ASure. I have two members of my team who focus on packaging and logistics specifically and all the interaction between the two. Our focus areas include designing
packaging to optimize logistics and increase capacity utilization. These programs almost always deliver significant
environmental benefits. Examples would be designing a
package shape to optimize the number of units that can go
in a container, and shifting from wood pallets to reusable
plastic pallets—which are lighter—for air shipments.
Then in the logistics domain, we have put quite a bit of
work into measuring or approximating the carbon footprint associated with our distribution efforts and looking
for opportunities to reduce it. These initiatives tend to
deliver pretty significant savings as well.
What I would say is that we have probably put more
emphasis on those programs that can deliver cost savings as
well as an environmental benefit because our customers
really need those cost savings and are looking for smart
solutions that are good investments for them.
QHave you established metrics so that you can see how the operation is aligning with the goals of greater
social and environmental responsibility? And if so, what
might some of those metrics be?
AI think metrics are always a work in progress. However, wehaveestablishedanumberofmetrics. We
publish many of them externally in our global citizenship
report, which we produce on an annual basis and put on
our Web site. Some of those metrics include metrics for our
own operations, things within our own four walls—things
like CO2 emissions, water usage, and waste. We have production goals for each of these. We have also measured carbon footprints for our own supply chain as well as our first-tier manufacturers’. We would like to use those benchmarks,
which we have also disclosed, as a basis for setting goals for
reducing those footprints.
QAny closing thoughts or comments?
AI’d like to mention an award we won from Wal-Mart for a design challenge last year. We won the award for
an innovative packaging design that basically let us ship a
notebook computer without a box. What the customer took
home was a messenger bag containing a notebook computer, with all of its accessories set up inside the bag. It was in
a plastic bag with the appropriate bar coding.
Accomplishing that required working really closely with
the final manufacturer and also with Wal-Mart to figure out
how to actually make that work in everyone’s infrastructure. In the end, we delivered for the customer with a 97-
percent reduction in packaging. I thought that was a pretty
neat illustration of how by pulling together all the pieces in
the value chain, you can do something really different.
The way we actually did it was by putting three notebooks into an over-pack. The over-pack never made it to
the store shelf. It went right into Wal-Mart’s recycling bin.
To me, that is a great example of innovation providing a
really different kind of solution for the customer and one
that illustrates how packaging and logistics professionals
can really be right in the center of making an innovation
like that happen.
QYou are now talking about outside parties—supply chain partners, logistics service providers, and so on?
AYes. We also have goals in terms of our suppliers’ per- formance in meeting our labor, health, safety, environmental, and ethics standards. We put a lot of focus on delivering smart practical solutions that make it easy for customers to go green. We have goals around our product
portfolio as well.
QIt seems that just when green initiatives were getting into gear, the global economy crashed. Has it been a
challenge the past 12 to 18 months to keep the momentum
going while everybody’s distracted by the economic downturn and its effects on business?
APretty interesting question. I would say that in our company by and large, the impact of the downturn has
been that we have really pushed to get to the future faster. It
caused us to accelerate on most of our strategic directions
rather than to back off—to really push ahead with changing
our business and changing our products, operations, cost
structure, or whatever it might be. I think that has been true
in this area as well. Our standards have stayed the same. Our
customers have continued to focus on this area.
QI imagine a lot of Wal-Mart’s customers were delight- ed to find their new computers weren’t packed in
popcorn or in cardboard boxes that had to be broken down
and put in their recycling.
AI thought it was cool.
QSo with that one step, you both enhanced a product and service for Wal-Mart’s retail customer and
achieved some of your own internal objectives.
AYes. Because of the size of our company, even small changes can deliver huge benefits. For example, there
was one line of PCs that we redesigned to make the units
smaller. In the space of a year and a half, we saved as much
metal as was used to build the Eiffel Tower.
QThat is a great illustration of how sometimes even the littlest things can have a very positive and wide-ranging impact.
AExactly. I think every company should on the one hand, try to think big and broadly, but on the other
hand, not be afraid to pursue specific projects or pilot
efforts that may in and of themselves deliver a very large
benefit.
