Editorial for NOFOMA 2016 conference special issue (SI)

Citation

Ojala, P.L., Töyli, P.J., Lorentz, P.H. and Solakivi, D.T. (2017), "Editorial for NOFOMA 2016 conference special issue (SI)", International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 47 No. 7, pp. 558-559. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPDLM-04-2017-0149

Editorial for NOFOMA 2016 conference special issue (SI)

This SI of International Journal of Logistics Management & Physical Distribution contains the very best of the 40 full papers presented at the annual Nordic logistics and SCM researchers Conference NOFOMA 2016, organised in June 2016 by Operations and Supply Chain Management at the Turku School of Economics, University of Turku.

The four papers in this SI were among the ten short-listed submissions that subsequently underwent at least two additional rounds of external, anonymous reviews before being accepted for publication in the SI. Although the selection of papers in the SI may appear to have an emphasis on freight transport, this does not reflect the scope and breadth of issues that were covered in NOFOMA 2016. Rather, it is a testimony of the dedication of the authors of the particular submissions that made it all the way to this SI.

Both “The role of environmental sustainability in the freight transport mode choice” by Mervi Rajahonka and Anu Bask and the “Longer and heavier road freight vehicles in Sweden” by Henrik Pålsson, Lena Winslott Hiselius, Sten Wandel, Jamil Kahn and Emeli Adell provide interesting insights on the potential of environmental and operational improvements in freight transport. In addition, “Network video technology: exploring an innovative approach for improving warehouse operations” by Joakim Kembro, Veronica Danielsson and Granit Smajli uses a very smart and pragmatic approach to enhance warehouse operations, while “Urban Consolidation Centres: Retail stores’ demands for UCC-services” by Henrik Johansson, Maria Björklund and Jacob Bergvall tackle an important facet of city logistics.

During the almost three decades since the first gathering in Oslo in 1989, we have witnessed the development of the NOFOMA community and its members to reach the World Class logistics and SCM research and teaching that we now have in the Nordic countries.

The wide geographic and institutional coverage at annual NOFOMA Conferences was once again demonstrated by participants at NOFOMA 2016. Participants came from about 45 different universities or research institutions and represented about 30 nationalities, making NOFOMA 2016 a truly international gathering. In addition to all five Nordic countries (in alphabetical order: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) there were also attendees from Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Lithuania, Namibia, the Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Switzerland and UK.

As conference organisers[1], we are also indebted to our sponsors – in particular the Foundation of Economic Education in Finland (Liikesivistysrahasto) – for making the Conference possible. The EU-part-funded project HAZARD on seaport safety and security under the Baltic Sea Programme 2014-2020 also helped us to facilitate the event.

As Guest Editors of this SI, we would like to thank the numerous voluntary reviewers for their time and energy that made NOFOMA 2016 and this SI possible. Overall, we could again witness the high quality of the papers. There were also numerous promising submissions in the Work in Progress category.

This SI continues the long tradition of having the best papers from NOFOMA conferences published in a SI of IJPDLM published by Emerald. Our gratitude goes to the Editorial Board of IJPDLM and in particular to its Editor, Professor Alexander E. Ellinger, who has again provided his strong support to the NOFOMA Conference SI and to Professor Jan Holmström from Aalto University who was assigned as the IJPDLM Editorial Board point of contact for the SI.

Note

1. Including the other Turku team members: Dr Sini Laari, Dr Tuomas Kiiski, PhD Student Vesa Kilpi and Ninni Lehtinen