There is a need for the dairy supply chain to improve its environmental performance. Intermodal rail-road transportation can be a way to reduce CO2 emissions. However, despite technological innovations in the realm of cooling technology, which could enable a shift to intermodal transportation, the use of intermodal rail-road in the dairy supply chain is still low. A blueprint is needed to foster the application of intermodal transportation in the sector. Literature provides little guidance in this sense. Therefore, this paper investigates how to ease the shift to intermodal rail-road transportation in the dairy supply chain through multiple case studies, performed at different stages of the supply chain. A set of enablers of the shift is discussed, along with a blueprint for innovative technology, and logistics and business models. The plan takes into account all the actors of the dairy industry, as well as other players, i.e. technology providers, academia and institutions. This paper enriches literature, thanks to its multi-stage research, providing managers with a practical tool to support the shift to intermodal transportation in the dairy industry. The main limitations lay in the choice of the sample, i.e. only Italian companies and no small retailers and farmers have been involved.

中文翻译：

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乳制品供应链的可持续创新：多式联运的促成因素

乳制品供应链需要改善其环境绩效。多式联运铁路-公路运输可以成为减少二氧化碳排放的一种方式。然而，尽管冷却技术领域的技术创新可以实现向多式联运的转变，但在乳制品供应链中使用多式联运铁路的比例仍然很低。需要制定蓝图来促进多式联运在该部门的应用。在这个意义上，文学几乎没有提供任何指导。因此，本文通过在供应链的不同阶段进行的多个案例研究，研究如何缓解乳制品供应链向多式联运铁路运输的转变。讨论了一系列转变的推动因素，以及创新技术、物流和商业模式的蓝图。该计划考虑了乳制品行业的所有参与者以及其他参与者，即技术提供商、学术界和机构。由于其多阶段研究，本文丰富了文献，为管理人员提供了一种实用工具，以支持乳制品行业向多式联运的转变。主要限制在于样本的选择，即只有意大利公司参与，没有小零售商和农民参与。