Articles
Green Landscape: Supply Chain Sustainability
Ready to Reduce Your Footprint? Start by Taking These 5 Steps
For resource-intensive organizations, conservation and environmental initiatives are more than feel-good activities. Environmental stewardship can ease regulatory and compliance burdens, reduce effort and waste, and increase profit margins. Yet, many companies still struggle to justify green efforts. Implementing an environmental initiative in your business can be more than just an exercise in sustainability. The program […]
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Unlocking the Hidden Green Value in Mobile Devices
Reverse logistics for mobile devices is more important than ever. Mobile-connected devices exceeded the world’s population in 2014. Wearable technology sales will hit 22 million in 2015, and reach 370 million devices over the next five years, according to analyst CCS Insight. Imagine landfills piled high with smartwatches and connected egg trays, instead of smartphones […]
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Reimagining Molded Pulp Packaging: It’s Not Just For Eggs Anymore
As the world becomes more environmentally conscious, industry leaders continually find ways to make operations more sustainable. This can mean anything from recycling more around the office to adopting Lean principles. Some companies are even thinking green when it comes to packaging. Years of using plastics and foam packing peanuts have made it necessary for […]
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Five LED Lighting Myths Debunked
In an effort to run greener and leaner, many companies have considered making the switch to LED lighting in their industrial and hazardous facilities. In fact, interest in and adoption rate of LED for both new construction and retrofit has been growing rapidly in many applications, including light industrial, such as warehousing, packaging, shipping, and […]
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Could New Fuel Efficiency Standards Lead to Transportation Cost Savings?
In February 2014, the Obama administration outlined plans for improving fuel efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions for American trucks. To support this effort, the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Transportation must set new standards for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. The rules, which the agencies must issue by March 2016, will have ripple […]
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Weathering Climate Change and Supply Chain Risk
Companies have become more aware than ever of the considerable risks that climate change poses to their businesses and supply chains. A current or future risk related to climate change was identified by 70 percent of the 2,500 companies responding to Reducing Risk and Driving Business Value, a 2012 survey conducted by the Carbon Disclosure […]
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Optimized Operations Are Green Operations
Many companies in the ocean shipping industry are coping with increasing operating costs, below break-even performance, and aggressive price competition. Under these circumstances, the environmental impact of shipping, and ways to minimize its harmful emissions, are pushed into the shadow of more urgent cost-cutting activities. In the meantime, governments around the world continue introducing environmental […]
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Using SmartWay Data to Inform Transportation Purchasing Decisions
In 2014, SmartWay will celebrate 10 years of providing the transportation industry with tools to measure, benchmark, and take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve fuel efficiency. Partnering with groups such as SmartWay allows shippers and third-party logistics (3PL) providers to equip themselves with actionable data and, in turn, use that information to […]
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10 Trends Driving Greener Supply Chains
Many businesses today are seeking smart ways to reduce supply chain waste and carbon impact. Over the next several years, the following trends could transform logistics operations, particularly in emerging markets. 1. Creative, collaborative planning. Logistics providers and shippers can find simple ways to better manage schedule requirements, such as building slow-steaming into overseas shipment […]
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CNG as a Transportation Fuel: A Fuel Manager’s Perspective
Since 2009, natural gas prices have followed a decidedly different path than gasoline and diesel prices. Natural gas prices have dropped 43 percent, while gasoline and diesel prices increased by more than 200 percent. These divergent price trends have created an opportunity to use compressed natural gas (CNG) as a transportation fuel. Based on the […]
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