For most businesses in the 21st century, the issue of sustainability is becoming increasingly relevant. This is perhaps especially the case in the realm of logistics, which has historically had a significant environmental impact.
If your business relies on any kind of logistics process, it’s crucial that you remain up to date with how these processes are evolving. To help you out, here we take a look at how the role of sustainability is changing the world of logistics, from systematic attempts to decrease damage to the use of AI to optimise route planning.
Decreasing damage to goods
While often, a lot of focus is placed in decreasing emissions directly related to the actual moving of goods, a frequently overlooked way of increasing sustainability lies in decreasing damage done to goods. Not only do damaged goods cost businesses a substantial amount of money, but they also result in a large amount of waste.
Automated loading solutions from companies such as Joloda Hydraroll contribute to a significant decrease in these kinds of accidental damages, having a positive effect on sustainability in the long run.
Reduced warehouse size
In most cases, warehouses require a surprisingly large amount of energy to operate. A lot of this energy is used to heat these spaces, which is often necessary to create an appropriate environment for long-term storage.
By using automated loading solutions, warehouse operators often find that they need much less space than was previously required, allowing for lower warehouse rents and, importantly, facilitating an increase in efficiency.
Optimising route planning
One of the most obvious ways that sustainability is impacting the logistics industry is in the reduction of driving-related emissions. While these can be reduced through the adoption of more efficient vehicles, logistics providers are also using advanced AI systems in order to optimise route planning.
By combining multiple drop-offs in the perfect order, and avoiding potential traffic hotspots, these kinds of systems can have a significant positive impact on sustainability while also cutting costs.
Increasing overall efficiency
Sustainability is often treated like a dirty word, as something that will just cost businesses with no clear benefits. This couldn’t be further from the truth. While most sustainability-related improvements will require an investment, they’ll also generally result in a range of cost reductions.
From reduced labour costs needed to run warehouses to faster loading times, all of these improvements will mean that you’ll see a fairly fast return on your investments. Reframing sustainability-related issues in this light can make them a lot easier to deal with, helping you take your business forward into the modern day and age.
Hopefully, this will have shed a little more light on the significant impact that sustainability-related concerns and initiatives are having on the logistics industry. It’s important to recognise that many of these initiatives will have positive effects on your business beyond merely increasing sustainability in different areas: the benefits – and the drawbacks – all need to be taken into account, to ensure that you adopt solutions that will work for you.
