By: Mark Servidio, VP – Logistics & Environmental Supply Chain Planning, Sharp
Electronics & Buddy Polovick , US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of
Transportation and Air Quality SmartWay Transport Partnership
Regardless of where one stands on the subject of
climate change, we are all impacted by rising
energy prices and our dependence on foreign oil.
Since carbon-based energy fuels our economy
and carbon dioxide (CO2) is the by-product, any
effort to reduce fuel use will also reduce
greenhouse gas emissions. Further reductions in
fuel use can also reduce nitrous oxide (NOx) and
particulate matter (PM) emissions. Saving fuel,
therefore, is a win-win position both for the
economy and for the environment. The freight
sector is a significant contributor to greenhouse
gases, and it is imperative that industry's logistics
and supply chain sectors become involved in
environmental awareness. As logistics and
supply chain professionals, we can be a
significant part of the solution and also help to
make our businesses more profitable.
Before I inform you on what my company is
doing on a global level, I would like to share
some background. I will then discuss what
Environmental Supply Chain Planning is at
Sharp Electronics, and what we are doing in
conjunction with the US Environmental
Protection Agency.
Personal and commercial transportation accounts
for 2/3 of the country's oil consumption and 1/3
the CO2 emissions.
Total NOx emissions in US in 2004 were
estimated at 6.3 million tons with 56% coming in
the sector of freight. Particulate Matter (PM)
estimated at 305,000 tons with 32% coming from
the area of freight.
Sharp Corporation (Japan), Sharp Electronics
USA, and the Environmental Supply Chain
community are all working on ways to
proactively combat these areas of environmental
concern.
Sharp Corporation ( Japan) and Sharp
Electronics USA are working with members of
the environmental supply chain community to
confront these areas of environmental concern.
With its headquarters in Osaka, Japan, Sharp is
working towards being an environmentally green company and has introduced what it calls a
‘Super Green Strategy'. All Sharp manufacturing
sites have gained ISO14001 Environmental
Management System certification and the
corporation has established intra-company
guidelines for the production of environmentally
conscious product designs.
The company has embraced the philosophy of
Environmental Supply Chain Planning which
looks at the logistics and supply chain as it
relates to the environment, and not just in terms
of cost. It is looking at ways of reducing the
movement of products by selling directly from
factories; it is trying to use modes of transport
which will result in the lowest attainable carbon
footprint; and it asks its customers to consider
combining orders or using weekly shipments
where possible. Other corporate initiatives
include the use of correct packaging to prevent
product damage and subsequent return, and the
implementation of a 'planning from the right
place' concept which aims to reduce inter-facility
transfers.
Sharp's key environmental project, however, is
its participation in the SmartWay Program, a US
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
initiative which the company signed up to in
1994. The program covers freight movement by
truck, rail and sea, and was set up to establish
incentives for fuel efficiency improvement and
greenhouse gas emission reductions. By 2012,
the initiative aims to reduce, between 33-66
million metric tonnes (mt) of CO2 emissions and
up to 200,000 mt of NOx emissions each year. It
is also hoped that the scheme will result in
annual fuel savings of up to 150 million
barrels of oil.
Under the terms of the voluntary program, freight
carriers can apply to become a SmartWay
Transport Partner, and shippers then pledge to
use SmartWay carriers. In signing up to the
programme, carriers must measure their current
environmental performance using the SmartWay
Transport Fleet Logistics Energy and
Environmental Tracking (FLEET) Performance
Model for carriers and then commit to
improving their performance within three years.
In return, shippers must then assess the current
proportion of goods dispatched with SmartWay
Transport Partner Carriers using the FLEET
Performance Model for Shippers. This model
allows a company to quantify the percentage of
freight they ship or receive with fleets that are
members of the SmartWay Transport
Partnership, and it also has the capability to help
shippers estimate the CO2, NOx, and PM
emissions generated from their entire shipping
operations.
For shippers to become SmartWay Transport
partners, they must commit to ship at least 50%
of their goods using SmartWay carriers, and also
assess and commit to improving facility
transport emissions within three years.
For Sharp USA, its response to joining the
SmartWay Program was to establish an action
plan with goals which included having strict
pick-up times on Less-Than-Truckload (LTL)
shipments, implementing a no-idle policy on
trucks when waiting to be loaded, and receiving
Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism
(C-TPAT) certification.
For Sharp USA, the results of SmartWay
membership have been positive. In 2004/5, 28%
of the 85 carriers it used were SmartWay
members, and this had risen to 90% by 2006/7.
Yet again, in 2004/5 33% of a total
of 127,841 mt was shipped with SmartWay
carriers which rose to 98% in 2006/7. The
adoption of a non-idle policy and increased
usage of intermodal means of transport also
resulted in a reduction between 2004-2007 of
CO2 emissions (918.2 mt), PM (0.8 mt), NOx
(18.5 mt), and a saving of 82,005 gallons of
diesel fuel. Sharp also won the 2006 and 2007
SmartWay Excellence Award, the only shipper to
have won it twice.
The next step is for more ocean carriers to sign
up to SmartWay. This will require a commitment
to using low sulphur bunker fuels and looking for
other fuel improvements, as a well as a
commitment to engine improvements such as the
use of slide valves, fuel injection, and exhaust
gas recirculation (EGR). A move to using
scrubbers, catalysts, bonnets and other
aftertreatments should also be on the agenda, as
well as considering other innovations such as
cold-ironing, speed reduction and hull coatings.
As a company, Sharp is receiving more and more
enquiries from consumers asking what we are
doing to address environmental issues. Some 52
freight shippers and 15 shipper-carriers have now
signed up to the SmartWay scheme, and we must
all be committed to finding long term solutions
and introducing more sustainable operations. We
would like to see a SmartWay transport
programme introduced across the European
Union (EU), but it is important that companies
aim to exceed the current requirements which
have been mandated and that they realize that
their competitors are also aware of these issues
so that they must take a lead in tackling
environmental concerns in order to stay ahead.
As I have noted, it is important that a company
not just meet the current requirements which
have been mandated, but go beyond that. I am
hoping to see, in the not so distance future, a
SmartWay Transport Program adapted in the EU.
I would also like to see an International Standard
set for Ocean Carriers as it relates to greenhouse
gases.
With your help and participation we know we
will not have to wait long. |
