Press Report

Software solutions optimise transport processes and further "green logistics"

(Logistik für Unternehmen 12.2007) At present, numerous ideas for a sustainable logistics management - which are given catchphrases such as "green logistics" - get discussed. The approaches are multifaceted here and range from the investment in modern vehicle fleets, the use of regenerative fuels or also the shifting of parts of the goods traffic to the rail up to the optimisation of logistics processes and tasks in existing supply chains (SC). As measured by the efficiency of these measures the approach which optimises transport networks by means of efficient software solutions in a holistic and dynamic way stands out due to its high potential. After all, the sustainable avoidance of empty drives or transports which are below capacity is even more effective than the optimisation of the transport execution alone.

Going beyond the limits of the classic transport planning

The planning of optimised transports is not a new invention but logistics professionals have been dealing with different techniques for many years already. Recent analyses of transports below capacity show that the low utilisation rate often has its origins in areas which cannot be covered by the classic transport planning. Either the necessary data are missing and/or they are not transparent or the responsibility for sub-processes rests with another SC-partner and thus cannot be controlled directly.

All players have to act in harmony

All of the necessary information is already present in the respective IT-systems of the SC-partners and should be merged at a suitable point, bundled according to logistics demands and be summarised in sophisticated routines in order to achieve a total optimum. Standard software solutions for supply chain execution (SCE) address this requirement although they had originally and primarily been developed for the permanent reduction of transport costs.

As these tools provide besides other added values also sustainability, IT-solutions which connect all SCE-partners on the basis of a joint platform establish themselves more and more at the market.

When connected to one’s own IT-systems in an intelligent way, appropriate software solutions can display continuous process chains close to reality and define tasks and responsibilities. In the global interplay it is thus clearly laid down where the responsibility of one person ends and where the responsibility for another player starts. Thereby all partners are provided with the necessary data from all fields and with the specific functions which are needed for the respective tasks. Thus, it gets ensured that a holistic optimisation can be achieved at all times.

Act sustainably in a holistic manner

Using an SCE-software-solution presents by no means a compensation for other measures which have immediate effects and which companies employ during their quest for sustainability. It is rather the case that such a solution is part of a larger concept by means of which logistics professionals can live up to their responsibility. As the benefits of these systems are multilayered the investment in such a software normally pays off in less than a year.