Trending Now

Building a Resilient Supply Chain with Advanced Predictive…

New Articles

What Fleet Managers Should Know About DOT Inspections

DOT inspections
Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, Trucking

What Fleet Managers Should Know About DOT Inspections

Leave a comment

Operating a trucking company typically means covering a lot of variables, from vehicle depreciation and traffic jams to driver sick days, broken-down equipment, conflicts with business partners and everything in between.

One thing fleet managers definitely cannot afford to overlook in this list of responsibilities is the importance of DOT inspections. What do fleet managers need to know about DOT inspections, and how can they prepare for the next one before it arrives?

What Are DOT Inspections?

First, what are DOT inspections, and why are they so important?

State troopers or other enforcers, working under the authority of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) carry out surprise roadside inspections to ensure both truck and driver are in good working order.

The goal of these inspections is to keep truckers and other motor vehicle operators safe on the road. An inspector is tasked with determining whether a truck and its driver are following all of the applicable rules and regulations designed to prevent oversights and accidents.

The Six Levels of DOT Inspection

There are six levels of DOT inspection a truck and its operator may be subject to. Which one is carried out depends largely on the whims of the inspector. Drivers will never know what level of inspection to expect until they’re stopped, so it’s essential to be familiar with all six.

Level 1

Level 1 inspections are as comprehensive as they are commonly performed. There are 37 steps to complete for a Level 1 inspection, assessing both the driver and the vehicle as well as addressing the presence of any illegal cargo.

All of the truck’s systems will be inspected, from the brakes and electrical to the steering, seatbelts, and everything in between. The driver will also be assessed to determine whether they’re under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Level 2

Level 2 inspections are nearly as thorough as Level 1, though inspectors are not required to go underneath the vehicle to ascertain its condition. The driver assessment to look for the presence of drugs and alcohol remains the same, however.

Level 3

Level 3 DOT inspections focus solely on the driver. The inspector will review all pertinent paperwork, such as driver’s license, medical examiner’s certificates, and skill performance evaluations, to determine whether the driver is in compliance with all applicable FMCSA regulations.

As with the first two levels, the driver will also be assessed to determine if they are under the influence of alcohol or another controlled substance.

Level 4

Level 4 inspections are not as common as some of the others, since they’re used for one-time examinations. They’re useful for tracking violation trends or other data, and they often don’t take up a lot of time for either the driver or the inspector.

Level 5

Level 5 inspections are the same as Level 1 inspections with one major caveat: the truck is the only thing being inspected. The driver does not even have to be present for this level of inspection, which frees them up to perform other tasks while their vehicle is being inspected.

Level 6

Level 6 inspections are only necessary for vehicles tasked with hauling radioactive materials. The Enhanced NAS Inspection for Radioactive Shipments is the same as the standard Level 1 inspection, but it pays special attention to any radiological emissions.

Once the truck and driver have passed inspection, the truck is marked with a clearly visible nuclear symbol that is removed once the delivery reaches its destination.

Preparing Vehicles for a DOT Inspection

Getting ready for a DOT inspection is a two-fold proposition: it involves preparing both the vehicle and the driver. First, let’s take a closer look at getting fleet vehicles ready for inspections.

By far the easiest way to pass a DOT inspection is to be prepared. This can entail but is not limited to keeping the vehicle in tip-top shape, keeping it clean, and ensuring all required and recommended maintenance is carried out in a timely manner. Understand the systems that will be inspected and address any problems promptly.

Fleet managers may wish to seek out a DOT Inspection Certification as well. While this will not prevent an inspection from occurring if there is an obvious violation to address, it can help streamline the process a little bit in some situations.

Keeping the vehicle clean may not be a requirement for DOT inspections, but it can ensure the inspector is focusing on the details of the inspection rather than becoming vexed because of the state of the truck.

Preparing Drivers for a DOT Inspection

Drivers are the other part of the equation when it comes to successfully preparing for a DOT inspection.

Driver inspections tend to require a lot of paperwork. Inspectors will go over everything from the driver’s commercial licensing, to their medical card, waivers, daily logs, and hours of service. They will also assess the drivers to see if they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and will verify any HAZMAT requirements.

Start by ensuring all of the driver’s paperwork is up to date. Then keep a copy of all the necessary paperwork in a folder in the cab — as well as backups located elsewhere in case something happens to the originals. A lot of this information, such as the daily logs and hours of service, can sometimes be accessed digitally, depending on how the fleet is set up. Fleets that haven’t switched to digital data collection for hours of service and daily logs may wish to consider doing so to speed up the inspection process.

Make sure your drivers are always polite and professional when dealing with inspectors. It’s always a good idea to treat these individuals with professional courtesy, even and perhaps especially if they’re flagging a violation.

Don’t Fail an Inspection by Lacking Preparation

DOT inspections might be a hassle, but they are an unavoidable part of operating a trucking fleet. The easiest way to fail one of these inspections is to go into them entirely unprepared. As long as the fleet is operating properly, all violations are addressed as quickly as possible, and drivers and fleet managers are working to keep themselves and other drivers safe, then passing these inspections with flying colors should be easy.

They say that failing to plan is planning to fail, and that is a rule to live by when it comes to preparing for DOT inspections.

supply chain
3pls, Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, Ocean Ports, Trucking

6 Emerging Challenges for the Supply Chain and How to Address Them

Leave a comment

The past 18 months have exposed major weaknesses in the global supply chain. For many companies, the pressure from the COVID-19 pandemic stretched logistics to their limits, revealing inefficiencies and areas for improvement.

These existing weaknesses are being compounded by new supply chain challenges and changing market conditions. Here are six of the most important emerging challenges for global logistics — and what businesses can do to address them.

1. Lead Time Expectations

Consumers and business clients both expect increasingly quick turnaround times on new orders. In part due to the rise of ecommerce giants like Amazon, many consumers consider it normal for an item to be delivered a day or two after an order is received.

For the global supply chain, however, this is often unrealistic. International shipment can take weeks or months, depending on the complexity of the item ordered.

These consumer expectations aren’t likely to change any time soon. As a result, more effective demand forecasting and supply planning will be essential for businesses. Flexible supply chains that are capable of expediting orders as needed — for example, taking advantage of backup air freight contracts when land or sea would be too slow — will become an invaluable asset.

Strategies that keep goods close to buyers can also help businesses meet these expectations. Distributing warehouse space, if possible, can make it more likely that items are nearby buyers when ordered, making them quicker to ship.

2. Port Congestion

Port congestion, in part caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, remains a major challenge for logistics. Right now, ports around the world are experiencing record levels of congestion, meaning freight shipped by sea is likely to be delayed significantly.

Businesses are experimenting with different solutions to this problem. In the United States, some major retailers have begun chartering their own ships to import goods ahead of the 2021 holiday season. Chartering these ships allows the retailers to unload at less-congested docks, like those in Portland, Oregon.

Most businesses likely don’t have the resources to charter their own cargo ships. Instead, demand forecasting and carrier choice may help companies keep sea freight moving. Staggering shipment containers across multiple vessels may also help businesses avoid the worst of a port’s congestion while also mitigating risks in other ways.

The diversification of sourcing in a supply chain strategy can also help. If port congestion makes it nearly impossible to obtain a good or raw material from one supplier, there may be other suppliers available via air or land freight.

3. Aging Equipment

As they age, vehicles become less reliable and more prone to failure. Regular replacement of fleet vehicles is essential to keep the supply chain running smoothly, but the high expense of a new truck or tractor-trailer means businesses are continuing to use legacy equipment for longer than they would typically.

Vehicle failures can happen suddenly. Even simple issues can cause massive problems when a part that’s been on the verge of failure begins to break down.

Replacing old vehicles with new ones is one way to minimize downtime due to failures. An upgrade is also an opportunity to investigate alternative fuel vehicles and electric trucks.

For businesses that can’t afford the capital expense of a new fleet, knowledge and careful maintenance can keep vehicles running longer. Preventive maintenance and effective upkeep is the best way to extend the lifespan of a vehicle.

For example, the lifespan of tires that are underinflated by just 20% may decrease by as much as 30%. Proper tire inflation can keep vehicles on the road and decrease maintenance costs over time. Other common semi-truck issues, like brake failures, can also be avoided with the right maintenance practices.

Some businesses may also deal with niche-specific maintenance problems. For instance, transporting crops can put significant strain on the suspension of a vehicle or machine, especially its leaf springs.

Regular inspection and maintenance of these suspension components can help logistics companies avoid costly breakdowns and significant downtime.

4. Aging Infrastructure

A similar, related problem is emerging on the state side of logistics. Dated transportation infrastructure is beginning to show its age. In 2021, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave American infrastructure as a whole a C minus. Roadways fell behind even this low average and were given a D grade.

Bridge closures, roadwork, and infrastructure failures can all create serious difficulties for logistics companies. When essential routes are closed for emergency maintenance, companies may have few options for avoiding delays.

As with port congestion, diversification may be the answer for businesses. Distributing risk by partnering with a larger number of suppliers can help businesses create a more responsive and flexible supply chain network.

5. Digital Transformation and Cyber Vulnerability

Data has become one of the most valuable assets available to logistics companies. With the right customer information, a business can more accurately predict demand, anticipate crises, and mitigate risks.

This same information can also make a company much more vulnerable, however. The value of data stored on business networks makes these networks a more attractive target for hackers.

At the same time, digitalization, the adoption of Industry 4.0 technology and IoT devices, and the pivot to working from home have all increased the number of critical business assets exposed to the internet.

The consequences of a successful breach can be massive. Businesses that suffer a breach may pay multi-million-dollar ransoms, lose critical files, or face a badly damaged reputation. Downtime and fines from government regulators can further increase the cost of a breach.

Effective cybersecurity is the best way to reduce the risk of a breach. Investing in IT, developing best practices, and participating in industry conversations on cybersecurity will help businesses ensure that critical assets and digital infrastructure are kept safe from hackers.

6. Rising Freight Prices

Higher shipping costs are likely here to stay. For logistics providers and vendors, this can be a serious challenge. Already, experts are predicting that businesses will hike prices to offset the growing freight costs. The impact will likely be felt in almost every sector of the economy.

Better technology may help businesses adapt to these higher prices. Transportation management utilities that allow businesses to compare carriers and optimize routes, for example, can help them to both navigate around delays and minimize freight costs.

How Businesses Can Adapt to a Changing Supply Chain

The global supply chain is transforming fast. Businesses that want to develop effective logistics strategies will need to manage both old and new supply chain challenges.

Technology and diversification may both be essential. Partnering with a range of suppliers can help businesses distribute risk and avoid emerging issues like port congestion. New technology can make it easier to optimize routes and identify the most valuable carriers.

B2B
Archives, Global Trade Daily, Special Reports

What B2B Marketing Trends Can We Expect to See in 2022?

Leave a comment

Major shifts in the global market are impacting how B2B companies approach marketing. After 18 chaotic months, innovation is accelerating at a rapid pace. The digital transformation of the economy and the rise of e-commerce are likely to spark significant change in 2022.

Current data suggests these trends are likely to define B2B marketing in the coming year, so businesses would be wise to embrace them.

1. Spending Shifts to Mobile-First Strategy

In 2022, mobile and digital advertising will continue to become central to B2B marketing efforts. At the same time, marketers are also adjusting to a work-from-home reality. Around 70% of B2B buyers and decision-makers prefer remote or digital interactions with vendors.

Gartner predicts this number will tick up by an additional 10 percentage points by 2025. These buyers will likely respond better to more digital marketing strategies, as well.

Many marketers will likely shift to a digital-first marketing approach that prioritizes mobile advertising and content over offline and more traditional strategies. This will probably come with growing ad spend — though growth is on track to be slower next year than it has been in the past, partly due to the lingering effects of COVID-19.

As the amount of millennials in decision-making roles has grown, so has the number of buyers who want a seller-free experience. Less personal and direct approaches to marketing may become more popular among B2B marketers as a result.

2. Changing Lead Generation Channels

Generating quality leads remains a top goal of B2B marketers. How they are developed is likely to change significantly in 2022 and through the rest of the decade.

COVID-19 impacted how events are hosted. While some businesses pivoted to online events and others chose to delay or cancel, all marketers had to adapt quickly to the reality that in-person events were no longer always available to generate leads.

Jurgen Desmedt, head of marketing at Europe-based CDP vendor NGDATA, told CMSWire that social media is emerging as a major lead-generation channel.

B2B marketers are more often taking to social advertisements to generate leads that previously came from events. Uncertainty in B2B marketing may also be driving the pivot to social media. Marketers unwilling to commit fully to in-person interactions may instead look toward other methods requiring less commitment.

The most popular style of social media marketing is also changing. Many marketers are now more interested in highly targeted and personalized strategies. Many platforms offer targeting tools with extremely fine levels of detail so they can deliver niche content to specific audiences.

Scheduling apps may help smaller businesses and solo entrepreneurs manage an increasingly complex strategy that delivers niche content to various audiences.

3. Growing Focus on Customer Psychology

The “neuromarketing” strategy allows B2B marketers to spend more time than ever focused on the individual psychology of key buyers and decision-makers. In practice, this may look like a shift from topic-driven to persona-driven marketing in B2B. Marketers will focus on honing in on their target audience’s particular needs, desires, and interests to generate more effective ads, content, and events.

Client personas will become a more important marketing consideration as a result. There’s also likely to be a greater focus on matching searcher intent and developing deeper content calendars.

4. Innovation to Engage B2B Customers

Cutting-edge technology will help marketers create campaigns that more effectively engage potential buyers in 2022. Optimizing for new types of search — like image and audio — may be essential to capture traffic. AI and marketing chatbots could help marketers reach more customers and reduce the amount of time potential buyers spend waiting.

In some cases, new technology and the focus on psychology may also mean the growing use of high-tech advertisements that generate interest and secure potential buyers’ attention.

Interactivity in emails can increase conversions and improve ROI — helping businesses get more out of their email campaigns. AMP emails, which enable marketers to provide app-like functionality inside a message, are one common method for delivering this interactivity.

Similar uses of personalization and interactivity in other forms of marketing may also provide results like these.

5. Original Research and Top-Quality Content

Online resource centers, blogs, content hubs and more have become a valuable tool for B2B marketers. In 2022, original research is likely to become even more important for marketing efforts.

According to data from the 2020 Demand Gen Report, B2B buyers increasingly look to a business’s original content when making purchasing decisions. This has become a significant trust marker, signaling to buyers that the company puts stock in its organizational knowledge and experience. Research also provides some early value to a potential buyer,

Because content has become a trust marker, simply writing posts to generate traffic and leads will no longer be enough. Information needs to be top-quality to encourage buyers to investigate the brand further or get in touch with the business’s sales team.

Various content strategies will likely be necessary to deliver high-quality information relevant to B2B buyers’ interests.

Customer psychology will likely be important to content teams. Effective use and reuse of posts will allow marketers to take full advantage of what they develop. Breaking things up to enable the tracking of micro-conversions could provide marketers with additional insights into reader behavior and interests.

Certain content types will also probably be more valuable than others. A business’s niche, original research, white papers and other forms of highly valuable and in-depth content may provide the most value to readers — building trust and generating interest.

Video content remains one of the top content types, overtaking blog posts and infographics in popularity. However, the high cost of producing video content may be a barrier to its use by some businesses.

How B2B Marketing Is Likely to Change in 2022

Uncertainty and digital transformation will likely have a significant impact on B2B marketing next year. Marketers are beginning to leverage mobile-first approaches, invest more in social media and adopt cutting-edge technology, like chatbots and interactive emails. This will be vital to effectively reach people and boost sales moving forward.

These new strategies and tools may help companies adapt to a market where buyers are more interested in digital channels and personalized content. Marketers must be prepared to embrace the upcoming changes to effectively reach their target audiences in 2022.

innovations
Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, Stories

5 Innovations in Manufacturing Processes and Their Effect on the Bottom Line

Leave a comment

Manufacturing is a rapidly evolving industry. With a broad spectrum of sectors depending on manufacturing, modern facilities are often quick to adopt new technology that improves on their existing processes.

The rise of automation, artificial intelligence (AI) and data have created a wave of digital transformation. As manufacturing grows and becomes increasingly competitive, capitalizing on Industry 4.0 innovations can determine whether or not a company will succeed.

Here’s a look at five of these innovations and how they affect the bottom line.

1. Cobots

Robots aren’t new in the manufacturing industry. But as automation has grown, new approaches and technologies have emerged that can take its benefits further. Collaborative robots, or cobots, are one of the most significant of these upgrades to factory automation.

In a 2021 study, 44.9% of surveyed businesses said that robots are an integral part of their operations. Of those companies, 34.9% had adopted cobots. Cobots have slowly become more popular as manufacturers have realized the limits of traditional automation. Other robotic solutions are expensive and inflexible, making it difficult to scale, but not cobots.

Since cobots work alongside humans instead of replacing them, they typically automate fewer processes at once. Consequently, they’re often more affordable than traditional automation and easier to implement. Manufacturers can then automate one process at a time, slowly scaling up to meet demand or new challenges.

This incremental approach to automation removes the high upfront costs and disruptions of traditional automation. As a result, cobots enable manufacturers, especially smaller businesses, to scale up and down with ease. These companies can then enjoy quicker, higher ROIs.

2. IoT Sensors

Another growing innovation in manufacturing is the implementation of internet of things (IoT) sensors. While these technologies aren’t a manufacturing-specific phenomenon, they hold considerable potential in this sector. Perhaps their most popular and impressive use case is predictive maintenance.

Predictive maintenance improves on traditional maintenance schedules by avoiding both breakdowns and unnecessary repairs. According to a Deloitte report, it reduces maintenance costs by 25% on average. That’s an impressive figure on its own, but it also reduces breakdowns by an average of 70%.

Considering that an hour of downtime costs more than $100,000 in 98% of organizations, that adds up to considerable savings. Predictive maintenance isn’t the only application of IoT sensors in manufacturing, either.

Manufacturers can also use these sensors to gather data points throughout their operations. This data can then reveal areas of potential improvement, enabling ongoing optimization. The longer manufacturers use these technologies, the more they can save through them.

3. Additive Manufacturing

One recent innovation that is specific to manufacturing is 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing. While this technology is most well known as a tool for hobbyists, it originated as an industrial production technique. Recent advances have made it a more viable solution, leading to a comeback in industrial manufacturing.

Additive manufacturing lets manufacturers produce parts and products as a single piece instead of assembling multiple smaller components. Like mil-spec buffer tubes, which are made of a single piece of aluminum, this improves products’ strength and resiliency. As a result, they produce fewer defects, improving the company’s bottom line.

Since additive manufacturing adds material instead of cutting it away, it also reduces waste. Manufacturers can get more parts or products from the same amount of materials. 3D printers also typically work faster than traditional production techniques, leading to a quicker time to market.

Additive manufacturing is also more energy-efficient. Some products, like car batteries, require a lot of energy to handle the sensitive materials they need, leading to higher costs. By reducing energy consumption through additive manufacturing, facilities can increase their profit margins. Alternatively, they could reduce end prices, selling more with consistent profit margins.

4. 5G Connectivity

Like the IoT, 5G isn’t strictly a manufacturing technology, but it has impressive potential for the sector. 5G networks aren’t widespread enough yet to bring substantial improvements to the consumer sector, but they’re ideal for manufacturing facilities. Their higher bandwidth, increased speeds and lower latency let smart manufacturing reach its full height.

5G networks can theoretically support up to one million devices per square kilometer, ten times 4G’s limits. That will allow manufacturers to expand their IoT infrastructure to virtually every machine in the facility. Lower latencies will allow these interconnected systems to communicate more efficiently and reliably, unlocking Industry 4.0’s potential.

With all of these machines connected to one another, manufacturers could create cohesive autonomous environments. If a disruption occurs in one process, machines down the line could know and adapt to it, minimizing its impact. As a result, manufacturers could maintain higher productivity levels, minimizing their losses from lost time.

5G lets manufacturers use technologies like the IoT and automation to their full extent. This leads to higher ROIs for these significant investments.

5. Machine Vision Error Detection

AI has many use cases in manufacturing, but one of its most enticing is machine vision. Machine vision systems let manufacturers automate quality control processes at both the front and back end of production lines. This automation, in turn, improves the efficiency and accuracy of their error detection.

When Heineken installed a machine vision quality control system in its Marseille, France bottling plant, it highlighted this technology’s benefits. The facility’s bottling machine operates at 22 bottles per second, far too fast for human workers to spot any bottle defects without stopping it. The machine vision system, on the other hand, can analyze bottles at speed with a 0% error rate.

Machine vision error detection lets manufacturers increase production while maintaining the same level of quality. Since these systems deliver a level of consistency impossible for a human, they’re also more accurate. As a result, facilities will also produce fewer defects.

Fewer defects translate into less waste, and faster checking enables increased output. These factors combined result in an improved bottom line.

New Technologies Make Manufacturing More Profitable

These five technologies aren’t the only ones pushing manufacturing forward, but they are among the most notable. As more facilities embrace these innovations, manufacturing is becoming a more profitable industry.

Technologies like these improve efficiency, minimize errors, optimize operations and more. Manufacturers that can capitalize on them early will ensure their future success, and those that don’t may quickly fall behind.

carbon supply chain
Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, International Trade

What Would a Post-Carbon Supply Chain Look Like?

Leave a comment

Businesses worldwide are pushing for more sustainable practices. As the threat of climate change has worsened, it’s become clear that industry as a whole must move away from carbon emission-generating practices. This movement has significant implications for supply chains.

Today’s supply chains are far from carbon-free. An organization’s supply chain often accounts for 90% of its greenhouse gas emissions when taking overall climate impacts into account. From diesel-powered trucks to natural gas-generated warehouse power, these networks rely heavily on fossil fuels.

It can be hard to imagine supply chains without these resources, but it’s not impossible. Here’s what a post-carbon supply chain would look like and how companies could achieve it.

Electric Vehicles

The most obvious difference between today’s supply chains and a post-carbon one is their vehicles. Transportation accounts for 21% of total global emissions, and freight constitutes a considerable portion of that figure. Almost all trucks that move freight today use fossil fuels, but post-carbon transport will be electric.

Electric trucks will likely be the first type of carbon-free vehicles to appear in supply chains. General Motors has already established goals to produce zero emissions, and electric road vehicles are increasingly common. Post-carbon supply chains will bring electrification to more than just trucks, though.

Ships and airplanes will also be electric. Their longer routes will require more efficiency, so they may rely on technologies like fuel cells or solar power instead of batteries. Regardless of the specifics, every vehicle in the post-carbon supply chain will be electric.

Green Power Sources

While vehicles may be the easiest culprit to pinpoint, they’re not the only source of emissions. Supply chains consume a considerable amount of energy, most of which comes from fossil fuels. In fact, if 125 multinational companies increased their supply chain renewable energy by 20%, they would save more than 1 billion metric tons of carbon emissions.

In a post-carbon supply chain, all energy would come from renewable sources. That would likely mean using various technologies, as sustainable power has varying effectiveness in different applications. Solar, wind and hydroelectric power would all play a part in the transition to zero-carbon operations.

A truly zero-carbon supply chain would also use renewables to generate power for its electric vehicles. Creating batteries or hydrogen for fuel cells requires energy, and this too must be green for supply chains to be truly sustainable.

Sustainable Sourcing

A more easily overlooked aspect of post-carbon supply chains is how sustainability plays into their corporate partnerships. A truly zero-emissions supply chain must ensure its suppliers are also carbon-free. Otherwise, it would still be investing in emissions-producing activity, albeit indirectly.

Industrial sectors like manufacturing are responsible for 29.6% of total emissions in the U.S. If a supply chain moved products from a company with such a significant carbon footprint, one could hardly consider it carbon-free. In a truly post-carbon supply chain, all connected sources are also zero emissions.

Ensuring these connections are sustainable requires a considerable amount of transparency. As such, post-carbon supply chains will require regular audits from involved parties to verify their sustainability. They’ll likely also employ technologies like Internet of Things (IoT) trackers and blockchains to keep operations transparent.

How Can the World Move Toward Post-Carbon Supply Chains?

These factors may seem like lofty goals right now. Today’s supply chains have a long way to go before they can say they’re truly carbon-free. Thankfully, however far-off these sustainability targets may seem, they are achievable. Companies can start acting now to move toward them.

Recognizing the business incentives for removing carbon from the supply chain can help encourage further action. According to one study, 84% of global consumers are more likely to make purchase decisions based on a company’s sustainability practices. Similarly, 61% are willing to wait for longer delivery times if they know it’s better for the environment.

Interest in sustainable supply chains will grow when more organizations realize these benefits. As this trend gains momentum, here are a few ways supply chains can start moving toward zero-carbon goals.

Improve Visibility

The first step in moving away from carbon is improving supply chain visibility. Companies can’t effectively become more sustainable if they don’t know the extent of their current unsustainable practices. Audits and studies can reveal where carbon emissions come from in a supply chain, guiding further action.

Organizations must also ensure their emissions monitoring is an ongoing process. Without continuous checking, they won’t be able to tell how different actions impact their overall goals. Periodic audits and implementing IoT sensors to track carbon emissions can ensure ongoing transparency.

In that spirit, supply chains should start improving visibility between partners. Asking for suppliers to offer proof of their sustainability initiatives will encourage broader action and help reduce emissions on all fronts.

Invest in Green Technologies

Some aspects of the post-carbon supply chain, like electric vehicles, aren’t applicable right now. While options may be limited today, more investment in these technologies will speed their development, making sustainability more viable quicker.

Many companies have already begun to invest in green technologies. Maserati has invested more than $867 million to refurbish its production hub to produce electric cars. As more money flows into these innovations, efficient, low-cost, carbon-free technologies will become available sooner, aiding a faster transition.

Green energy is a technology, not a resource. As such, it will only become cheaper and more efficient over time. Consequently, while some of these technologies may not be viable business choices now, they will be eventually, especially with more funding.

Collaborate

Since supply chains are so interconnected, it will take increased collaboration to push them away from carbon. Decarbonization is also a considerable undertaking. The transition will be far easier and faster if companies can work together toward a common goal.

Collaboration can mitigate the financial burden of decarbonization. Similarly, it can help some companies overcome any qualms they may have about the risks of going green. Climate action experts highlight that shared responsibility translates into reduced risk, at least in people’s perception of it.

In addition to collaborating with other related companies, supply chains can partner with environmental organizations. They can help show where improvements can be made, guiding more effective action.

Supply Chains Must Become More Sustainable

Supply chains are essential to virtually every industry, and they often produce some of the most emissions. As such, these operations must move away from fossil fuels as companies seek to become more sustainable.

The post-carbon supply chain seems like a lofty goal, but it’s attainable. When organizations realize these things are possible, they can start moving toward a better future.

trucking
Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, Trucking

Promoting Healthy Lifestyle Choices in the Trucking Industry

Leave a comment

Most discussions on trucker safety focus on driving habits and other vehicle-related actions. While these factors are undoubtedly critical to ensuring truck drivers stay safe, the industry should also consider some less obvious issues. Driver health receives less attention, and that should change.

More than 50% of truck drivers are obese, compared to 26.7% of all U.S. adults. Similarly, diabetes is 50% more common in truckers than in the general population, and 54% of truckers smoke, compared to just 21% overall. These health issues can put drivers at greater risk of disease, increase their medical bills, hinder their quality of life and even endanger their lives.


 

Many of these health trends result from the industry’s long hours, little flexibility and limited options. Consequently, the trucking industry must change to promote healthier lifestyles. Here’s how it can do so.

1. Provide Health Information Resources

The first way the industry can fight unhealthy lifestyle choices is with information. Many drivers may be unaware of how to make healthier choices, and there are limited resources available to teach them. Truckers report that 70% of trucking companies and 81% of truck stops have no health promotion programs.

Studies suggest that providing more information could help promote healthier lifestyles. While 96% of American adults want their food choices to deliver health benefits, only 45% can accurately name the ones that can. Health coaching programs can help address that latter figure, providing a way forward for truckers.

Trucking companies and truck stops should offer resources to teach truckers how to improve their eating, exercise and other health habits. Information alone won’t solve the sector’s health issues, but it provides a starting point. Without it, becoming healthier is far more challenging.

2. Make Schedules More Flexible

One of the reasons so many truckers face health issues is because of their schedules. Since truckers work long hours, they may not have the time to exercise regularly. Even though it’s possible to work out in 10 minutes, drivers may be too tired after a long day on the road.

More flexible schedules would help give drivers the time they need to become more physically active. When that’s not possible, another solution is to send them on the road in pairs. While one drives, the other can relax or sleep, helping them feel less tired when they stop and encouraging more physical activity.

Having drivers travel in pairs will also boost trucker health by improving their sleep schedules. Sleep deficiency can increase the risk of obesity, heart disease, stroke and more. Truck drivers can prevent these risks by taking more time for shuteye.

3. Offer Access to Exercise Programs as a Benefit

Another obstacle drivers face in trying to live healthier is a lack of access to necessary resources. Truckers may not know of any available exercise programs or how to get started, and even if they do, they may be expensive. Trucking companies can encourage exercise by providing these programs as a job benefit.

Drivers who stay with the company for a given amount of time could get a free gym membership as a perk. More truckers may be willing to try programs they don’t need to pay for. Offering these benefits company-wide can also provide a social reason for going, as truckers will be in the gym with peers and co-workers.

Trucking companies can try to make these options more enticing by offering various options. For example, boxing can burn up to 800 calories in an hour and may interest drivers more than an ordinary gym. Providing fun ways to exercise like this may encourage more participation.

4. Reward Healthy Behavior

Similarly, trucking companies can encourage healthier lifestyle choices by rewarding them. A sense of competition, or even just the thought of a prize, can convince drivers who may not otherwise be interested in health programs. Companies can create a tier system where drivers who meet different goals receive increasing awards.

For example, a company could offer monetary bonuses, days off or gift cards for completing different weight loss tiers. These programs don’t have to last year-round, but holding them regularly can encourage ongoing healthier choices. After living this way for a month or two, drivers may want to adopt those behaviors permanently.

While these initiatives can create a spirit of competition, companies shouldn’t lean into the competitive side too much. Rewards should be based on completing goals, not outperforming others. Otherwise, these programs could have the opposite effect than intended, discouraging some employees from participating.

5. Promote Convenient Care Clinics

There are more than 40,000 medical providers that conduct Department of Transportation and CDL medical exams. Many of these locations are also convenient care clinics, which can be a useful health resource for drivers. Trucking companies should promote them so drivers know where they can find information about their health.

Convenient care clinics can assess truckers’ health, provide any needed care and help them develop a roadmap for healthier living. Having easy, affordable access to this care can significantly affect driver health, but they have to know about them first.

Trucking companies should inform new hires about these clinics and continue to promote them through newsletters, emails and signage. The more companies talk about them, the more likely drivers are to check them out.

6. Work With Truck Stops to Improve Offerings

Truck stops play a critical role in the health and lifestyle of truckers. Since drivers spend much of their downtime at these locations, that’s where they make many crucial health choices. They’re also notoriously insufficient when it comes to healthy offerings, so trucking companies should work with them to improve.

One study found that not one surveyed stop offered exercise facilities, and 81% didn’t even have a walking path. Most also only had a few healthy food offerings, with 25% lacking them entirely. If these areas had more options, trucker health would likely improve.

Trucking companies can see if they can partner with these stops to offer better choices. Funding exercise facilities or healthier food options will go a long way.

Trucker Health Must Improve

Healthier truckers will spend less on medical bills, have a higher quality of life and live longer. While health may be a matter of personal choices, trucking companies can help improve the safety of their employees by promoting better options.

As it currently stands, the trucking industry faces something of a health crisis. If more companies follow these steps, they can make the profession an altogether healthier one.

Preventive Maintenance
Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, Trucking

How Fleet Managers Can Simplify Preventive Maintenance

Leave a comment

Preventive maintenance is essential for keeping a fleet on the road. By using a maintenance schedule and regularly inspecting essential vehicle components, fleet managers can extend the lifespan of their fleet vehicles and reduce unplanned downtime.

While preventive maintenance prevents costly repairs in the future, it can be both time-consuming and difficult to schedule in-the-moment. For managers, knowing how to streamline this maintenance approach will make it easier to avoid disruptions without making inspections or repairs less effective.

1. Digitize Paperwork and Scheduling

Administrative work can be one of the most time-consuming portions of preventive maintenance. Every inspection or repair generates paperwork that must be logged and stored properly to create effective records of maintenance.

Digital solutions can make storing, accessing, and analyzing this information much simpler. Support staff and mechanics can generate templates for common repairs using information from previous work, streamlining the process of documenting maintenance.

Once all information about the fleet is properly stored in the system, managers and technicians will be able to see at a glance all fleet vehicles and upcoming repairs, plus an overview of the business’s maintenance backlog. Having this information stored in one location will make it easier to track the movement of the fleet and forecast maintenance needs.

This technology can also simplify scheduling and planned downtime. By integrating a fleet management system with the scheduling system, fleet managers can more easily catch potential schedule conflicts and better plan maintenance-related downtime to minimize disruption.

2. Train Drivers

Effective maintenance practices can go to waste if drivers don’t know how their behavior can preserve fleet vehicles.

Harsh driving, for example, isn’t just dangerous. It can also have a real impact on vehicle health. Harsh braking can wear out brakes and trigger a vehicle’s automated braking system, potentially causing it to fail earlier. Harsh acceleration can reduce a vehicle’s fuel efficiency. Idling is bad for the environment, can be in violation of local anti-idling ordinances, and may result in an under-lubricated engine, which can cause a wide range of problems in any vehicle.

Training fleet vehicle operators to drive in a way that minimizes these behaviors can reduce a business’s need for maintenance. For example, drivers should know how to cut down on their fuel use and facts about fuel efficiency, like the fact that idling uses more gas than shutting off and restarting an engine. They should also know how to avoid harsh braking and acceleration, as well as the impact these behaviors can have on their vehicle.

Often, vehicle telematics systems and tools like electronic logging devices (ELDs) include features that help managers monitor for harsh driving, idling, and other unwanted driver behaviors.

A dashcam, for example, connected to certain ELDs can monitor for distracted driving, hard braking, reckless turning, and speeding. Most telematics systems can detect idling and automatically alert drivers and managers.

3. Maintain Part and Equipment Inventory

Keeping a part and equipment inventory that’s up-to-date will streamline maintenance. Most preventive maintenance involves the same few common replacement parts — like a new oil filter, new battery, or new belt. If a fleet is mostly made up of the same types of vehicles, managers can keep the right spare parts on hand to reduce repair time and maintenance costs.

With a regularly updated inventory record, the maintenance team will be able to instantly see if they have those parts in stock and plan maintenance without having to manually check part storage. This can make it easier for a business to further streamline preventive maintenance.

This inventory system can also assist technicians and managers in culling obsolete or expired stock. These items will take up storage space, clutter workspaces and can make finding the right part more difficult.

Digital inventory solutions can make this process easier. Barcoding essential items and equipment, for example, will allow mechanics or support staff to quickly perform inventory counts and update equipment status in an inventory tracking system.

4. Perform Regular Tire Pressure Checks

Prioritizing certain maintenance tasks can prevent repairs and simplify checks down the road. Regularly checking tire pressure is probably one of the most important ones — tire pressure affects a massive range of vehicle characteristics, including handling, rate of tire wear, rate of suspension wear, and fuel economy. All of these factors can influence driver safety — handling or suspension issues can pose serious risks to drivers — and may require premature maintenance or fuel stops.

Changing air temperature can also raise or lower tire pressure, meaning tire pressure will change over time, even without a leak. Regular air pressure checks prevent underinflated tires and the risks they can come with.

Automatic tire inflation systems, which bundle together gauges and inflators, can make the process of regularly checking and filling tires more convenient if a business’s fleet management team currently relies on separate devices.

In addition to regular tire pressure checks, fleet managers can also use digital solutions to track tire pressure across the fleet. Modern vehicles often have tire pressure sensors that monitor the current pressure in each tire. A telematics system with a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) can help fleet managers and other staff access this data remotely and provide alerts when tire pressure for any fleet vehicle falls below a certain level.

5. Review Maintenance Data

A regular review of maintenance data will take time, but it’s the best way to spot recurring bottlenecks and process issues at a business.

For example, it’s not unusual for maintenance practices to generate process waste — like the waste generated when a poorly performed repair leads to additional work on a vehicle down the line. Identifying and removing the conditions that caused the poor repair will prevent these mistakes in the future.

Making maintenance records easy to store and access can help make this review a little simpler. If fleet managers know where all essential maintenance data is, they and their team won’t have to spend as much time prepping for the review.

The Right Practices Can Streamline Preventive Maintenance

Preventive maintenance is the gold standard for vehicle upkeep, but it can be both costly and time-consuming. Finding ways to streamline maintenance without sacrificing repair quality will help any fleet manager make their preventive maintenance strategy more efficient.

Digital maintenance and fleet management solutions are often useful in streamlining maintenance operations. Driver training and prioritizing specific types of maintenance — like tire pressure checks — will also be helpful.

Security
Archives, Global Trade Daily, Software

An Exploration of Emerging Technologies for Facility Security

Leave a comment

Safety is a critical consideration for any workplace. Every business is subject to some amount of risk, and without proper precautions, companies could endanger employees or hinder their focus. While workplace safety isn’t a new concern, it is particularly prominent at the moment.

A 2020 poll revealed that only 65% of American workers feel completely satisfied with their physical safety at work. That figure is down 74% from the previous year and the lowest it’s been since 2001. Facilities must become more secure, and thankfully, new technologies provide a way forward.

While cybersecurity may get more press in conversations about security technology, recent advancements have pushed physical safety further, too. Here’s a closer look at some of the emerging technologies for facility security.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most disruptive technologies across industries today. As of 2020, 50% of surveyed companies had implemented AI. While its most popular use cases are in optimizing business processes or automating routine tasks, it has significant potential in security.

Machine vision algorithms can scan CCTV footage to recognize when someone is carrying a weapon. They can then instantly alert security staff or other employees, enabling quick, effective action. Since AI typically works far faster than manual processes, its speed could potentially save lives.

Similarly, AI could analyze audio signals to detect nearby threats. Studies suggest that people report only 20% of heard gunfire, mostly from being unsure of the noise’s source. AI could recognize these threats faster and more accurately, leading to timelier warnings and emergency calls.

IoT

Another emerging technology that has seen use cases far beyond security is the Internet of Things (IoT). IoT sensors’ ability to gather and send information in real-time makes them an indispensable facility safety tool. These sensors can virtually extend security staff’s reach, letting them monitor areas without traveling to them.

Even implementing IoT connectivity in everyday objects can improve facility security. For example, IoT-connected smoke detectors could send alerts to employees’ phones when they detect a fire in the building. These devices could then connect to a facility’s smart locks, opening safe passages while blocking compromised areas.

IoT connectivity can also improve workplace safety through predictive maintenance. These systems can make predictions about needed upkeep 20% faster and with higher accuracy than traditional means. Facilities can use this to keep gates and other security systems in optimal condition.

Drones

Compared to AI and the IoT, drone technology hasn’t experienced widespread adoption among businesses. Most commercial applications are in research, but they’re seeing increasing use as security tools, too. Like IoT sensors, drones let security teams monitor areas remotely, with the added advantage of omnidirectional mobility.

Facilities can use drones to get a bird’s-eye view of the property, potentially spotting things they may otherwise miss. Drones’ maneuverability can give teams access to areas that would be inconvenient or unsafe for workers to reach, too. Since flying is faster than walking, they make surveying a facility more efficient as well as more thorough.

Autonomous Robots

Some facilities have moved beyond remote-controlled drones to implement autonomous security robots. While these solutions carry higher upfront costs than traditional drones, they push their productivity benefits further. Without the need to control a robot, security teams can focus on other duties as these machines patrol, accomplishing more without extra staff.

Autonomous security robots may sound like a distant goal, but they’re already in use. LaGuardia Airport deployed robotic security guards in 2018, becoming the first major American airport to do so.

Security robots often feature capabilities beyond recording footage and sensing potential threats. Some have built-in facial recognition technology to identify known or wanted criminals, alerting security staff when they find them. Others can communicate with employees or visitors to help them navigate safely through the facility.

Disguised Barriers

Not every emerging security technology is as eye-catching as a robot, and sometimes, that’s by design. Such is the case with disguised barriers, which look like ordinary furnishings but protect buildings from vehicle-related accidents. These solutions keep employees, property and visitors safe without compromising a business’s curb appeal.

New technologies let companies construct robust protective barriers in unassuming shapes and sizes. As a result, a structure that looks like an ordinary flower planter can stop a 7.5 metric ton vehicle moving at 40 mph. The strength of these barriers ensures everyone inside is safe, while their design improves morale and attracts customers.

Traditional crash barriers may appear intimidating or overly industrial. These structures could drive customers away or make the workplace feel less comfortable, lowering morale. Disguised barriers remove these negative side effects while maintaining protection.

Innovative Materials

Novel construction materials are one of the innovations behind disguised barriers, but that’s not their only use case. Newly discovered or lab-grown materials can offer far more strength in a lighter or more flexible package. For example, graphene is so strong that if it coated a spider’s web, it could catch a falling plane without breaking.

These materials vastly improve the resilience of gates, barriers and other protective measures. Similarly, flexible options like graphene can form protective clothing for security guards or other workers who may encounter physical hazards. As research in this area continues, materials will keep getting stronger and lighter simultaneously.

Biometrics

Biometric security isn’t necessarily new, but new technologies are pushing it forward. Fingerprint scanners have become far more affordable and reliable than they used to be, letting many facilities replace outdated keycard systems. Physical biometrics themselves are no longer the peak of access security as behavioral biometrics gains traction.

Biometrics identify patterns in human behavior to distinguish between people. While most of these systems analyze computer use patterns like keystrokes, some can measure physical behaviors like someone’s gait or speech. These actions are harder for someone to fake, protecting restricted access areas from fraud.

Behavioral biometrics hasn’t seen much use in physical security yet, but as technology develops, it could. These systems can bolster traditional methods like passcodes and keycards to maintain a high bar for security.

New Technology Can Make Facilities More Secure

Every workplace has hazards, whether people realize it or not. As criminals’ methods become more sophisticated, so too must the security systems that stop them. These new technologies represent the latest in safety innovation.

Many of these technologies are still in their early stages, but they’re growing quickly. Before long, they could define modern security, making workplaces safer in the face of rising threats.

sustainable
Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, International Trade

10 Technologies That Promise a More Sustainable Supply Chain

Leave a comment

Supply chains can often account for more than 90% of a company’s carbon footprint. Finding ways to reduce the carbon cost of moving goods and raw materials could help significantly cut down on the emissions businesses across the economy produce.

The growing demand for sustainable business practices has business leaders looking for ways to shrink company carbon footprints and environmental impacts.

Many new technologies from inside and outside the industry could soon transform the supply chain and help make it far more sustainable.

1. Biodegradable Packaging

Many packaging materials are not environmentally friendly. Plastics — often in materials like styrofoam — are common and can take thousands of years to break down. When they do, they can escape into the environment in the form of microplastics. These are microscopic plastic fragments that can cause a range of health problems in both wildlife and humans.

New sustainable packaging options made from materials like prawn shell chitin, agricultural waste, and beech tree pulp, provide the support that packages need and break down in normal environmental conditions, unlike plastic. The use of these materials can help reduce the long-term environmental impact that non-biodegradable packaging can have.

2. Electric Cars

Electric vehicles have the potential to transform logistics vehicle fleets and last-mile delivery. Already, these vehicles can help businesses sustainably handle last-mile delivery.

As EV infrastructure expands over the next few years, they’re likely to become even more practical, including for companies in rural areas, where EV infrastructure has traditionally been less robust.

3. E-Bikes

Decarbonizing last-mile delivery can be challenging. Electric vehicle fleets aren’t always practical, and the high cost of adopting all-new electric vehicles can be steep.

In dense cities, bike couriers can help reduce the carbon cost of last-mile delivery. E-bikes can significantly extend the range couriers can cover without generating carbon, while also speeding up deliveries completed by bike.

Because these bikes can be charged for as little as $0.50 in major cities, they can provide a valuable and cheap alternative to cars, mopeds, and similar transport options. If necessary, companies can retrofit e-bike batteries and motors onto existing company bikes, reducing the cost of adoption, as well.

While not a total replacement for fleet vehicles, e-bikes are a potential low-carbon delivery solution for logistics professionals in population-dense areas.

4. Hydrogen Aviation and Ship Fuel Cells

While battery technology is improving fast, it’s not practical in every case. Airplanes and cargo ships, for example, can’t support the size and weight of a battery needed to power the craft from port to port or airstrip to airstrip. Maritime and air shipping experts are trying to find a more sustainable fuel instead.

Pure hydrogen fuel produces no emissions when burned. Manufacturers can create it using a carbon-free production method, reversible electrolysis, that requires just electricity and water. Other viable methods include a solar production strategy that draws power from the sun and also produces no carbon emissions.

As these methods come into widespread use, it could become possible for logistics providers to stop using high-emissions fuels like aviation fuel and heavy fuel oil.

5. Electric and Hydrogen Semi-Trailer Trucks

Soon, semi-trucks powered by batteries and special hydrogen fuel cells may also help reshape how goods are moved worldwide.

Cutting-edge electric trucks have a range comparable to semi-trucks with conventional internal combustion engines, meaning the limited range of some EVs, which has slowed adoption in the past, may not always be a problem.

As electric vehicle infrastructure expands, it may quickly become practical for shippers to switch from conventional trucks to electric ones. This could significantly reduce one of the supply chain’s most significant sources of carbon emissions.

Hydrogen-fuel trucks offer similar benefits. Several hydrogen fuel stations for hydrogen trucks are already in the works in America and could soon provide the infrastructure needed to make hydrogen semi-trailers practical.

6. Demand Forecasting Algorithms

The pattern-finding abilities of AI make it an excellent tool for solving complex problems when vast amounts of data are available. With AI trained on sales data, for example, companies can create more accurate demand forecasts and build a better picture of what customers will want and when.

During times of market instability when future demand is particularly challenging to predict, these tools can help reduce supply-side waste and overproduction.

7. Driver Behavior Analysis

Modern telematics solutions can offer data that helps logistics companies significantly reduce the carbon impact of their fleet vehicles. For example, idling can have severe environmental impacts.

Devices monitoring driver behavior can detect whether a driver has left their vehicle idling and for how long. This system can reduce idling incidents, keep companies compliant with local anti-idling ordinances, and reduce the carbon impact of their fleet vehicles.

8. Route Optimization Algorithms

Other sustainable use-cases for telematics include route optimization tools that use live traffic data and can interface with business scheduling systems.

These tools optimize driver routes, ensuring vehicles are spending as little time as possible on the road. This technology can help reduce unnecessary driving, optimize scheduling, and cut down on company carbon emissions.

9. Blockchain

Blockchain, the digital ledger technology that powers cryptocurrencies, can significantly improve supply chain visibility and transparency.

The technology, which provides a reliable and difficult-to-manipulate digital record-generating tool, gives businesses the means they need to improve supply chain transparency and guarantee ethical sourcing practices.

With the secure, trustworthy transaction records stored on the blockchain, businesses have a better chance of knowing how goods supplied by third parties were sourced — and if sourcing was done sustainably or in a way that complements other shipping practices.

10. Exhaust Scrubbers

New technology also makes it easier to retrofit existing shipping equipment to reduce carbon emissions.

Exhaust scrubbers, for example, are becoming increasingly popular among cargo shippers. These scrubbers are used on cargo ships to reduce the sulfur emissions produced by heavy fuel oils and similar fuels. According to an estimate by Bloomberg NEF, 4,800 vessels could be equipped with these scrubbers by 2025.

How New Technology May Enable Supply Chain Sustainability

Because supply chains account for such a large share of business carbon emissions, logistics providers will play an essential role in the ongoing pivot to more sustainable business practices.

Advanced technology will likely be critical for supply chain managers wishing to make their operations more sustainable. Electric vehicles, e-bikes, hydrogen fuel, and bio-derived packaging could soon enable managers to reduce the environmental impact and carbon emissions of shipping.

Sustainable
Archives, Global Trade Daily, International Trade

How Sustainable Practices Can Bolster the Global Economy

Leave a comment

Consumer demand for sustainable products is at an all-time high, likely due to a growing understanding of how consumption and energy use can impact the environment. In response, businesses are prioritizing sustainable practices and committing to goals to reduce consumption of resources, production of carbon emissions and generation of waste products.

While discussions of sustainability often center on the cost of sustainable practices, they could also be a major driver of growth for markets around the world. This is how eco-friendly practices could bolster the global economy as sustainability becomes a top business priority over the next few years.

Low-Waste Manufacturing and Safeguarding Raw Materials

Often, a key benefit of new sustainable technologies is their ability to reduce waste. They help manufacturers do more with less, reduce costs and ensure the availability of resources in the future.

For example, additive technologies, like 3D printing, are generating interest partly because they produce very little waste compared to conventional manufacturing. The process of adding material to a base via printing, rather than cutting it away to create the desired shape, makes it easier to minimize the by-product a project generates.

The growing availability of sustainable printing materials, like wood and metal, means manufacturers can also use 3D printing to mass-produce items with minimal waste.

These goods can also be more sustainable than those produced traditionally.

Some research has also found that 3D printing can use less energy than conventional manufacturing techniques, further reducing the environmental footprint. By reducing waste and resource consumption, sustainability may help manufacturers reduce costs and secure a competitive advantage.

Other manufacturing approaches look to recapture existing waste or find ways to turn it into resources other businesses may overlook. Reclaimed and recycled materials are an increasingly popular method for making manufacturing processes more sustainable.

Even as raw materials become more expensive, businesses can keep costs low by finding ways to take advantage of used materials that were set to go to landfills.

Practices that conserve limited raw materials in the first place can also safeguard future profits. Sustainable aquaculture can help fishermen limit resource consumption while avoiding overharvesting, which can result in smaller hauls and lower available revenue in the future. Sustainable lobster fishing uses techniques like v-notching — the marking of female lobsters with eggs — and trap size limits to preserve a population large enough to meet current and future demand.

In most industries, the availability of future resources will be dependent on current resource use to one extent or another. Sustainable resource generation and low-waste manufacturing are essential for businesses wanting to secure future growth.

 

Creating New Markets With Innovative Sustainable Products

Some products also create new opportunities for consumers. Many of these sustainable items are driving significant growth and reinvigorating markets that have been struggling over the past few years.

One of the best examples of these products is the e-bike, a transportation option often recommended to people wanting to reduce their carbon footprint. Unlike electric vehicles, which are typically thought of as a sustainable alternative to conventional cars, e-bikes create a sustainable transportation option that fills a formerly neglected demand niche.

These bikes are outfitted with a small electric motor and battery. They offer improved mobility and range over a standard bicycle, without the high speed or mechanical complexity of a vehicle like a moped or motorcycle.

In areas where environmental factors make bike travel impractical — like steep hills or long distances between important locations — e-bikes may still function as an effective means of travel. Also, because they can be plugged into any standard outlet, users in areas without EV infrastructure can adopt the bikes without worrying about running out of charge.

There is significant evidence that demand for e-bikes is one of the primary drivers behind the growth in bicycling right now. As imports of pedal-only bikes tanked in 2019 and 2020, there was an explosive increase in e-bike demand. Estimates of the market growth often have it on track to grow noticeably faster than the bike market in the near future, and some observers predict these bikes will eclipse standard options in the next few years.

For people living in or returning to cities and other population-dense areas, transportation options like e-bikes are likely to become much more popular. While bikes aren’t always an effective transportation option, e-bikes may mean consumers won’t have to turn to gas-powered methods — like public transit, conventional cars or mopeds — to get around.

Reducing Resource Consumption

The ongoing pivot to sustainable practices is also changing how and where businesses operate. One of the most significant changes has been in how buildings are designed, built and operated. Companies and architectural firms are starting to take advantage of innovative design techniques and new smart technology to reduce the resources needed to keep new buildings operational.

For example, whole-building design techniques change how structures are organized to save money or reduce energy consumption. Clever window placement can significantly increase the amount of natural lighting an office receives. This can make a building more pleasant for its occupants and reduce electricity costs.

Smart lighting systems, which can automatically adjust artificial sources based on the time of day and how much natural light a room is receiving, can optimize things even further.

Similar design strategies can help businesses cut down water usage or optimize an HVAC system. According to some industry experts, the use of high-performance HVAC equipment can result in cost cuts, emissions reductions and energy savings of up to 40% or more.

Whole-building design techniques can offer greater savings while also reducing the amount of work HVAC systems need to perform to keep a building comfortable. This can reduce the wear and tear in normal operations, meaning components may not have to be replaced or repaired as often.

Sustainability Is Driving Growth Around the World

In the near future, sustainable practices will be key drivers of business growth.

The more mindful use of resources will help ensure businesses minimize waste and keep raw materials available well into the future. New building design strategies will make offices and factories more comfortable and efficient, reducing resource consumption while boosting productivity.

Sustainable business strategies may also meet customer demands that were previously being ignored, such as the use of e-bikes. All these practices will help drive the economy to new heights and help the planet at the same time, something that benefits everyone.