Three Steps to Build Sustainable Supply Chain

The sustainable aspect of supply chain goes beyond just sourcing of raw materials. To be truly environmentally conscious,  we need to create a deluge of sustainable processes that flow seamlessly throughout the supply chain, complementing each other at every step. The time is right for us to start talking about the topic of supply chain sustainability more actively.

1) Adopt a smarter and greener approach to transportation.

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, but today’s logistics and distribution networks are made up of multiple points with many variables. A key to making transportation planning and networks less carbon intense is to draw on emerging technologies like machine learning and in-memory computing to create faster, smarter and easier logistic plans. Machine learning gives brands and transportation managers the computing power they need to quickly process and analyze large volumes of data, to create the most environmentally conscious logistics plans.

2) Ship products, not air.

Advances in the use of machine learning and smarter algorithms have positive impacts when it comes to reducing the amount of packaging used in warehouses and outbound delivery processes. For example, implementing a packing strategy based on three-dimensional cubing results in packing goods for shipment and shipping less air. With less packaging used throughout the supply chain and less air being shipped, volume per shipment is reduced, and transportation becomes more efficient.

3) Empower consumers with greener buying decisions.

Many companies today are using technology solutions designed to improve specific processes, but these systems often operate in silos. For example, most brands that offer direct-to-consumer selling channels don’t allow consumers to aggregate orders over a multi-day period or change an order beyond, perhaps, a 30-60 minute “remorse” period. So once a consumer presses the “buy button” and completes the transaction, they can no longer change, cancel or edit their order. The result is a lot of order redundancies, delivery inefficiencies, and high rates of merchandise returns to the tune of 16.6% in total retail sales in 2021, according to the National Retail Federation.. Installing a truly unified and holistic supply chain commerce system will introduce new efficiencies and agility into the supply chain.