Monday 30 March 2020

Opinion – supply chain sustainability on City’s agenda

Opinion – supply chain sustainability on City’s agenda

A few months ago the last thing on anyone’s mind was supply chains and logistics, yet nearly every newspaper around the world is now talking about the fragility of these vital and complex pathways for delivery.

I want to take a step back from the immediate COVID-19 related needs and focus on this sector from a sustainability and efficiency perspective, which is what will ensure that these vital links in the chain can remain strong for the long term, with reduced environmental footprints at their core.

Speaking with experts in the field and focusing very much on The City of London’s own needs, the first thing that emerges is that any sort of drive towards a lower carbon footprint, has to be collaborative and inclusive of the entire, commercial supply chain.

If we look at the construction sector, there is a huge desire on their part to future-proof their supply chains and for developers to spread best practise from one site to another. That allows for greater consolidation of materials, improved time & space management and more efficient delivery scheduling to site.

The City’s Planning & Transport Officers has worked together with the sector to find a way to work towards improved logistics.

One early learning is that it isn’t enough for policy to just be pushed through. The reality of the situation has to be assessed and the market needs must be well understood. Policy should be an enabler towards sustainability, not a limiter of commercial needs.

As new technologies and methodologies evolve, policymakers can aid market uptake in a collaborative fashion.

One other area that is getting a lot of focus is a dedicated infrastructure for delivery of goods and services to retail.

The optimisation of a single delivery vehicle lowers as it makes its delivery rounds, if it is on a round of drop offs to various outlets. A higher utilization of a vehicle on the roads, by combining its use to carry back used materials to a depot, ferrying materials needed from one transit point to another as needed, thus building a more circular economy for the utilisation of these vehicles would greatly optimise the carbon footprint.

It would also lead to operational cost saving and better tracking of products need at each site. These systems are already being built and used by some but a greater roll out is needed to see wider impact.

The City’s Transport policy in this regard can certainly stimulate progress through a framework for supply within its geographical area, which then lets commercial business drive it forward to successful implementation.

The first wave of such a policy would be aimed at the larger chains and those with consolidation already within easy grasp. Of course, the natural question then pivots towards SMEs and single outlets. Their aim should be to look towards effective piggybacking of wholesale supply chains and working towards initiatives like ‘farm to fork’.

With climate change and lowering carbon footprints, at the top of consumer agendas, smaller businesses have a real opportunity to position themselves as responsible drivers of behaviour change, promoting their businesses through transparency of product source and highlighting supply chain efficiencies.

The City of London Corporation is in a unique position, with in-house expertise in Port Health, Markets, Transport, Planning and the Environment to be able to drive these changes in policy and work collaboratively with businesses, to ensure that a commercially successful model can be executed.  is

A model which achieves lower environmental footprints whilst creating a sustainable business for the future.

Shravan Joshi is an elected member of the City of London

Written by

Bruna Pinhoni

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