Energy-efficient supply chain design: Data aggregation and processing

Purpose: Due to changing customer requirements and political regulations more and more companies strive to optimize their energy efficiency in regards to products and processes. The optimization of processes within supply chain design (SCD) is one lever in this regard. Since required data is often not available, this paper elaborates how data can be generated on a suitable level of aggregation. Methodology: In order to highlight the research gap, established energy measurement procedures as well as existing energy databases for procurement, production and transportation are analyzed and compared with data requirements for SCD tasks. Based on these findings, necessary methods and procedures for data preparation are presented. Findings: Firstly, it is shown that addressing energy efficiency within SCD leads to new challenges in regards to data availability and preparation. Secondly, this paper elaborates the requirements for necessary data usable in the context of SCD. The findings are the basis for a comprehensive approach combining collection, aggregation and clustering of energy and product related data. Originality: This paper works out the gap between usually available energy related information and the requirements of SCD. Since key conditions for optimizing energy efficiency are defined in strategic planning, the findings create a necessary prerequisite for realizing energy-optimized supply chains on a large scale in the future

Guide for greenhouse gas emissions accounting at logistics sites: Focus on transhipment sites, warehouses and distribution centres

This guidance provides advice on how to carbon audit logistics buildings with view to logistics chain calculation (e.g. with reference to GLEC Framework and EcoTransIT World). A step-by-step description how to calculate greenhouse gas emissions of logistics sites (e.g. warehouse, distribution centers, terminals) is missing so far. The obtained carbon intensity values provide transparency to identify reasonable GHG reduction measures

Coping with challenges of textile collection through an innovative framework towards a sustainable textile circular economy

Textile collection is a challenging task for all stakeholders in this environment. It is organized in different ways, there are the commercial and municipal collections and charity organizations. The collection of used textiles is the beginning of textile recycling and therefore decisive for all further processes. The aim of the sorting analysis of used textiles is to generate data for high-quality collected goods in order to ultimately provide them with the highest possible utilization methods. Influencing challenges like moisture or impurities have a significant negative impact on the collection qualities. In order to price drops of used garments also the economical aspect should be considered to ensure the cost-covering collection. As the high-quality textile collection is hindered by various factors, this paper deals with the challenges of textile collection, and describes and analyses the inherent logistics processes as an essential part of a textile Circular Economy. Only with additional data it is possible to improve the logistics processes in textile collection and recycling, which in turn has a positive effect on the sustainability of textile and logistics industry