Going the extra mile by not going extra miles
As one of the largest supermarket chains, a large UK retailer continually strives to reduce environmental waste and to be a leader among UK companies for its environmentally-friendly operations.
B2B electronic trading plays an integral role in reducing the retailer’s overall environmental impact. In recent years, the company has stepped up its EDI use, primarily as the company’s business has expanded beyond the core grocery sector.
The company has also rolled out the use of Advanced Shipment Notices (ASN) that have provided clear environmental gains by increasing visibility throughout the supply chain. The increased automation and supply chain visibility improves scheduling and helps drive down emissions. For example, it has fewer trucks idling at delivery or pick-up sites.
So successful has the project been that the retailer has been confident enough to publish specific targets for improving the efficiency of its supply chain. The stated goals are to reduce CO2 emissions per case transported by 5 percent, and reduce the distance fleet and suppliers travel by 5 million kilometres.
This is why the Supermarket received the 2008 Customer Innovation Award for 'Best use of the GXS Trading Grid, to Reduce Environmental Impact'.
With GXS, the organisation saved:
182 metric tons of paper or 661 tons of wood, the equivalent of about 4,573 trees
7,527 million BTU's of energy, the equivalent of the energy used by about 83 homes each year
1,120,108lbs (560 tons) CO2 equiv., about the CO2 emitted by approximately 102 cars yearly
3,738,049 gallons of water, the equivalent of maintaining about 6 Olympic sized swimming pools
Making transactions paper-free
A large international consumer electronics supplier (both drop ship and distribution) selected GXS messaging for transactions between itself and its customers.
By using B2B e-commerce rather than paper to communicate with their suppliers, this company reduces the destruction of trees and release of harmful green house gases.
Using GXS Trading Grid, this green supply chain initiative impacted the environment by eliminating the need for 1143 metric tons of paper.
With GXS, the organisation saved:
4,148 tons of wood, the equivalent of about 28,719 trees
47,271 million BTU's of energy, the equivalent of the energy used by about 519 homes each year
7,034,526lbs (3517 tons) CO2 equiv., about the CO2 emitted by approximately 639 cars yearly
23,475,769 gallons of water, the equivalent of maintaining about 36 Olympic sized swimming pools
*Environmental impact estimates were made using the Environmental Defence Fund Paper Calculator. For more information visit http://www.papercalculator.org