper. The criteria are defined so that they would include the treatment of IT in strategic documents, the opinions of users and service providers, but also empirical/ statistical indicators of IT development degree. The evaluation scenarios differ in the criteria significance and the aspect of the problem. A novel hybrid multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) model, based on fuzzy SWARA and fuzzy MARCOS methods, is developed for the assessment, which represents an additional scientific contribution of the paper. According to IT results, the countries are grouped into five categories, micro-regions. The results indicate that with the degree of economic development the status of IT improves as well, so Germany and Austria are leading, followed by the Czech Republic, then by countries such as Hungary, Slovenia and Slovakia, while other countries fall behind greatly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Home delivery, as a flow of goods between the company and the consumer (B2C) at the end of the supply chain ("last mile"), can be realized by the manufacturer, retailer or third party (logistics provider, crowd-worker). The growth of home delivery services in recent decades has been predominantly stimulated by the development of online ordering, i.e. e-commerce. Delivery characteristics depend on the characteristics of the environment and a number of factors related to stakeholders (customers, companies, governments). In order to improve the quality of service and customer satisfaction, company profitability and (or) reduce the negative effects of deliveries on the environment, area and community functionality, various delivery models are designed and implemented in terms of need for ordering, frequency, ordering and payment system, starting and end points, executors, reception method, security, delivery area, speed and time of realization, return flows, etc. This paper proposes a framework for a comprehensive structuring and classification of home delivery models according to the stated characteristics/criteria. Also, the advantages, disadvantages, interdependence and applicability of different delivery models in changing circumstances are described. In this way, a comprehensive review of home delivery flows was performed, the literature that deals with this area in a similar way was supplemented, but the basis for future research was also created. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the development of e-commerce and specific customer habits and requirements, in recent decades an increasing number of companies offer home delivery service, which is the flow of goods from the business to the consumer (B2C) at the end of the supply chain ("last mile"). The main characteristic and difference of home delivery in relation to other ways of supplying customers/households (traditional customer purchase, "click & collect" purchase, door-to-door sales) is the engagement of companies in picking/physical preparation and delivery of ordered goods to customers. Delivery characteristics depend on a number of factors and circumstances, preferences, goals and interests of stakeholders (customers, companies, governments), but there is also a strong interdependence, with the type of goods having a dominant influence on other delivery characteristics. Planning, organization and implementation of the process of ordering, picking, delivery and return of goods are a serious challenge for companies' logistics and information systems, generate high costs, increase freight transport and have a significant impact on the environment. Therefore, delivery characteristics are an important area of research and optimization of systems that implement this service. This paper analyzes the concept, basic characteristics and criteria for structuring home deliveries. In this way, the systematization of basic scientific knowledge about home delivery was performed and the basis for future research of various aspects of this field was created. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism has been developing intensively in recent decades due to various social and economic trends. Rural tourism, which includes various tourist activities in rural areas (tourism in households, ecotourism, recreational, adventure, sports, health, artistic, heritage tourism, etc.) is also gaining in importance. The main instrument for the efficient realization of flows of people, goods and information in the Rural Tourism Supply Chain (RTSC) and increasing the competitiveness of tourism products is logistics. Logistics provides a material and a nonmaterial basis for rural tourism services. As suppliers of raw materials and finished products to other actors, but also as creators of their own tourism offer, households are significant actors in the supply chain and generators of logistics flows in rural tourism. A specific form of rural tourism related to households and agricultural production is called agritourism. This paper analyzes the critical issues and structure of the RTSC, structure the logistics of agritourism and analyzing particular areas in terms of logistics flows, processes, and activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing competition in the global market imposes the need for proper planning of logistics processes and development of logistics networks, where logistics centers (LCs) as nodes in these network play a key role. LCs can have different structures defined by various elements characteristics, and accordingly different efficiencies. In order to identify those that would represent benchmarks for other LCs it is necessary to define the broadest set of possible structures. However, in practice a number of structures is limited, which doesn't mean there might not be some which would be competitive or more efficient than the existing ones. Therefore the goal of this paper is the modeling of potential LC structures, based on the identified dependencies between the elements characteristics and the existing structures' efficiencies. The model is tested in a case study of modeling a potential intermodal terminal structure as one of the possible LC forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

City logistics aims to increase the efficiency and mitigate the negative effects of logistics processes and activities, and at the same time support the sustainable development of the urban areas. Major European and national research projects, undertaken from the end of the last century onwards, indicate that the state of the urban area logistics is quite critical. The situation requires a comprehensive analysis and active participation of the authorities and companies in order to solve the growing problems and define the sustainable solutions which would encourage the economic development and improve the living conditions in the city. In order to make logistics activities less routine, and thereby more efficient, many initiatives have been launched, especially in the terms of environmental impact and service quality. However, the changes are slow and environmental trends are setting new challenges. The main problem is the lack of planning activities and comprehensive and long term policy of city logistics. Decisions of city planners are often inadequate, without the analysis of existing situation and interaction of city logistics and complex socio-economic system of the city and its surrounding, without research and studies of different measures and impacts on the overall city logistics system. This article presented the current situation and trends in the implementation of logistics chains within the urban areas in order to highlight the complexity of solving the problems of a complex city logistics system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ranking of the logistics system scenarios of the Central Business District (CBD) of the city is performed in this article using the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) model which combined the methods of fuzzy "Analytical Hierarchy Process" (FAHP) and "Višekriterijumska Optimizacija i kompromisno Rešenje" (VIKOR). FAHP is applied for obtaining the weights of the criteria defined on the basis of conflicting goals of different stakeholders, and VIKOR method is applied for obtaining the final ranking of the logistics system scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freight transport and logistics play a key role in economic and social terms by ensuring the competitiveness, economic growth and employment. Intermodal transport has received an increased attention due to problems of road congestion, environmental concerns and traffic safety. Strategic importance of speed, reliability and flexibility in the supply chain is forcing companies to re-examine traditional logistics services. As a result, interest in addressing the problem of intermodal transport and logistics is growing. In order to improve efficiency and sustainability of freight transport in Europe, the European Commission has launched a series of initiatives, projects and has defined the basic directions of development of intermodal transport and logistics. The paper presents the recommendations and measures for the further development of intermodal transport and logistics in Serbia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]