With the right data at hand, you can always take sustainable steps, even if actual transport is not your core business. Marlink wanted to work on pursuing their sustainable goals. First thing is to find out where improvement can be made. They had an ISO certification (ISO 14001) in sight, so therefore started to work with BigMile.
Gert Geeve (Global Head of Logistics at Marlink) was looking for a solution that suited their organization. Marlink provides connectivity for – in particular – the maritime industry. Actual transport actually comes second for the company. As a result, they have a lot of outsourced transport, which often results in an incomplete own database. “The tool was perfect for us.” – Geeve tells us.
Analyses made their expectations tangible
How to find out which is the best way to reduce your emissions, without having much of your own data at hand? This requires enriching the data flows. That noted, they started with collecting the right information! Marlink has now analyzed the first six months of their global supply chain and can already draw strong conclusions.
“It wasn’t a big eye-opener, since we also knew we fly a lot.” – Geeve explains. This was where the vast majority of their emissions come from. However, by having this ‘in print’, they could quickly translate it to concrete reducing measures. Soon, they want to go into a more in-depth analysis by using the extended version of BigMile: “We hope to conduct thorough and solid analyzes and then initiate actions from there.”
A clear view of their improvements
The company saw that a lot of traffic went to the North East of Asia, such as Japan, China and Korea. So Geeve started thinking: “What are we transporting there? And can we store it locally to save money? “ The insights clearly indicated that the company can save a lot of emissions by switching from air transport to sea freight.
However, this modal shift causes them make adjustments in their logistics network. Also, sea transport has longer lead times. That is why they are looking at their stocks and are considering options for local storage. “We obviously want to make an impact, but it shouldn’t have any negative consequences for our customer experience.” – Geeve said.
By making a modal shift they expect to take their sustainable steps to a next level. Gert Geeve is optimistic about it: “I think we can achieve a significant CO2 reduction within a year by making the modal shift.” And we, at BigMile, are surely looking forward to contributing to this!
Are you inspired by the story of Marlinkg and do you also want to take steps in creating insight into your CO2 footprint and analyze your potential improvement? Please contact us at info@bigmile.eu.
