Archive for the ‘Green Optimization’ Category

“Going Green” is becoming a higher priority for companies large and small, as regulatory bodies and consumers around the world push for more readily-available information on corporate carbon footprints and companies’ plans to control / reduce their carbon emissions.  But how do you do this most cost-effectively?  Optimization is a tool that can lead to better “green” decision-making.

First, let’s review of the types of decisions that companies are making today.  Here are some real world examples from recent press reports…

Dole Food Company,  the world’s largest producer of fruits and vegetables, has committed to make its banana and pineapple business in Costa Rica carbon neutral over the next decade.  Dole social responsibility officials Sylvain Cuperlier and Rudy Amador recently highlighted their priorities in achieving this in an interview :

• measurement of current carbon footprint and activities, such as the use of fertilizers,
• research into and collaboration on mitigation and sequestration projects, and
• improved  operations, including increased use of rail transportation on land and more energy-efficient refrigerated containers for maritime shipments.

Tyco Waterworks, a worldwide supplier of water system equipment based in the UK, has documented its consolidation of multiple manufacturing plants into a single Manufacturing Centre of Excellence for meter boxes, plastic injection molding and gunmetal products in Bridgend, South Wales.  Having all its manufacturing under one roof results in a reduction in the company’s overall energy consumption and transport, with a resulting positive impact on its carbon footprint (as well as giving operational efficiency benefits.)

Xerox Corporation, which provides document services and equipment around the world, maintains a fleet of 5,000 vehicles used by its technicians in the United States as they respond to customer requests for service.   Tony Rossi, Xerox’s manager of programs and operational support, said in an interview that his programs, which have reduced fuel consumption over the last several years by 10%, and have a goal of a 25% reduction, can be grouped into four categories:

• pairing each driver with the best-sized vehicle for his / her needs,
• improving the fleet’s fuel efficiency as vehicles are replaced,
• tracking driver routes and distances traveled on a daily basis, and
• using GPS systems to match available technicians against pending requests as they are dispatched during the day.

The common thread?  These companies have made progress towards their cost and carbon goals by

• understanding their current situation, and what their options include,
• implementing more efficient operations over their existing supply chain (thus generally using less energy and lowering their footprint), and
• making the most effective capital additions to their supply chain systems when justified.

Optimization techniques can allow you to identify the best solutions that are possible in improving efficiency and implementing capital projects.  Thus you can make the best choices for meeting your goals from the options that you have at hand.

In making decisions for a manufacturing-oriented supply chain like the one described for Tyco Waterworks above, a network design tool like Profit Network can help you evaluate the benefits of:

• keeping or consolidating existing facilities, as well as,
• opening potential manufacturing sites, taking into account
• capital costs,
• shutdown charges,
• manufacturing rates and costs,
• freight costs, and
• and a host of other costs and constraints on operations.

Profit Network uses a combination of linear and mixed integer programming and related optimization techniques to guarantee that you evaluate a range of solutions and identify those that are best for your particular needs.  Potential decisions that can be evaluated include both operational changes and choices among proposed capital projects that will lead to greater efficiency.

Xerox and Dole have scheduling problems that can be solved by both optimization and heuristic means.  The Xerox technician dispatching problem is a variation on the mathematically well-studied Assignment Problem, which can be solved using “greedy” algorithms (which pick off the “low hanging fruit” but are not guaranteed to give the absolute best solution) or more comprehensive methods that can give the best solution, at perhaps a longer solve time.  Transportation scheduling problems again can be solved through these methods. Using the technology of the 21st century will be critical for businesses to meet their “green” objectives.  Optimization technology is one of these new technologies that will help you reach these goals.

This article was written by Dr. Gene Ramsay, Profit Point’s Infrastructure Planning Practice Leader. To learn more about Profit Point’s Supply Chain Sustainability services, please call (866) 347-1130 or contact us here.

Image courtesy of Gavin Schaefer.

Below is a video interview with Ted Schaefer, Profit Point’s Director of Supply Chain Services, discussing supply chain optimization including cost reduction and supply chain sustainability issues for greener decisions with Xpress Optimization Suite.

To learn more about our supply chain network design services, contact us here.

In this video interview with CSCMP’s Supply Chain Quarterly, Ted Schaefer, Supply Chain Practice Leader at Profit Point, offers practical advice on how to make supply chains both “green” and profitable.

Watch the video interview to learn more about the ways leading companies are cutting costs and emissions:

To learn more about Profit Point’s Supply Chain Services, please contact us.

This month’s issue of Manufacturing Today features an informative article entitled You Can Go Green. The article, which was co-authored by Profit Point’s President, Dr. Alan Kosansky, and the firm’s Director of Supply Chain Services, Ted Schaefer, reviews the trade-offs and consequences of improving financial performance of the supply chain footprint, while also reducing the environmental impact.

You can read the complete article here.

To learn more about Profit Point’s Supply Chain Optimization services, please contact us.

Posted with permission from Manufacturing Today.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued final guidance for the $1.5 billion in surface transportation grants it will award by next February, and among the top selection criteria will be environmental sustainability, innovation, and partnerships. DOT has included sustainability – improved energy efficiency, lower greenhouse gases, and/or less dependence on foreign oil – as one of five criteria it will consider in evaluating a proposed project’s long-term beneficial outcomes for a metropolitan area, a region, or the country. Long-term outcomes, along with a project’s impact on job creation and near-term economic stimulus, will be DOT’s primary criteria for awarding grants.

DOT will also be considering two secondary criteria – innovation and partnerships. DOT is soliciting projects that use innovative technologies to achieve long-term outcomes or significantly enhance the operational performance of transportation systems, and projects that involve partnerships with non-Federal entities and the use of non-Federal funds. Priority will be given to projects for which a grant will help complete an overall financing package.

Recent estimates from DOT suggest that up to $50 Billion in grant requests may be submitted, making this a highly competitive process. It will be essential for an applicant to thoroughly meet the primary guidelines and to score well on secondary guidelines to win tiebreakers. If your project doesn’t yet adequately address the three considerations of innovation, sustainability and partnership, Profit Point may be able to improve your chances of success:

Sustainability
Profit Point provides mathematics-based solutions that optimize the use of resources for maximal efficiency. Frequently this optimization results in reduced transportation mileage which minimizes greenhouse gas emissions as well as fuel consumption. It might also involve minimizing water use, minimizing output of toxic pollutants or maximizing production of beneficial byproducts.

Some examples include:

• Scheduling ship berths at ports to minimize ship idle time in a harbor
• Scheduling port (or canal) maritime traffic
• Optimizing a port drayage schedule to minimize delays and overland carrier idle times
• Optimizing local school bus or public transit system routes to minimize greenhouse gas emissions while providing optimal service
• Routing your deliveries or pickups using the fewest miles traveled
• Providing the algorithm to trigger variable speed limits on traffic leading to a congested area such as a city center or bridge
• Optimizing deliveries for the elderly, such as “Meal on Wheels,” to minimize vehicle costs and emissions
• Conducting infrastructure studies to evaluate the full impact of a project, such as a port expansion with intermodal considerations

If you need to address the sustainability criterion in DOT’s guidance or if you can benefit from including an optimization study as part of your application, we may be able to help you. Profit Point was recently awarded the Supply & Demand Chain Executive Green Supply Chain Award for its Green Network product. Profit Green Network can be used along with our Profit Vehicle Planner and Router Applications to create better plans and improve sustainability.

Innovation
While innovation is not a primary criterion for selection, it will be used to rank similar projects in order to break a tie. Adding leading edge technology such as mathematics-based optimization to your grant application provides one way of strengthening its innovative appeal.

Optimization is one of the hottest topics in industry today because it not only ensures operations are maximizing their current objectives, but also allows ‘what if’ modeling for future scenarios. “What if modeling” helps ensure continued achievement of your objectives, no matter what set of circumstances may occur.

Partnerships
After DOT considers primary criteria, priority will be given to innovative projects and those that involve State and local governments or private or nonprofit entities.

While there are certainly many partners available, adding a private, small business partner such as Profit Point, Inc. to the application may strengthen its overall appeal. Building on Profit Point’s extensive sustainable logistics and mathematical optimization experience can help make your project application unique.

Presenting the Proposal
Should you need assistance preparing your application or prefer advice from a transportation expert, you may wish to work with an experienced consultant on surface transportation issues. Phillips Strategic Services, a Northern Virginia firm with strong ties to both industry and government, is one firm available to assist you. Phillips Strategic Services experience includes:

• Policy leadership at the Federal Highway Administration;
• Policy development and lobbying for American Trucking Associations;
• Senior staff to a Senate Committee handling surface transportation issues; and
• Various government affairs, marketing, and strategic planning positions with Union Pacific Railroad, Conrail and CSX

In conclusion, nearly any type of surface transportation project is eligible for funding under the discretionary program, which was authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. DOT has named the program “Grants for Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery” or TIGER Discretionary Grants, and applications are due by September 15, 2009 with all grants to be awarded by February 17, 2010.

If you’d like to improve your chances of success by strengthening the sustainability and innovative appeal, or if you need a partner to help you present your application most effectively, please contact us:

Profit Point, Inc.
No. Brookfield, MA
Cindy Engers: (925) 736-6800, cengers@profitpt.com
Richard Guy: (435) 487-9141, rguy@profitpt.com

Phillips Strategic Services Ltd.
Alexandria, VA
Mary Phillips: (703) 360-3560, mphillips@phillipsstrategicservices.com

Climate change – or global warming – and the effort to curb the impact of human activities thought to contribute to it – are continuously becoming a higher priority on the agendas of governments, commercial and non-governmental organizations and individuals around the world. In the United States of America the Environmental Protection Agency, the main federal government environmental watchdog and regulator, recently issued a report finding that projected future levels of greenhouse gases (GHGs) “endanger the public health and welfare of current and future generations”, setting the stage for a more intense GHG regulatory regime in the future in a country that has lagged behind imposing the regulatory restraints now in place in many other parts of the world.

A combination of internal and external factors have motivated many companies to work towards better measurement, and control, of their impact on the environment, whether in the areas generation of greenhouse gasses, emission of waste water and other effluents or consumption of renewable and non-renewable resources. But as always, companies need to ensure that they make changes in their activities in a cost-effective, as well as environmentally-effective, manner. We at Profit Point recognize the need to do this, and are working with our clients to help them make the best decisions in this regard.

Our Profit Network supply chain planning software has helped various clients make such decisions as:

• how do we consolidate separate distribution systems after a merger of two organizations, or
• where to produce and how to ship new products coming into the marketplace?

However, Profit Network is capable of taking into account not only the cost of such plans, but also the environmental impact. We recently worked with a client who had significant environmental constraints at both the entrance to and exit from their factories – they had significant limits on the amount of source water (a key raw material required for their manufacturing) that they could draw from surface and underground sources, and also had constraints at many facilities regarding the amount for waste water they could dispose of. Both of these constraints varied over the course of the year and geographically over the service territory. Using Profit Network they were able to see the cost and production location impact of the environmental constraints, and make choices regarding how to respond to their situation.

Another major concern of companies is their levels of emissions of greenhouse gasses. A major corporation in the United States of America recently announced that it was working to reduce its GHG impact through

• Retiring less efficient and higher-emitting production facilities;
• Reducing leakage of GHGs from its production and distribution systems;
• Increasing energy efficiency in its buildings;
• Increasing the fuel efficiency of its vehicle fleet.

Profit Network will allow you to evaluate the effectiveness of these types of activities. You can define the environmental impact of your own activities (such as your production and distribution, and fleet delivery to customers), and those of your suppliers (such as when you purchase electricity). For instance, you could use Profit Network to determine the impact on your carbon footprint (and cost) of switching to a source of electricity that had a lower GHG emissions rate (such as company-produced solar, or purchased nuclear), or moving towards a transportation fleet that had lower emissions per unit of distance traveled.

Profit Point is here to help our clients make better decisions – this includes making better decisions regarding the many environmental choices that companies have in today’s increasingly regulated environment.

This article was written by Dr. Gene Ramsay, Profit Point’s Infrastructure Planning Practice Leader. To learn more about designing a sustainable supply, contact us here.

Author’s Notes:
1. Reference for the company mentioned in the text above: http://www.eponline.com/articles/71680/.

2. Reference for the EPA announcement: http://www.mercurynews.com/politics/ci_12168524.

Green Network software is recognized for its role in helping to build environmentally sustainable businesses.

Supply & Demand Chain Executive magazine honored Profit Point, a leading supply chain optimization company , with a 2008 Green Supply Chain Award. The company and its Green Network supply chain design software was recognized as a Green Supply Chain Enabler. Profit Point is showcased with other award winners in the latest issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.

Profit Point has been delivering supply chain optimization services and software to Fortune 500 companies for more than a decade. Earlier this year, the company introduced Green Network when it recognized that its clients needed a robust tool to account for and optimize away manufacturing waste, such as industrial pollutants and green house gas emissions.

“Profit Network software has been helping large companies around the world build more robust and profitable supply chains for more than 10 years,” said Jim Piermarini, Profit Point’s CTO. “From our clients’ perspective it makes sense to incorporate environmental byproducts in to the network design to evaluate opportunities and costs and conduct scenario testing in advance of these critical infrastructure decisions.”

The company’s software products are now used to help companies manage the tradeoffs associated with environmental resource constraints, such as limited water supplies in developing countries. Profit Point’s transportation and distribution clients achieve more efficient territory planning and vehicle routes, which mitigates unnecessary fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.

The Green Supply Chain Awards recognize small, midsize and large organizations that are taking steps to realize eco-efficiency goals. Submissions were judged based on the clarity and content of each program’s goals and strategy, the extent of the steps being taken, the impact of the results to date and projected results, and the form and presentation of the information submitted.

“We are honored to be recognized by Supply & Demand Chain Executive for our focus on sustainability and we’re delighted to play a role in helping business managers define and reach environmental sustainability objectives across their supply chain,” said Alan Kosansky, President of Profit Point. “We look forward to any opportunity to help create a more sustainable business environment.”

To learn more about Profit Point’s supply chain software and services, visit www.profitpt.com.

About Profit Point:
Profit Point Inc. was founded in 1995 and is now a global leader in supply chain optimization. The company’s team of supply chain consultants includes industry leaders in the fields infrastructure planning, green operations, supply chain planning, distribution, scheduling, transportation, warehouse improvement and business optimization. Profit Point’s has combined software and service solutions that have been successfully applied across a breadth of industries and by a diverse set of companies, including The Coca-Cola Company, General Electric, Logitech, Rohm and Haas and Toyota.

This month’s cover story in the CSCMP’s Supply Chain Quarterly magazine feature’s an excellent article written by Profit Point’s Green Optimization Practice Leader, Ted Schaefer, and the firm’s President, Dr. Alan Kosansky.

The article, Can you be green and profitable?, deals with two competing, yet critical issues that face supply chain managers across the globe. As the authors point out, “profitability and sustainability don’t have to be mutually exclusive. By considering environmental issues when setting financial objectives for a supply chain network analysis, companies can successfully balance the trade-offs between them.”

You can read the complete article here.

If you would like to learn more about our Green Supply Chain Optimization services please contact us.

The Better Process Podcast, an industry show that discusses lean manufacturing news, today featured Ted Schaefer, Profit Point’s Director of Logistics and Supply Chain Services. The show is hosted by Ken Rayment, a manufacturing engineer and Six Sigma Black Belt.

The interview covered a range of topics addressing the challenges that small and mid-size manufacturing firms are facing today, including rising energy costs and increasing competition overseas. The show also highlighted several manufacturing paradigm shifts such as rising wages in China and India and greening supply chains, which are causing manufacturers to reconsider various aspects of their production and distribution processes.

The discussion included a number of recommendations that manufacturers ought to consider, including approaches toward making quantitative trade-offs and the application of optimization techniques to find the lowest total cost for manufacturing.

Listen to the interview here

To learn more about how Profit Point’s supply chain consultants can help optimize your supply chain, contact us here:

(866) 347-1130 or
(435) 487-9141

Send us an Email

Dwight Collins, Profit Point’s Green Supply Chain expert, attended the Sustainable Energy Conference at Cornell University and was interviewed by the Cornell Chronicle for his work on sustainable operations research. The conference, entitled “Sustainable Energy Systems: Investing in Our Future,” provided a full slate of talks that outlined the relationship between energy and climate challenge and considered the viability of an array of solutions ranging from conservation, petroleum and coal to nuclear, solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric and biofuels sources.

Collins, who teaches sustainable operations management at the Presidio School of Management, noted that the “the OR profession is missing out on some major opportunities for leadership in the field of sustainable business.”

Read the complete article here.

Profit Point, a leading supply chain optimization firm, announces the introduction of Green Network, a green supply chain network design application.

North Brookfield, MA (PRWEB) April 4, 2008 — Profit Point, Inc., a leading supply chain optimization consultant, today announced the release of Green Network, a supply chain network design application that empowers a supply chain manager to gain visibility in to the trade-offs they will face when designing a green supply chain. Built upon proven technology, Green Network extends the company’s Profit Network application by enabling supply chain managers to include any number of environmental byproducts, including carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, particulates, and wastewater, in to the analysis process. The user can also manage total energy consumption or the type of energy consumed (coal, natural gas, hydroelectric, thermal, wind, etc.) in the design of the supply chain.

“Many of our clients have expressed a strong interest in greening their supply chains to meet the growing demand by consumers,” said Alan Kosansky, Profit Point’s President. “Designing a sustainable supply chain is becoming a significant priority for our clients, but not at any cost. The key to building a sustainable supply chain comes in truly understanding the trade-offs that are faced by decision makers.”

Green Network was designed as an out-growth of Profit Network, an industry-leading supply chain network design software system. Profit Network is a robust, yet cost-effective tool that helps companies of all sizes optimize their supply chain for maximum profitability.

“Profit Network software has been helping Fortune 500 companies around the world build more robust and profitable supply chains for more than 10 years,” said Jim Piermarini, Profit Point’s CTO. “By leveraging our work in Profit Network, we were able to build a powerful tool that accounts for environmental impact and profitability.”

In addition to Profit Network and Green Network, Profit Point’s line of supply chain software also includes Profit Vehicle Router, a system for optimizing transportation routing, Profit Distribution Scheduler for easy production and distribution scheduling and Profit Meeting Scheduler, a sophisticated conference scheduler used by major trade organizations.

For additional information about Profit Point’s supply chain design and optimization software and consulting services, contact Richard Guy or visit www.ProfitPt.com.

About Profit Point:

Profit Point Inc. is a supply chain consulting firm founded in 1995 and is now a global leader in supply chain optimization. The company’s team of supply chain consultants includes industry leaders in the fields infrastructure planning, green operation, supply chain planning, distribution, scheduling, transportation, warehouse improvement and business optimization. Profit Point’s has combined software and service solutions that have been successfully applied across a breadth of industries and by a diverse set of companies, including The Coca-Cola Company, General Electric, Rohm and Haas and Toyota.

Contact:

Richard Guy
Profit Point
(866) 347-1130

Achieving sustainable supply chain improvement is of the highest urgency in today’s highly competitive world, and will probably be even more so in the future. Despite the urgency, the majority of supply chain initiatives have failed to deliver expected results. This paper argues that these failures arise from two flaws:

1. The improvement initiatives have been piecemeal instead of whole-system; and
2. The initiatives have attended to the technology and business processes, but have ignored the human side of organizations.

This paper offers an innovative approach to supply chain improvement that remedies both flaws via integration of business process, technology, and social system change.

Read the complete article on Achieving a Sustainable Supply Chain.