Steps toward a greener supply chain
Little changes can make a big difference
Follow @tsamson_IWFrom the way products are packaged to the means by which they're shipped, waste abounds in the supply chain. That's the case made by Paul Brody and Mondher Ben-Hamida, supply chain experts for IBM's Global Business Services. In a recent article that warrants reading on Environmental Leader, the duo have outlined steps toward cutting supply-chain waste.
[ Learn how vendors such as HP and IBM are working with suppliers to make their supply chains greener. ]
Among their suggestions, Brody and Ben-Hamida recommend redesigning the product. "Even simple changes to a product design -- from reducing weight to making it easier to disassemble -- can reduce energy consumption and waste throughout the product life cycle," they write. Making a computer or other electronic device easier to disassemble certainly makes it easier to recycle and reuse components for future products.
Brody and Ben-Hamida also suggest that companies "plan smarter routes." "Simple intuition seldom leads to optimal solutions, and over time tradition and inertia often allow routes to settle into patterns that are inefficient and wasteful," they argue. This can be a complicated endeavor -- but smart technology can help.
Consider that the U.S. Postal Service found a way to save more than $5 million on transportation costs using a Highway Corridor Analytic Program (HCAP), co-developed by IBM.
Using optimization technology, HCAP determines the most efficient plan for using existing mail-transportation assets in various types of scenarios, such as bulk-mail delivery, peak holiday capacities, weekend transportation, and along highway corridors. It accounts for specified parameters such as starting and ending points, delivery times, truck-capacity restrictions, and mail classes. The system analyzes existing scenarios, then generates alternative loads and routes that would save USPS money but still meet all of its service goals.
Also on Brody and Ben-Hamida's list: Consolidate shipments. "There's a reason Amazon charges you less for shipping if you consolidate your order and have all items shipped at once -- it saves them money," they write.
