The increase in global commerce over the last century is undoubtedly a positive development, however, it has also brought its own challenges. Operational & fiscal matters aside for one moment, the urgency of the climate change situation has thrust ethical & environmentally related questions to the forefront of both the corporate & social agendas.
With almost every brand taking steps to become more sustainable, Manhattan’s Momentum 2022 customer conference tackled a number of these pressing questions head-on: from environmentally responsible initiatives to the practical elements of making global commerce (& the supply chains that fuel it) more sustainable.
Manhattan CEO Eddie Capel had already advocated the potential ‘green gains’ supply chains can be a part of in November as COP26 took place in Glasgow. However, the annual Momentum event in Miami presented another opportunity for him to underline Manhattan’s commitment to the planet.
During his keynote on day one of the conference, he announced an initiative with the reforestation organisation One Tree Planted to plant a tree for each Momentum attendee, further building on the Earth Day pledge made to Manhattan employees that the company would plant a tree for each of its 3,700+ associates too.
Senior vice president of product management, Brian Kinsella, addressed sustainability from a product perspective highlighting Manhattan’s unique ability to extend greener consumer choices to eliminate unnecessary returns, wasted packaging & shipping by allowing them to change an order right up until the moment an item is loaded for delivery.
He also highlighted recent advancements in warehouse & transportation management that reduce carbon footprints by drawing on emerging technologies like machine learning & in-memory computing to create faster, smarter & more efficient logistic plans.
“Through its innovative work unifying omnichannel commerce, distribution & transportation solutions, Manhattan can extend the customer remorse period far beyond traditional, monolithic solutions. By cancelling these orders before the truck doors are sealed, Manhattan’s customers can eliminate excessive delivery miles & reduce the carbon emissions & waste associated with traditional returns processes.
“Our goal is to reduce returns by giving customers full control of their orders until the last moment before it’s put in a van,” Kinsella added.
Dr Frank Appel, CEO of DHL Group, is a well-known & keen advocate for building sustainability into logistics processes, commenting in a previous blog post: “There is no way around sustainable logistics in the future. We are deciding today what kind of world our children & we will live in 30 years from now. And our aspiration is to make a substantial contribution to ensure that this will be an even better world.”
The keynote from Dr Markus Voss, CIO & COO of supply chain at DHL Group, echoed Appel’s comments, highlighting the carbon cost of logistics & the need for collaboration to solve the climate crisis through the digitalisation of supply chains, the use of new green tech & the proliferation of sustainable energy sources.
“We will be carbon neutral in all our warehouses by 2025 & I am forecasting that I will have to double the size of my IT organisation by 2030 as we aim to achieve our goal of a fully digitised supply chain.
“Logistics is responsible for 25% of carbon emissions, so investing in sustainable fuels & electric planes is as much of a must today as shipping ‘air’ is a crime. We need partners that are committed to the same sustainable, digital journey we are on, just like Manhattan,” Voss finished.
DHL is aggressively pursuing sustainable targets & has committed to a zero-emissions target by 2050. It is investing in sustainable aviation fuels as part of an essential step in its decarbonisation journey, both in terms of its clean operations commitment, but also in reducing the emissions footprint of transported goods for its customers.
The logistics giant has also committed to electrifying 60% of its last-mile delivery vehicles by 2030 & supports the development & market availability of hydrogen & electric trucks.
Gen Z retailer PacSun followed the sustainable theme with Co-CEO Michael Relich.
There are 36 billion clothing items thrown away each year in the US alone, 95% of which could be reused or recycled. Thanks to PacSun’s commitment to sustainability & its collaborative partnership with ThredUp, consumers can ‘Rewear. Recirculate. Repeat.’ PacSun goods.
“When you trade in a pair of old PacSun jeans, we’ll give you a discount on a new pair. Giving clothing a second life reduces the environmental impact by as much as 82% & by returning one clothing item back into the circular economy extends its life by an average of 2.2 years.
“Extending the life of clothes helps fight fashion waste & shopping secondhand displaces the need for new clothing production, diverting items from landfill,” Relich added.
Climate change & sustainability are topics that should concern everyone, from the largest international organisations & governments, right down to us on an individual level.
Often the weight of these matters can feel like a crushing inevitability, however, we must remain positive & hopeful that with the type of collaborative actions & initiatives on show at Momentum, we can (individuals & brands alike) build a more environmentally conscious, sustainable future for those generations to follow.
For more information on Manhattan’s commitment to sustainability, visit our ESG page here.
Author Bio
Pieter van de Broecke is Managing Director Netherlands, Belgium and Germany at Manhattan Associates
Manhattan Associates is a technology leader in supply chain and omnichannel commerce. We unite information across the enterprise, converging front-end sales with back-end supply chain execution. Our software, platform technology, and unmatched experience help drive our customers’ top-line growth and bottom-line profitability.
Manhattan Associates designs, builds, and delivers leading-edge cloud and on-premises solutions so that across the store, through your network or from your fulfilment centre, you are ready to reap the rewards of the omnichannel marketplace.
Header Image by Casey Horner on Unsplash
This blog post is sponsored by Manhattan Associates.
