Responsive Supply Chain is a Responsible Supply Chain: A Green Initiative
Within the four walls of the warehouse and organization, strategies such as load consolidation, move optimization, and shift in transportation mode from LTL to FTL or from ROAD to INTERMODAL, round-trip routing and optimized load planning can do wonders. These practices can lead to reductions in empty and circuitous miles, and also increased cubic capacity utilization. They can also lead to reduction in the number of vehicles required, reduction in net freight expenses and other operational efficiencies. And are they not GREEN initiatives? Sure they are. Reduced number of trucks directly implies reducing carbon emissions and fuel usage.
So what we are talking of here is a Responsive supply chain is also a Responsible supply chain, it is more environmentally and socially responsible. And at the end of the day it is also more financially viable. If these practices are extended beyond one's own organizations to one's trading partners, it can have a cumulative beneficial impact- the benefits will be manifold. I have read of many such collaborative initiatives such as; cross-enterprise continuous moves and collaborative capacity management. The opportunities for continuous moves and load consolidation are increased, the cost and empty miles are decreased, and the efficiency and productive turn of carrier fleets is improved. All in all it is a win-win situation from all perspectives: socially, environmentally and financially over a broad spectrum of participating community. The benefits of these improvements cross enterprise barriers and extend in to the greater supply chain.
Now let us look at the IT side of this paradigm. There are many best of breed and ERP warehouse and transportation management systems available in the market that can help achieve these results. Rate Shopping modules are widely available in almost all packages like Manhattan (Rate Shopping), JDA Software Services (Pfastship), High Jump's Warehouse Advantage (K-Ship) and Oracle Shipping execution that can help achieve and benchmark these transportation strategies. Oracle Transportation Management is also a widely used product to achieve load consolidation.
With clearly laid out carrier routing and load optimization policies, organizations can definitely achieve the three fold benefits of social, environmental and financial benefits. The operational levers of load consolidation and move optimization can result in tangible value levers of enhanced social, environmental and financial value. That is why organizations are looking to go GREEN. "Green really is the color of money", as they say!!
