Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies - March 2008 - (Page 43)

considerations, but I do believe that this trend will accelerate as green becomes a bigger issue.” However, companies should not be too quick to rearrange their supply networks based on early results of such calculations, warns Nigel Topping, client partner for the Carbon Disclosure Project. “We are at the beginning of this whole learning process,” he says. “We are trying to facilitate the learning that needs to precede action and we counsel against rash decisions—though in our experience rashness is not a typical corporate failing.” Too Much Stuff In addition to network design, companies should look to better demand planning as way to reduce carbon footprint, says Robert Byrne, president of Terra Technology, Norwalk, Conn., a developer of demand sensing and inventory optimization software. “If you look globally, there is probably somewhere between $5tr and $10tr in business inventory, which equates to about $1,000 worth of inventory for every man woman and child on the earth,” he says. “It takes lots of energy to make that stuff, to store it and to move it around. If we focused more on improving the accuracy of our demand picture and having more flexible sources of supply, we could eliminate a lot of that.” Anand Iyer, a fellow with i2 Technologies, Dallas, agrees. “People talk about having the right inventory at the right place at the right time, but from a green perspective, it also is important to talk about inventory that should not have been built regardless of whether you get it to the right place at the right time. The question to ask is whether you have avoided some activity while keeping true to the economic objectives of your supply chain. And that is a much harder thing to accomplish. It requires that companies be able to update their forecast at least once a week in accordance with what is going on in the market.” Sustainability also needs to be embedded into new product design, says Adrian Gonzalez, director of the logistics advisory council at ARC Advisory Group, Boston. “Most consumer products are designed with the assumption that they’ll be thrown away someday. “As a former product development engineer, I know that my design decisions and material selections would certainly be different if I had to take the product back at the end of its useful life, disassemble it, and re-introduce the materials back into manufacturing or nature,” he says. Many of these changes may take regulatory action to really catch on in the U.S., says Forrester’s Connaughton. “I don’t think we will see major shifts here until there are some regulations to act as a driver. Companies are willing to take on green initiatives when it makes sense for them financially, but when it comes to making a trade-off, it’s a much more difficult decision.” Whatever the driver, the one thing that people need to remember is that “all these multiple opportunities are just that—opportunities,” says Jon Johnson, director of the Applied Sustainability Center at the University of Arkansas. “They are not manna from heaven; they don’t just fall from the sky. You have to get down and do the work. But for those willing to do that, we are finding a surprising number of ways to achieve business objectives as well as objectives for sustainability.” To access this article online, visit The Digital Edition at www.SupplyChainBrain.com. Resource Links Chainalytics, www.chainalytics.com Con-way Freight. www.con-way.com Schneider National, www.schneider.com Transplace, www.transplace.com Ryder System, www.ryder.com Stonyfield Farm, www.stonyfield.com BNSF, www.bnsf.com SmartWay, www.epa.gov/smartway Accenture, www.accenture.com Infor, www.infor.com Whirlpool, www.whirlpool.com CaseStack, www.casestack.com Applied Sustainability Center, http://asc.uark.edu/ LLamasoft, www.llamasoft.com Forrester Group, www.forrester.com MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, ctl.mit.edu TransGroup Worldwide Logistics, www.transgroup.com Carbon Disclosure Project, www.cdproject.net/ Terra Technology, www.terratechnology.com i2 Technologies, www.i2.com ProLogis, www.prologis.com ARC Advisory Group, www.arcweb.com Logistics Zen Carlile is a proven leader in multi-modal transportation and logistics solutions. Whether it’s a pallet of tools headed to Tacoma or a 100-ton module destined for Alaska’s North Slope, Carlile has the expertise, equipment and connections to deliver peace of mind, every time. www.carlile.biz l 1.800.323.2296 ROAD - RAIL - SEA - AIR ALASKA I HAWAII I UNITED STATES I CANADA www.SupplyChainBrain.com GLOBAL LOGISTICS & SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES 43 http://www.SupplyChainBrain.com http://www.chainalytics.com http://www.con-way.com http://www.schneider.com http://www.transplace.com http://www.ryder.com http://www.stonyfield.com http://www.bnsf.com http://www.epa.gov/smartway http://www.accenture.com http://www.infor.com http://www.whirlpool.com http://www.casestack.com http://asc.uark.edu/ http://www.llamasoft.com http://www.forrester.com http://ctl.mit.edu http://www.transgroup.com http://www.transgroup.com http://www.carlile.biz http://www.cdproject.net/ http://www.terratechnology.com http://www.i2.com http://www.carlile.biz http://www.prologis.com http://www.arcweb.com http://www.SupplyChainBrain.com

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Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies - March 2008 Editorial GL & SCS Exclusive FastForward Up Front The Green in Green Think Inside the Box Have a Second Look Can't Happen Here Opinion: Stay in the Black as Your Workforce Fades to Gray Opinion: Four Critical Steps to Managing Change in the Supply Chain Industry Voices

Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies - March 2008

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