Emissions checks made easy with Geodis calculator


IT\\\


value it can offer its customers through the new tools that digitisation offers. Linière outlines a number of


Logistics services giant Geodis has added a quick and easy-to- use emissions calculator to its website, enabling users to very simply see the carbon footprint of any potential freight shipment and to choose the least harmful option. The free-to-use calculator


measures air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions and, for any given potential shipment, can give a range of transportation mode options and their associated carbon footprint. Thus, users can identify which shipment option would be the most environmentally friendly. The calculator takes into


account the nature of the goods to be shipped, their point of origin and their destination, as well as the mode of transport to be used in order to make the calculation. The tool is available in English


and French on the Geodis website. Cécile Bray, senior expert


climate and carbon


accounting at Geodis, opines: “The precise measurement of emissions generated is a precondition for improvement. This initiative provides a transparent and reliable way to quantify greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants for each mode of transport.” The emissions calculator was developed by Geodis in


partnership with EcoTransIT World. Bray tells FBJ that Geodis initially started to collaborate with EcoTransIT World in 2011 and began integrating the emission calculation into its transport management systems in 2013. Since then, Geodis has been providing all its customers with greenhouse gas emission- related information. This online calculator is a simplified version of the full, integrated tool, as it does not take into account Geodis operational data such as actual routeing. The new tool was not


specifically asked for by Geodis customers, Bray says. Rather: “Geodis wants to contribute to raising awareness of the environmental impact (greenhouse gases and air pollutants) of the various modes of transport among our teams, our


transport partners, our


customers and our customers’ customers in order to facilitate dialogue on alternative solutions. “Decarbonisation is like a


diet: if you want to lose weight, you need to understand where the high calories intakes are; in order to decarbonise, you need to understand which are the most carbon-intense sources of emissions.” While users of the calculator


can’t choose to offset the emissions ‘result’ of the


calculator directly through the tool, Geodis does offer its customers the opportunity to contribute to the fight against climate change by financing offsetting projects. Bray says that the emissions


calculator is to be further developed. The online tool will soon be available in eight additional languages, she says, and a more advanced version is planned for 2021 with potential upgrades such as the possibility to define a shipment’s transport legs. Geodis has set a target of


reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 30% between now and 2030. Its tactics include improving truck load factors and avoiding empty miles; developing its rail options for improved multimodal transport; and integrating vehicles that use cleaner energy (such as natural gas and electric) into the fleet.


Investment in IT


Improvement to the Geodis website represents just one aspect of the company’s wider digital improvement strategy. Henri Linière, Geodis’ chief information officer, explains that the company has invested heavily in the use of IT to improve efficiency in its transport solutions and in the


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drivers that have guided Geodis in focusing that investment. The first is security, the need to protect Geodis’ data, the data of its customers and of its customers’ customers, all of which is being shared in the increasingly interconnected nature of today’s logistics business. And that data is the second


driver of how Geodis is going about its IT development. Geodis collects and uses a huge amount of information in the course of its day-to-day operations and that data is a “real asset” for the company, he suggests. So much so that Geodis is building a huge data ‘lake’ – a repository of data in its basic form – that can be tapped into using Big Data for its own and its customers’ mutual benefit. Tapping into the data available


through the Cloud and then analysing it can help Geodis to improve efficiency in areas such as optimising shipping routeing, especially in terms of last-mile deliveries, or in optimising warehouse processes. Data is


Issue 8 2020 - FBJNA


only likely to increase in value in future, says Linière. Data is present and integral


to every stage of a shipment process, he observes, and Geodis is determined to make the most of this very valuable resource that it has at its fingertips: it will be “a strong lever for future growth”, Linière predicts. A third driver is the track


and trace capability that is a common demand now for customers of any logistics services supplier such as Geodis. The company has developed a lot of sophisticated track and trace technology over recent years, Linière confirms, and customers now have the benefit of full transparency of their shipments. The


latest technologies


offered by the Internet of Things (IoT) have allowed significant developments in this area. “It has taken a lot of time, money and effort to achieve this full transparency,” he says. A fourth driver – one that has been important in the past few years and will likely become even more so in the future, says Linière - is ecommerce and all the customer requirements relating to fast door-door delivery


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associated with this fast-moving trading environment. Geodis is investing in that optimise


technologies


every leg of ecommerce door- to-door shipments, he notes, with machine learning and wider artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, as well as the IoT, being used in this domain to develop Geodis’ capability to handle ecommerce shipments in the most efficient way possible. The final major driver


of Geodis’ IT development has been robotisation of the warehouse. The company is introducing more and more automated procedures; its US operation has led the way on this, but much is also now being done in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region and Asia. While these drivers have


helped to focus Geodis’ IT development decisions, above all there is the need to use digital technologies to improve process efficiency and communication right across the company, says Linière. Moreover, they facilitate much greater speed and agility across the business, he points out, factors that are crucial in today’s logistics industry.


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