School of Management and Languages

(Dubai Campus)
MSc in Logistics and Supply Chain
Management
Course Name: Green Logistics
Course Code: C11GL
Date: 3
rd
March 2013
Student ID & Name: H00140723 - Nouman Nasir
ssignment !itle
Information Sstems in Green Logistics
!able of Contents
1. !"ecuti#e Summar$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ 3
2. Introduction$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ 4
3. Information Sstems in Green Logistics$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ 4
4. %rans&ortation$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ '
5. (oad %rans&ortation$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ )
6. (oad %rans&ort Im&act on !n#ironment$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ )
7. Can Information Sstems *ring a change in (oad %rans&ortation+$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ ,
8. Conc-usion$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ .
.$ (eferences$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ 11
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1. Executive Summary
Logistics is no0adas descri*ed as the storage1 hand-ing and mo#ement of
&roducts from ra0 materia-1 to their &roduction sstem and then to their fina- &oint of
consum&tion$
2ith time as the concern for en#ironment is rising1 the com&anies ha#e to
ta3e into account the costs in#o-#ed 0ith en#ironment more into consideration as it is
a &ermanent damage$ It is due to this consciousness that the term 4Green Logistics5
has *ecome famous$ More and more im&ortance is no0 *eing gi#en to it$
Current- the 0ho-e 0or-d is de&endent u&on information sstems$ %echno-og
is &-aing its &art in e#er noo3 and corner$ Human *eings are *ecoming more and
more de&endent on machines as the 6o* done is more accurate and -ess time
consuming$ Li3e0ise the Information Sstems &-a a great ro-e in -ogistics$
In -ogistics trans&ortation is a characteristic that ho-ds the most im&ortance$
%he time s&ent on this is #er critica- hence the right decision has to *e made of
0hich mode has to *e se-ected in order to ma3e the goods reach the customer on
time and in &erfect condition$
(oad trans&ort is one of the most im&ortant as&ects 0hen 0e ta-3 a*out
de#e-o&ed or de#e-o&ing countries econom$ It sho0s the &rogress ta3ing &-ace
0ithin a countr$ Infrastructure is the first sign of de#e-o&ment and roads are the
o*6ecti#e 0ith 0hich &ros&erit is achie#ed$
Information Sstems can *e of great he-& *ut if used effecti#e-$ 7ccurate data
has to *e fed to them a-ong 0ith time to time maintenance ensures smooth
o&erations$ %he ha#e to *e managed &ro&er-$ %he can *e of he-& in #arious 0as
for road trans&ortation and hence achie#e a greener en#ironment *ut on- if the ones
o&erating them are &erfect1 that are human *eings$
/age $ of #"
2. Introduction
Logistics is no0adas descri*ed as the storage1 hand-ing and mo#ement of
&roducts from ra0 materia-1 to their &roduction sstem and then to their fina- &oint of
consum&tion$
!ar-ier -ogistics meant mone1 as right- stated * 7-an1 Sharon1 7nthon and
Michae- 8201091 4%he &rime1 and in man cases so-e1 o*6ecti#e has *een to organi:e
-ogistics in a 0a that ma"imi:es &rofita*i-it$ %he ca-cu-ation of &rofita*i-it1 ho0e#er1
has inc-uded on- the economic costs that com&anies direct- incur$ %he 0ider
en#ironmenta- and socia- costs1 traditiona-- e"c-uded from the *a-ance sheet1 ha#e
*een -arge- ignored ; unti- recent-5$
%he acti#ities in#o-#ed in -ogistics inc-ude storage1 in#entor management1
goods trans&ortation1 hand-ing of materia-s and a-- re-ated information$ <#er the &ast
ears due to the increase in &ressure from the &u*-ic and the go#ernment regarding
the en#ironment com&anies ha#e started re#ie0ing their -ogistics o&erations in order
to reduce the im&act on en#ironment$
2ith time as the concern for en#ironment is rising1 the com&anies ha#e to
ta3e into account the costs in#o-#ed 0ith en#ironment more into consideration as it is
a &ermanent damage$ It is due to this consciousness that the term 4Green Logistics5
has *ecome famous$ More and more im&ortance is no0 *eing gi#en to it$
=escri*ing Green Logistics has *ecome #er eas since the association of
green co-or 0ith it$ No0 green re&resents 4!n#ironment5 0hich means the
&rocedures that are *eing fo--o0ed are en#ironment friend-$ 7nd -ogistics * no0 0e
a-- 3no0$ Hence 0hen *oth these 0ords are 6oined then the conce&t arises of a
&rocess 0hich in#o-#es storage1 in#entor management1 goods trans&ortation1
hand-ing of materia-s1 etc in an en#ironmenta- friend- atmos&here$
In -ight of >ean-/au-1 C-aude and ?rian 820139 4Green Logistics@ Su&&- chain
management &ractices and strategies that reduce the en#ironmenta- and energ
foot&rint of freight distri*ution$ It focuses on materia- hand-ing1 0aste management1
&ac3aging and trans&ort$5
3. Information Systems in Green Logistics
Current- the 0ho-e 0or-d is de&endent u&on information sstems$ %echno-og
is &-aing its &art in e#er noo3 and corner$ Human *eings are *ecoming more and
more de&endent on machines as the 6o* done is more accurate and -ess time
consuming$ Li3e0ise the Information Sstems &-a a great ro-e in -ogistics$
/age % of #"
7s &er Aata 8200,91 4%he information sstem of -ogistics functions &-as a ro-e
in ma3ing a correct inter&retation of the com&anBs &erformance as 0e--$ Strategic
o&tions of generators for the -ogistics information management need to *e
continuous- monitored1 and usage of ne0 o&tions can im&ro#e the o#era-- -ogistics
functions 0ithin an organi:ation$5
(etai-ing has *een gi#en a ne0 face * Information techno-og$ %he *est
e"am&-e of it is !-Commerce$ It is made &ossi*-e * an integrated su&&- chain 0ith
data interchange *et0een su&&-iers1 assem*- -ines and freight for0arders$ %his is
one of the *est e"am&-es of Green Logistics in the mar3et$ 2here an order is &-aced
and most of the 0or3 is done #ia sstem e-ectronica-- hence &romoting a green
en#ironment$
4. Transportation
In -ogistics trans&ortation is a characteristic that ho-ds the most im&ortance$
%he time s&ent on this is #er critica- hence the right decision has to *e made of
0hich mode has to *e se-ected in order to ma3e the goods reach the customer on
time and in &erfect condition$
Cung-u 8200'9 said@ 4%he 3e e-ement in a -ogistics chain is trans&ortation
sstem1 0hich 6oints the se&arated acti#ities$ %rans&ortation occu&ies one-third of the
amount in the -ogistics costs and trans&ortation sstems inf-uence the &erformance
of -ogistics sstem huge-$ %rans&orting is reDuired in the 0ho-e &roduction
&rocedures1 from manufacturing to de-i#er to the fina- consumers and returns$ <n-
a good coordination *et0een each com&onent 0ou-d *ring the *enefits to a
ma"imum$5
Source@ %he Internationa- (oad %rans&ort Enion 8I(E9$
/age & of #"
%he modes of trans&ortations 0e ha#e are air1 sea1 rai-1 road and intermoda-
8in 0hich different modes are used together -i3e #ia road then sea9$ Here 0e 0i--
discuss a*out road trans&ortation on-$
5. Road Transportation
(oad trans&ort is one of the most im&ortant as&ects 0hen 0e ta-3 a*out
de#e-o&ed or de#e-o&ing countries econom$ It sho0s the &rogress ta3ing &-ace
0ithin a countr$ Infrastructure is the first sign of de#e-o&ment and roads are the
o*6ecti#e 0ith 0hich &ros&erit is achie#ed$
(oad trans&ort shou-ders the res&onsi*i-it of connecting *usinesses
interna-- or e"terna--1 -in3ing -oca- mar3ets 0ith g-o*a- mar3ets1 &romises gro0th of
man3ind and -eads to de#e-o&ment of a-- t&es of &eo&-e$ %he attachment of gro0th
0ith road trans&ort is at such a high -e#e- during this time that &-aces 0here roads
are not reaching are not ta-3ed a*out or e#en un3no0n$
!fficient use of road trans&ort can not on- he-& maintain a friend-
en#ironment *ut a-so ma3e sure the future gro0th is ongoing$ Enfortunate- in under-
de#e-o&ed countries this situation is not 0e-- understood due to -ac3 of education and
a-so due to the &o-itics *eing &-aed * de#e-o&ed countries a heft &ena-t is *eing
&aid * damaging the en#ironment$
. Road Transport Impact on Environment
Ma6a 820109 in her research states@ 4%rans&ort is the sing-e -argest source of
en#ironmenta- im&acts in the distri*ution sstem 82u and =unn1 1..'9$ It is a main
-ogistics acti#it for the ma6orit of com&anies and the mo#ement of freight * road
causes the most serious en#ironmenta- concerns 8Coo&er et a-$1 1..49$ In managing
the trans&ort o&eration1 -ogistics managers ha#e the a*i-it to inf-uence the fo--o0ing
en#ironmenta- issues@ energ and ra0 materia-s conser#ation1 -and use1 &o--ution
8air1 0ater1 #isua-1 odour and noise9 as 0e-- as 0aste dis&osa- 8so-id and ha:ardous9
8Mur&h et a-$1 1..)1 ?eamon1 1...9$5
2hen 0e ta-3 a*out the de#e-o&ed and de#e-o&ing countries the &rogress in
*usinesses is causing a stir in the en#ironment$ %he gro0th of industries1
construction1 is a-- &-aing its ro-e in damaging the en#ironment$ %raffic has increased
incredi*- 0hich means more and more #ehic-es are *eing used$ !#en though roads
ha#e *een made on 0hich &eo&-e cou-d 0a-3 *ut et #ehic-es are considered as time
is e#erthing no0$
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Large cities are the target of such &ro*-ems 0here &o--ution caused * air and
noise is ta3ing its to--$ Most of this is *eing contri*uted due to road traffic$ !#erone
0ants to reach on time e#en though the -ea#e -ate$ %he more de#e-o&ment 0ithin
such cities the hea#ier goods #ehic-es are reDuired hence 0orsening the situation$
%he issue is that not on- do these #ehic-es contri*ute negati#e- to the en#ironment
* emitting air &o--ution *ut a-so cause traffic congestions$
Enfortunate- there is a reDuirement of these in the cities e-se de#e-o&ment
0i-- ha#e to sto&$ <ne cannot &-an dro& offs #ia air as that 0ou-d *e im&ossi*-e for
certain goods a-so the 0i-- contri*ute to the &o--ution factor as air trans&ort 0ou-d *e
running on fue-$ %he issue is that ur*an cit &-anning has fai-ed due to 0hich no0
such &ro*-ems are arising$
!iichi1 %ien and (usse-- 820109 said1 4Large freight #ehic-es are often the
source of these negati#e en#ironmenta- effects$ %herefore the negati#e im&acts on
the en#ironment * truc3s is an im&ortant issue to *e addressed 0hen managing
ur*an freight trans&ort sstems$5
It has *ecome e#ident that after the energ sector1 it is the -ogistics industr
0hich is getting the &ressure of cu-minating the damage it is causing to the
en#ironment due to its o&erations$ %he damage is -eading to c-imate change 0hich
has no0 *ecome more un&redicta*-e$ Its res&onsi*i-it is to reduce the Car*on
=io"ide 8C<
2
9 emissions and a-so reduce consum&tion of fue-$
=ue to the a0areness regarding the damage *eing caused * the different
modes of trans&ortation -i3e 7ir and (oad1 authorities are *ecoming strict in im&osing
fines and *anning the use of certain t&es of modes$
Ma6a and 7-an 8200.9 said@ 4Su&&- chain structure and #ehic-e uti-isation
strong- inf-uence the en#ironmenta- &erformance of road freight trans&ort sector$
Su&&- chain structure is determined * the num*er of -in3s and their a#erage -ength$
%he num*er of -in3s in the su&&- chain is measured crude- * hand-ing factor 0hich
is a ratio of the tonnes--ifted to the actua- 0eight of goods &roduced or consumed$4
Further the c-imate change is ta3ing its to-- on -ogistics as 0e--$ %his is 0e--
high-ighted * >ames 8201391 42hi-e me-ting sea ice does not change ocean -e#e-s1
the me-ting of g-aciers1 &articu-ar- in 7ntarctica and Green-and1 0i-- do so$ 7s other
oceans rise1 ordinar acti#ities ma not *e much affected1 *ut the ad#ent of more
#io-ent storms is a-so e"&ected$ 7 hurricane or tro&ica- storm during a high tide cou-d
create storm surges that might inundate man &orts$ 7nd near those &orts is 0here
-arge &o&u-ations reside$ %he im&act of coasta- f-ooding on ma6or metro&o-itan cities
/age ( of #"
-i3e %o3o1 Los 7nge-es and 7nt0er&-(otterdam cou-d disru&t trade f-o0s and affect
mi--ions of &eo&-e$
Further effects of c-imate change are the greater tem&erature s0ings and
increased sno0fa--s in the north$ 2ith the 0eight of more sno0 u&on the ice1 creating
greater s-ush 8as the ice sin3s9 and 0armer tem&eratures1 it 0ou-d thus *ecome
increasing- difficu-t to *ui-d ice roads$ (emote communities and resource
de#e-o&ments that de&end on those ice roads 0i-- need to uti-i:e more e"&ensi#e air
trans&ort or incur the cost of *ui-ding a-- 0eather roads$
%here is a-so -i3e- to *e more sno0 in the mountain &asses of the Enited
States$ Im&ortant truc3 routes tra#erse those mountains1 *ut the #ehic-es 0ou-d no0
reDuire chains throughout the 0inter$ %he difficu-t of the 6ourne 0ou-d thus *e
com&ounded$5
2ith time1 trans&ortation #ia -and is *ecoming a &ractica- choice for air
trans&ort1 *ut there is a -ot of &ressure on -and trans&ort$ %he aim to reduce fue-
consum&tion and the car*on emissions from the trans&orting #ehic-es can *e made
&ossi*-e * using h*rid or s&ecia- #ehic-es 0hich do not damage the en#ironment$
Lighter #ehic-es are a-so *eing considered in this case$ %he a0areness is a-so
causing the customers to thin3 and react according- 0hich is a good sign$
!. "an Information Systems #ring a c$ange in Road Transportation%
7s mentioned in the 2hite /a&er * Frost G Su--i#an 8n$d$91 4%he 21st centur
smarter sstem digita- infrastructure is *ased on o#er-aing I% and Communications
hard0are and soft0are at critica- &oints in a trans&ortation ecosstem$ %his ena*-es
the co--ection and con#eance of information to o&erators and users$ !-ements of the
digita- infrastructure 0ou-d inc-ude sensors and instruments &-aced in the &hsica-
infrastructure end&oints1 &ath0as1 and stations$5
%he current de#e-o&ments can #er 0e-- *ring a change ma3ing sure that the
monitoring is done &erfect- and the data in&ut into the sstems is accurate$ Nature
cannot *e &redicted *ut at -east it shou-d not *e harmed due to mismanagement of
3no0-edge$ It de&ends u&on different countries of ho0 the contri*ute to the issue$
<ne cannot e"&ect the underde#e-o&ed to sort this issue$ %echno-ogica-
de#e-o&ments are ta3ing &-ace in the de#e-o&ed countries and it is their res&onsi*i-it
to ma3e sure a-- the guide-ines are fo--o0ed and correct techno-og is used$
7s mentioned * 7-an1 /hi- and /eter 820109@ 4%he genera- aim of com&uter
routeing and schedu-ing is simi-ar to that indicated for manua- routeing and
/age ) of #"
schedu-ing$ Note that the ma6orit of &ac3ages do not1 in fact1 &ro#ide an o&timum
so-ution to a &ro*-em$ %he &ro#ide the *est ans0er 0ithin a gi#en set of constraints
and demands$ %he com&uter &ro#ides the trans&ort &-anner 0ith the a*i-it to go into
e#en greater detai- than is &ossi*-e 0ith a manua- sstem *ecause it can underta3e
man more ca-cu-ationsH and man more a-ternati#es can *e in#estigated than 0hen
using a manua- sstem$5
/-anning is another too- 0hich can ma3e sure of efficient use of the sstems
and can he-& reduce en#ironmenta- im&act$ 7s *oth trans&ortation modes and
&-anning are -in3ed 0ith each other it is *etter to 3ee& &-anning as a se&arate feature
as it reDuires more thin3ing and effort1 a-so the more accurate a &-an is the *etter
chance it has of *eing im&-emented and the choices made from it are &erfect$
Na3u-1 Cu0ei1 7r&ad and Samer 8200)9 share that 4%echno-og is the cata-st
for man changes in modern trans&ortation sstems$ Logistics net0or3s are no
different in this res&ect as e#idenced * research resu-ts &resented * the
<rganisation for !conomic Coo&eration and =e#e-o&ment1 0hich com&-eted a fi#e-
ear initiati#e to assess !n#ironmenta- Sustaina*i-it in %rans&ort 8!S%9$ %heir
&ro6ections indicate that amongst #arious &ossi*-e so-utions1 techno-og 0i--
contri*ute to 4)I of the im&ro#ement needed to meet their s&ecified !S% criteria *
2030$5
&. "onc'usion
%he sustaina*i-it of the en#ironment is the most im&ortant cha--enge of the
21
st
centur *eing faced * the 0or-d$
7ccording to >im 8n$d$91 4<ur g-o*a- c-imate is nearing ti&&ing &oints$ Changes
are *eginning to a&&ear1 and there is a &otentia- for ra&id changes 0ith effects that
0ou-d *e irre#ersi*-eJif 0e do not ra&id- s-o0 fossi- fue- emissions during the ne"t
fe0 decades5$
!#erone is not tring to &ut efforts to do something a*out the issue$ %his
initiati#e reDuires he-& from the to& -e#e-H Go#ernments ha#e to im&ose -a0s in order
to *e a*-e to tac3-e of 0hat damage has *een done$ /ro&er su&er#ision is reDuired$
%he industria-ists and *usiness giants must ta3e fu-- res&onsi*i-it of this issue and
*e the fore-runners in ta3ing actions$ Stiff &ena-ties must *e im&osed to those 0ho
are not a*iding * the ru-es and a no com&romise attitude must *e shou-dered e-se
the effects 0onKt *e &-easing$
Information sstems ha#e a great ro-e to &-a as 0e--$ It is o*#ious that incase
a human does not rea-i:e the im&ortance of this &ro*-em then itKs of no use re-ing
/age * of #"
on a machine as machines 0ere created * human and to fo--o0 orders$ So the first
change has to *e 0ithin and then 0e can re- on other things$
%he Information sstems need humans 0ho are faithfu- and honest$ /ro&er
management and accurate information needs to *e fed into the sstems to get the
resu-ts$ 7 *etter trans&ortation sstem needs to *e *ui-t and ur*an &-anning has to *e
ta3en serious-$
F$ 7--an Hanson 8201391 &rofessor of anthro&o-og1 42hat humans and
techno-og can do together is far greater than 0hat either can e#er do on their o0n$
It ma3es us fu-- accom&-ished *eings1 et 0hat this a-so does is change the conce&t
of 0hat it is to *e human$5
/age #+ of #"
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?usiness Logistics in Modern Management1 Facu-t of !conomics in <si6e31
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/age #" of #"