Logistics is a leading source of carbon. Nearly 6 percent of the greenhouse gases generated by humans come from the flow of products to consumers. Reducing these emissions takes more than setting goals; it requires clear, measurable initiatives that hit sustainability targets while delivering lower costs and higher service levels.
Sponsored by Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Dr. Edgar E Blanco Research Director of the Carbon-Efficient Supply Chains Research Project at the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, worked alongside three US companies to help them quantify the carbon footprint of some of their logistics initiatives. The goal was to document the projects, and illustrate to other companies that it is possible to reduce cost and become more environmentally friendly.
In this case study we present two Ocean Spray initiatives – distribution network redesign and intermodal shift from road to rail – that in combination led to a 20% reduction in transportation CO2 emissions, while achieving comparable cost savings across the transportation network.
Shifting to Rail – A Collaborative Approach
Ocean Spray, CSX (the rail operator), and fruit shipping companies partnered in order to enable Ocean Spray to ship more products intermodally from its New Jersey distribution center to the company's Florida facility. Prior to the collaboration, these boxcars were returning empty to the Florida region. Shipments that shifted to intermodal generated 65% less emissions while saving over 40% of transportation costs.
Distribution Network Redesign
Ocean Spray added new manufacturing and distribution capabilities in Florida to support the company’s growing customer base. To fully and effectively utilize these additions, Ocean Spray conducted a national network re-design project to determine which customers will receive product from the new location. Ocean Spray projected that over 17% of the total shipments will be served from the new facility.
Read the full Ocean Spray case study here.
In this case study, we analyzed the inbound shipping operations of Caterpillar’s North American large mining truck facility to determine – based on weight, packaging, routing, and scheduling – opportunities to streamline shipping protocols, and thus reduce carbon emissions associated with the supply chain. When combined, the streamlined shipping and packaging efforts could reduce Caterpillar’s overall carbon emissions by 340-730 tonnes of CO2 per year.
Switching Shipment Packaging from Steel to Light-Weight Plastic
At present, Caterpillar uses steel containers to transport parts. Caterpillar has been working for the past four years to phase out these steel containers and replace them with plastic containers, which weigh considerably less.
Analyzing Inbound Shipments to Identify Potential Consolidation
To construct the very large vehicles used in the mining industry, parts are shipped from all over the globe for assembly at Caterpillar’s manufacturing facility in Decatur, Illinois. We analyzed historical shipment data to identify areas where shipments could be consolidated to save fuel and reduce vehicle CO2 emissions. More specifically, we analyzed:
Read the full Caterpillar case study here.
Boise Inc. has launched two initiatives to improve its logistics operations and environmental performance. The Carload Direct Initiative is shifting product transport to rail, and the Three-Tier Pallet Initiative is increasing railcar utilization. Both initiatives have resulted in a combined 62-72% reduction in the company’s CO2 emissions, as well as cost savings on those shipments.
Reducing CO2 Emissions Through Carload Direct
Traditionally, manufacturers use trucks, or a mix of trucks and rail, to transport their products to customers. As trucks produce greater emissions than trains, a logical way to reduce emissions is to minimize the use of trucks and maximize the use of rail. Boise coordinated with its customers to promote rail transport so that product could be sent directly from the manufacturing plant to the customer’s warehouse. The transition from using a mix of truck and rail to exclusively rail eliminated more than 2,600 tons of C02; the equivalent of saving over 264,000 gallons of fuel consumed by road vehicles.
Optimizing Railcar Utilization with Three-Tier Pallets
Prior to this project, railcars were loaded two pallets high, leaving a space from the top of the second pallet to the roof of the railcar, thus under-utilizing the full capacity of the railcar. Boise redesigned its pallets and loading structure by creating a half-pallet, which allowed the company to rethink pallet stacking and maximize shipping capacities for its loads. These redesigns maximized carloads by reducing the number of shipments required to deliver product. Using just 930 railcars in 2011 reduced the company’s C02 emissions by 190 tons, which is equal to the C02 emissions from 21,637 gallons of fuel consumed by road vehicles.
Read the full Boise case study here.
Delivering Green Webinar
Hear directly from Dr. Edgar Blanco, from MIT CTL, joined by EDF’s Jason Mathers, Ross Corthell from Boise, Kristine Young from Ocean Spray, and Zena Onstott from Caterpillar as they share their insights from these case studies on this webinar.
More Information
To find out more about the case studies, contact Dr. Edgar E. Blanco, Research Director, Carbon Efficient Supply Chains Research Project, MIT CTL, and co-founder of the LEAP consortium.
The Carbon Efficient Supply Chains Research Project is addressing three challenges: how to measure the carbon footprint of a supply chain, developing strategies for reducing supply chain carbon emissions, and communicating carbon footprints to consumers and stakeholders. Further information is available here.
The Leaders in Environmental Assessment and Performance (LEAP) consortium is a vehicle for organizations to leverage MIT’s knowledge and resources as well as the lessons learned from corporate environmental efforts. LEAP is a joint initiative between MIT CTL and the MIT Material Systems Laboratory. Further information is available here.