The aim of the paper is to model urban distribution vehicle routing problems by means of hubs in large cities. The idea behind the urban distribution center (DC) is to provide buffer points where cargo and packages which are to be delivered to shops and businesses can be stored beforehand. At these centers, there will be other kinds of routing problems corresponding to other fairly similar distribution problems. In this paper, a new vehicle routing model (based on the known Time-Dependent Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows, TDVRPTW) has been carried out and a change in the traditional approach is proposed, by adopting a system in which some customers are served by urban DCs while remaining customers are served by traditional routes. This study is also motivated by recent developments in real time traffic data acquisition systems, as well as national and international policies aimed at reducing concentrations of greenhouse gases emitted by traditional vans. By using k DCs, the whole problem is now composed of k+1 problems: one special VRPTW for each DC in addition to the main problem, in which some customers and k DC are serviced. The model has been tested by simulating one real case of pharmaceutical distribution within the city of Zaragoza.

This paper advances a methodological framework for analysing the process of technological diversification in the automotive industry and presents a multicriteria procedure, based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), to evaluate, in a simple and user-friendly manner, the suitability of technological diversification for any company in the automotive sector. The AHP-multicriteria procedure associated with the initial stage of the methodology and the decision support systems developed to evaluate suitability have been applied to 22 Spanish automotive companies. The multicriteria procedure classifies the companies into three different groups: (i) those that are suitable for diversification; (ii) those for which product development (innovation) or market development (internationalisation) is more appropriate; (iii) those that are not suitable for any diversification process. The true value added in this initial stage of the technological diversification process is not, despite its importance, the final classification of the firms, but the learning procedure derived from the multicriteria analysis and the evaluation of diversification suitability. From this learning procedure, a set of recommendations related to the diversification of the automotive companies is extracted.

Purpose: Following the methodology designed for selecting the best industrial and technological diversification strategy, one of the best methods for achieving the long-term sustainability of companies, the purpose of this paper is to describe its application in the service supply chains (SSCs) sector, specifically, in freight transport in product service supply chains.Design/methodology/approach: The methodology used in diversification processes comprises four stages: evaluation of the technological diversification suitability; selection of the technological diversification strategy; implementation of the diversification strategy; and evaluation of the process.Findings: The main contributions of the paper are: the proposal of a taxonomy or functional inventory for information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the freight transport industry (FTI); the introduction of a new concept, the technological shrub, a variant of the technological tree that allows interdependencies between the functionality systems; the construction of a technological shrub for ICTs in a standard FTI firm; and the multicriteria selection, based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), of the best diversification strategy that can be incorporated by this standard firm for improving competitiveness. This selection utilises a “bottom-up” approach.Originality/value: The paper deals with the long-term sustainability of companies by means of technological diversification strategies. Based on the taxonomy constructed for ICTs in the SSC sector and the identification of key technologies for a particular firm, a technological shrub is constructed and a multicriteria procedure is developed in order to select the best diversification strategy.