The overwhelming pressure from investors, consumers, regulators, and other stakeholders is coercing companies to scrutinize the ecological impact of their business practices. And as economies reshuffle and reopen, leading companies are rejigging their strategy to particularly focus closely on their supply chain initiatives. Striving to adapt to a greener model, these businesses are exploring unique collaboration with suppliers, customers, and at times other players across the fraternity. Many are reinforcing their sustainability outlook by adopting modern strategies that are buzzwords like ‘zero-emission’, ‘net positive’, or ‘sustainable development’. Reviewing their business models through the lens of environmental repercussions, these companies are convinced that these ‘green’ initiatives are high-payback investments. Greener supply chains, according to them, has untapped potential that can promise both the business and the environment tangible benefits.
We will delve into some ways in which companies can make major strides towards achieving a greener supply chain.
Reducing the environmental footprint through sustainable delivery
According to the International Energy Agency, freight transport contributes to 10% of the global CO2 emissions, necessitating the need for more precautious steps. For years, ocean freight has been reckoned as relatively greener in terms of CO2 emission per the transportation capacity. However, the heavy fuel consumption upsets the marine ecosystem and exerts a sizeable impact along the coastlines. As an alternative, ‘inroad’ continues to be the preferred mode of transportation for many transport journeys.
But why? This mode allows shippers to innovate various ways of transporting goods through some incrementally promising approaches. Here lie greater opportunities to leverage, maximize electrical mobility, or deploy low-emission trucks. From designing greener vehicle fleets to applying sustainability across every phase of a supply chain, shippers are taking considerable steps towards the environment.
For example, shippers can cut down on the consumption of non-renewable fuels like diesel and tangibly bring down the CO2 emission. This can be possible through on-need-basis truck utilization, lesser empty miles, and reduced loading or unloading time
New world problems. New world solutions
What’s crucial is the realization of an online network capable of stitching together the manufacturers, retailers, suppliers, and transport service providers. A network fully equipped to introduce end-to-end visibility allows real-time communication resulting in unparalleled transparency across the supply chain. New-age freight platforms like the TruKKer cloud-based platform assures their users of all-time visibility, auto-indenting, live status updates, and real-time ‘track-and-trace’ features. All this works together to deliver on the promises of seamless optimization and modernization of a supply chain infrastructure.
- Auto-indenting or smart allocation curbs empty miles
With auto-indenting, each request to place a transport order can be streamlined and channelized to an available resource on-demand. Alongside, companies can choose from a pool of pre-authorized fleet owners to execute RFQ (requests for proposals). A few taps and touches can easily allocate a vehicle against an incoming bid automatically. Research shows, carriers can save their empty miles by up to 13%, using this method.
- Efficient time management minimizes loading/unloading time
Electronic scheduling for loading or unloading improves overall operational efficiency by multiple folds. The rota for shippers in the platform informs the carriers about the available time slots to book a transport. Multiple deliveries can be clubbed into a single booking, increasing productivity by up to 20% based on customer requirements. Using an integrated digital platform with these abilities, eliminate loading/unloading by up to 60 minutes while improving the truck’s service life.
- End-to-end visibility ensuring complete transparency
Live updates and status-reports allow transparency to prevail throughout the journey. From the loading at the source to receiving the proof-of-delivery (POD), companies can benefit from ‘track-and-trace’ of their shipments. Any delays or stopovers can be accounted for in real-time, reducing any negative impact on the estimated ETA. With all these in play, carriers can ensure that their fleets experience lesser ‘start-stop’ traffic and reduced downtime for being stuck in long queues. This translates into optimized usage of fuel and reduced CO2 emissions.
A win-win situation to cherish
Caught in the crosshair of rising environmental awareness among consumers, investors, and stakeholders, businesses can no longer afford to procrastinate in measuring their eco-friendly maturity. Laying out a well-planned strategy to propel sustainability within the supply chain can yield noticeable ecological benefits that the company and its stakeholders will embrace. In the long-term, these green practices can also bring tangible business gains. Benefits such as building the image of a ‘woke’ company for tomorrow’s world of greater disclosure and investor screening, environmentally awoke customers and limited assets. In the background, everything ‘green’ will ready businesses by building resiliency into the core to become future-proof to any unprecedented winds of change.