Why Join EPA SmartWay
Transport Partnership?
The Progress and Promise
of Real Collaboration
Joe Gallick, vice president of sales with Penske
Logistics, reveals some of the dramatic benefits
his company has realized, on its own behalf
as well as that of customers, by signing up
with the ambitious program to slash energy
use and greenhouse gas emissions.
The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency launched its
Smart Way Transport
program in 2004, to
encourage private
industry to reduce
fuel usage and green-house-gas emissions.
The effort invites
shippers, carriers and
logistics providers to
participate on a voluntary basis. According to Gallick, the goal is to reduce carbon
dioxide output by between 33 and 66 million metric tons, and
nitrous oxide by some 200,000 tons, by 2012. The resulting fuel
efficiencies could equate to nearly 150 billion barrels of oil.
All three of Penske’s major business units—Truck Rental,
Logistics and Truck Leasing, are members of Smart Way. The
rental and logistics arms are signed up as carrier partners,
while leasing is an affiliate member. It acts as an advocate on
behalf of customers seeking to restructure their private fleets
in line with Smart Way objectives, Gallick says. “I’m proud to
say that Logistics and Truck Rental have achieved the highest
rating that Smart Way ascribes to its partners,” he adds. “We’re
the only company within the truck-rental business to have
achieved that level.”
Penske had already undertaken some sustainability efforts,
having set up to collect waste oil, used antifreeze and washing fluids for recycling or disposal at nearly 900 maintenance facilities.
Expanding those programs “is the right thing to do,” Gallick says.
“Most of us in the logistics business feel that way. Our employees
are excited about being part of an organization that is environmentally friendly.”
Techniques used by the company to meet Smart Way goals
include state-of-the-art equipment that conserves fuel and noxious
emissions.
To view this video interview in its entirety,
visit www.SupplyChainBrain.com.
Companies have made great strides in foster-
ing collaboration with their trading partners,
says Joseph Andraski, president and chief
executive officer of Voluntary Interindustry
Commerce Solutions (VICS). But there’s still
work to be done, especially with regard to
tearing down internal and external silos.
Andraski takes issue
with those who claim
that the Collaborative
Planning, Forecasting
and Replenishment
(CPFR) program hasn’t
fulfilled its potential.
Created by Wal-Mart
Stores to manage its
internal forecasting
and replenishment
efforts for select consumer items, the initiative was subsequently turned over to VICS for the benefit of all
industries. Developers quickly realized the necessity of adding collaborative planning to the mix. Today, CPFR helps suppliers and
retailers agree on the type and quantity of product to be sold, when it
will be promoted, and where it will be displayed. The program has
been of particular benefit to Asian-based suppliers that must deal
with lengthy supply lines over multiple time zones. Andraski argues
that CPFR has gone a long way toward improving the availability of
product on the shelf, and making retail forecasts more accurate.
The biggest hurdle to collaboration is, of course, trust. At the
outset, retailers were concerned that any sensitive information
they conveyed to suppliers would somehow be revealed to
their competitors. That hasn’t happened, says Andraski. Today,
participating retailers routinely supply vendors with point-of-sale data, along with information on inventory that is on order,
on hand, in transit, at the distribution center and part of the forecast. Manufacturers use the data to determine where to direct
product. They can make last-minute changes based on actual
buying trends, instead of allowing inventory to languish in
stores where sales are slow.
CEOs today get measured on a number of metrics, including
working capital, sales, and profit and loss. The deployment of
CPFR has led to gains in all of those areas, Andraski claims.
To view this video interview in its entirety,
visit www.SupplyChainBrain.com.
