The Last Mile... In logistical terms, this refers to the transport of products to their final destination, usually from a distribution centre in a city. This logistic chain is still hopelessly inefficient. For example, on the Dutch motorway 25% of the trucks are empty. The average load factor is 45%. So we mainly transport air. What if these large and mostly empty trucks unload their cargo at the edge of a city and small emission-free vehicles deliver these goods in the city? That would save a lot of transport movements of empty and polluting trucks into the city. Cleaner and safer. Such a 'hub' is planned around Utrecht, in Bilthoven.

One would think this is all about physical goods, delivery vans and parcels. However, the beating heart is an IT system that controls this complex chain. Complex because there are 6,000 transporters in the Netherlands and many parties use their own Wharehouse Management and Transport Management System.

The software that the Utrecht Hub will be working with is a fairly new development that can be layered on top of all Warehouse Management and Transport Management systems in order to maintain a total overview.

The question to Takeshape: "Is this software a solid basis for further growth?".

The following aspects were evaluated:

• Functional; evaluated against the Programme of Requirements
• Non-functional; assessed by the Solution Architect
• Legal; contract review
• Commercial/service provision; contract and SLA assessment
• Implementation approach; supplier proposal.

Based on this analysis, the hub's management team was able to make a well-founded decision.