The Green Supply Chain
By Splatty • Mar 7th, 2008 • Category: Supply Chain ManagementLike it or not, the “greening” of the supply chain is here to stay. I am politically conservative by nature and am not a huge fan of Al Gore by any stretch, but there is no denying that the green movement has taken hold in the supply chain and will continue to gain momentum.
As an avid reader of many of today’s leading logistics publications, the topic of “green” and carbon foot print in the supply chain industry are becoming increasingly prevalent. Evidence of the movement is clearly visible in the Port of Long Beach’s decision to implement a “clean trucks program”.
Eric Joiner of Freightdawg.com just published an excellent article called “Carbon: The New Supply Chain Factor” which details the impact that the green movement is having on the logistics industry.
You now have to consider three factors in shaping your supply chains. Cost to deliver, time to deliver, and the carbon impact of delivery. This three dimensional balance sooner rather than later, will also impact how you select logistics vendors.
Click here to read the article in its entirety.
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Splatty
You conservative Polar bear hater!
Personally, one reason why I like Eric’s post is that it takes “green” concepts that are too big (Al Gore’s deck) and brings it down to an altitude that I think logistics professionals should be able to grasp. It is more actionable.
There are a lot of ways to “green” the supply chain, and carbon credits aside, there is a lot of Green in greening the supply chain.
Hope all is well
R
R,
Come on…I love the polar bears!
That was one of the reasons I liked Eric’s article as well. Believe me I’m all for leaving the planet better than when we found it. In terms of a green perspective, I have no problem embracing the movement from an energy conservation standpoint.
Thanks for the love guys. Im a HUGE believer in Green supply chains for business reasons alone. And the Carbon Credits thing is real. In 2 years time…bookmark my comment… this will be a real factor in RFP and RFQ responses. This is one area where DHL is way, way, way ahead of anybody else. DHL has a Carbon Neutral consulting group thats already making significant inroads at major customers in ways that nobody else is even looking at.
Anybody who doesn’t buy into this will find it to be disruptive technology that will change the competitive field for them. Perfectly ok with me. that will mean more business for my employer.
This is about GREEN Money.
Eric - Ok you DHL cheerleader, you!
All kidding aside, I just read an article today (meant to link, but got busy and then lost the page I was on - you’ve probably noticed my horrendous lack of posting…..) about how an increasingly larger percentage of the British (it was a UK article) are concerned about the carbon impact of the delivery portion of the local food supply chain and are questioning it. It used to be a low single-digit percentage, and while still a small minority of the greater population, is now in the double digits and has some logistics companies taking notice.
Unfortunately it wasn’t a very well written article from a business perspective and made too much mention of carbon offsets/credits, which I’m not a fan of: going green should be about actually conserving energy and reducing pollution, etc., not writing checks to some carbon offset firm so you can feel better.
Carbon offsets are only part of a solution. Im not talking about planting trees to offset your big factory smokestack. Im talking about choosing transportation providers, warehousemen, and routings that make maximum use of efficient fuel burn, green modes of transport (of which RAIL is one!) as well as green packaging that ships the most product in the least packaging. All these things reduce emissions, but at the same time may NOT be the cheapest way to move goods. A green supply chain may be nominally more expensive in transportation cost, but if you (for instance) no longer need a shipping pallet for your goods, think how much you save on load density and green house gases? Supply chain vendors better be thinking about this.
BTW, there will be another DHL homer article up tonight but its worth reading. This is one area where DHL truly is kicking everybody elses ass. Especially UPS and FedEx.
Eric,
Welcome back from the big fishing trip! We look forward to your next article.
You’re absolutely right. Green solutions from supply chain vendors will be the next big “value added” service. From a capitalistic perspective, I’m sure there will be the opportunity to make huge dollars by providing green solutions.