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The supply chain management consultancy 4flow consulting assists companies in successfully implementing the green logistics approach. This approach extends the objective system, consisting of logistics costs and logistics performance, to the aspect of eco-efficiency.
Challenges
The growing environmental awareness in politics and in the public has emphasized the importance of the debate on environmental protection: There is a trend towards a cause-fair allocation of so-called “environmental costs”.
For companies, the use of the environment causes additional costs, which had not to be borne by them before, for example through the acquisition of emission certificates. This implies that in the future logistics managers in particular also need to focus on the reduction of pollutant emissions in the logistics network in order to optimize the costs.
Our Approach
Through detailed pollutant analyses in the conception phase, the supply chain management consultancy 4flow consulting considers the factor of environment in the planning of transport networks in addition to previous cost and capacity analyses. These analyses can be supported and graphically displayed through the detailed calculations of emissions disclosed in 4flow vista, the software for supply chain design.
Volumes and transport tariffs, as well as used means of transport with the corresponding pollutant categories, are aligned to the single transport relations within the network. In this way, the effects of diverse planning cases on the pollutant output and on the total costs within the network can be determined, and alternatives can be compared.
In doing so, 4flow consulting aligns the logistic structures and processes to ecological requirements without losing sight of the solution at optimal cost.
 - Integration of dealer locations via direct relations and milkrun in 4flow vista
The planning of milkruns explains this, using as an example two dealer locations that are supplied through direct relations or a milkrun from the central warehouse respectively. At a constant delivery frequency and an increased utilization, the milkrun leads to cost reductions of 15% compared to direct relations.
 - Cost comparison between direct relations and milkrun in 4flow vista
Simultaneously, the use of the milkrun leads to a reduction of the pollutant emissions from 18.4 to 11 tons per annum. This is equivalent to a saving of nearly 40%.
 - Emission comparison between direct relations and milkrun in 4flow vista
Thus, the reduction of pollutant emissions can be achieved while simultaneously optimizing the supply chain costs. The key for achieving such a win-win situation is the necessary transparency about pollutant emissions and costs of the logistics network.
The Results
4flow consulting succeeds in creating transparency on caused emissions in the company’s network. Through analysis, representation and evaluation, measures designed to reduce pollutant emissions are displayed and realized.
4flow consulting’s know-how shows that emission-reduced logistic measures are often accompanied by cost savings and, thus, the realization of existing cost potentials has a positive effect on the eco-efficiency.
Return to the overview Processes & Structures.
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