Small Changes for Environmental Good

Bit by bit, little by little, we make small changes and in doing so, create a powerful rippling effect on tomorrow. We are very proud to partner with clients who are investing in big ways to lower their environmental footprints. Whether it is in the form of fleet or equipment conversion changes in the materials chosen, moving to cleaner and more renewable energy sources, reducing travel time and improving travel mode, or promoting awareness and habits within their operations, our clients are cultivating a culture of sustainable incremental change through incentivizing care and action.

Our clients care – and so do we. As responsible stewards of the global supply chain, we all have a unique opportunity to strive for social, economic and environmental good in how we conduct our operations on a day-to-day basis. As we look for efficiency in our process execution for the value it yields for our business, our personnel and our customers, many of us have adapted a new imperative: We’ll take optimization with a side of environmental sustainability, please!

A great opportunity for re-evaluating our environmental footprint comes starts with looking at travel mode and travel time – including the travel time within the four walls of our own facilities. We can concentrate on making our material picking, put away, and storage strategies more efficient for the space we occupy, the equipment we have and the ergonomic needs of our personnel. At the same time, we can take small steps towards reducing the use of fuel, energy and emissions by reducing the miles traveled and the time running of our vehicles and equipment.

The case for improving the strategies that support our material staging and warehouse management activities is compelling in the value it provides to better flow, visibility and transparency. First, we evaluate what commitments we can make as an organization – whether that be in the type of fleet we run, or the way we monitor and operate the equipment we own, or the efficiency in the use of the space we have. Then we add an additional measure of environmental sustainability and reduced footprint as we work to optimize our warehouse management strategy and master data rules around warehouse management.

Our small actions reap big rewards:

• Strategic put-away and picking strategies reduce the search time and improve the flow of material
• Transparency, visibility and exception monitoring through the warehouse activity monitor keep activities moving in harmony with upstream and downstream activities. It also enables proactive planning and pushes immediate overdue elements to staff for resolution
• Line of sight on shelf-life and expiry dates ensure we make the best use of what we have 
• Reduction in travel time through efficient storage, staging and placement/removal of materials reduces physical effort, waste and environmental impact

As we consider the best ways to use SAP as an enabler to promote process integration and efficiency, thinking through the alignment with the rest of our strategy and tenets gives us additional purpose in our execution. Investing our time, energy and dollars in the big improvements and finding synergy in the incremental day-to-day measurable activities delivers extra fruit from our labors. When it comes to the environment, the little things add up. How amazing is it that by simply ensuring that the rules align with our behaviors, we can support sustainable incremental change for the good of our environment! This is yet another way we can take care of one another.

If you are thinking through ways to eliminate waste in your process, improve the flow of materials, or wish to align your rules with the behavior you want to see: We can help. For more information on work we’re doing in the Materials Management and Warehouse Management space, please check out this solution brief and this white paper, "Utilizing Warehouse Management Will Prepare Your Supply Chain for EWM".