Decarbonize the Supply Chain with technology

Even though you might think that your Supply Chain is complex, your approach to decarbonizing the Supply Chain and reducing your environmental impact should not be. 

The use of and proper implementation of leading Supply Chain technologies will get you there. It is crucial to balance cost, service optimization, risk, and environmental aspects while ensuring a competitive business with a unique brand.

There is an increased focus on Supply Chain sustainability amongst consumers, investors, and governmental institutions. There is a need for Supply Chain and business leaders to measure, report, and ensure positive progress on the environmental impact of their operations.

When decarbonizing the Supply Chain, Optilon can support businesses in:

•        Optimizing the efficient flow of products

•        Simplify complexity with digital solutions and visualization

It can be done by:

•        Greening end-to-end planning from a CO2 as well as a cost, risk, and service optimization perspective

•        Build a baseline with environmental data (Including GHG data, scope 1, 2, 3)

•        Use Supply Chain Network optimization to design and optimize the Supply Chain

•        Engage and follow up on performance improvement over time with your suppliers through Supply Chain technologies

Greening end-to-end planning

For many years Optilon has worked with companies across the Nordics in creating a more efficient flow of products. Optimizing the company’s approach to end-to-end Supply Chain planning from a CO2 and a cost and service optimization perspective is also possible.

• Practically, it means focusing on the stock-to-service curve, which means having only the needed stock to serve the clients.
• Fewer but correct goods ensure lower obsolescence. It also translates to fewer kilometers, as fewer goods need to be transported. Efficient inventory management creates a more sustainable approach to producing, transporting, and selling goods across the globe.
• It is about balancing supply constraints throughout the Supply Chain, so resources are used wisely and balanced to minimize resource waste though still keeping the promise towards customers in terms of service.

Build an environmental baseline

Collecting environmental, trustful data down the Supply Chain accurately and reliably continues to be a complex challenge. Why? Typically, companies have limited manual access to environmental data beyond their most significant suppliers. They have poor visibility in general.

You can continuously collect and build a reliable environmental baseline and model by utilizing Supply Chain technology. You can gain insights, set actions, and optimize your performance on a day-to-day basis – if you like. Collecting and reporting is no longer a job to be done once a year. Most importantly, you can blend it with other tradeoff parameters such as risk, cost, and service in your Supply Chain so you can deliver on all business targets.

Engage with key stakeholders

When you have established your environmental baseline, you can engage with key stakeholders with actionable insights. 

Understand which procurement categories, regions, and suppliers to focus on. Create scenarios and optimize different possibilities in ways of managing physical flows. Get valuable insights on where and what to focus on in the Supply Chain.

Act on the low-hanging opportunities. Create a continuous process where you continuously evaluate how you can improve the flow of products in the Supply Chain and find the perfect balance of the four dimensions: cost, risk, service, and environmental performance.

You can use this insight in your reporting and supercharge cross-functional communications and initiatives.

Reduce the environmental impact through the optimized design of the Supply Chain network

Engaging the suppliers should be a fundamental building block in lowering your environmental impact in the Supply Chain. So should Supply Chain optimization.

Supply Chain optimization has been a strategic priority in Supply Chains for many years. It has been used to reduce the costs of servicing customers, improve performance and mitigate risk.

By connecting the optimization model to environmental data and Supply Chain data, it is possible to balance the design of your Supply Chain network. A Supply Chain optimization model could potentially be used to:

•        Compare different suppliers based on cost and CO2. Determine the future sourcing route, regional vs. local or global.

•        Challenge the current footprint of your company by looking at which production facilities, warehouses, products, and markets should be combined given different constraints, such as CO2 or other environmental parameters. 

•        Balance transportation costs, environmental data, and distance aspects of finding optimum routing alternatives