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Many companies collect and report data about their carbon footprints. And some are taking the next step and using that information to reduce their emissions. Now, CarbonNet, a new program developed by Menlo Worldwide Logistics, promises to raise the carbon management bar considerably higher.

Menlo says CarbonNet will help companies track and manage their carbon footprint by integrating data collection, analysis, and process management with Lean principles. The company, a unit of Con-way Inc., has also developed proprietary cloud-based software that facilitates those transactions.

The software accepts a variety of data inputs to catalog emissions at facilities and in the movement of products and materials between locations, or what Anthony Oliverio, Menlo’s vice president–supply chain services, calls the “nodes and flows.” According to Oliverio, CarbonNet is the only program able to capture and analyze both site-specific and in-transit data. The software also accepts input from suppliers, vendors, and other third parties.

Menlo has assigned a team of Lean and process management experts to the CarbonNet program, and classic Lean methods permeate each of the program’s five phases, which are as follows:

▪ “Discover,” which includes such activities as value-stream mapping, “Voice of the Customer” analysis, and determining project scope, risks, and timeline.

▪ “Define,” which includes organizational/ facility profiling, data collection and validation, and developing emission source data and baselines.

▪ “Design,” which includes such activities as determining the return on investment, solution design and approval, and developing training and education plans.

▪ “Implement,” which covers testing and implementation of the technology, conducting training and education, and developing a “future state” plan to guide continuous improvement.

▪ “Monitor,” which includes measuring and tracking results and performance.

CarbonNet is being piloted at 60 company facilities; Menlo expects to roll it out externally in 2013. ;

Menlo’s CarbonNet
combines Lean with Green

Logistics community gives back

The logistics industry’s commitment to community service was much in evidence following Hurricane Sandy. Numerous companies responded with cash and/or in-kind services, many of them signing on through the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). Among the many companies pitching in to help were Canadian Pacific Railroad, Con-Way Inc., DHL Express, FedEx Corp., Infor, Norfolk Southern, RIM Logistics Ltd., and UPS, to name just a few.

In other news around the country, 50 volunteers from Bastian Solutions’ corporate office in Indianapolis volunteered at a local elementary school, raking leaves, building a stage, building a playground structure, and putting together learning packets for students. The material handling systems integrator also arranged a visit from former pro football player Tarik Glenn.

Union Pacific has made a $60,000 donation to the Wounded Warrior Project, a national organization for service members who incurred service-connected injuries or illnesses on or after Sept. 11, 2001, and their families. Approximately 23 percent of Union Pacific’s 2012 new hires—nearly 800 in total—are military veterans.

Cat Lift Trucks dealer Ring Power Lift Trucks donated the use of a 5,000-pound-capacity cushion-tire forklift to Columbia High School’s Global Logistics Academy in Lake City, Fla. Students will receive hands-on instruction by using the truck in the school’s warehouse. Outside groups will also use the truck to become forklift-cer-tified, providing additional income for the school’s program. ;

No question, there are some pretty impressive high-speed automated storage and retrieval systems out there today. But apparently, they’re all about to be eclipsed by the giant semiautomatic picking and storage system that has been commissioned by the luxury apparel manufacturer and retailer Hugo Boss.

Boss has contracted with Austria’s Knapp AG to automate its new distribution center in Filderstadt bei Stuttgart, Germany. According to Knapp, the 400,000-storage-location OSR Shuttle will be the largest system of its kind in the world.

The OSR Shuttle will be the centerpiece of a 251,000-square- foot logistics center Hugo Boss plans to open in 2014 near the Stuttgart airport. The high-throughput system allows storage of full cases and immediate availability of items after putaway. Picking will be carried out via a goods-to-person procedure.

The shuttle system’s flexibility will enable the company to react swiftly to changes in the market as well as to the demands of different sales channels, Knapp officials said. ;