global supply chain

Retail giant Wal-mart Stores Inc. has announced a goal to eliminate 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its global supply chain by the end of 2015. This represents one and a half times the company's estimated global carbon footprint growth over the next five years and is the equivalent of taking more than 3.8 million cars off the road for a year.

"Energy efficiency and carbon reduction are central issues in the world today," says Mike Duke, Walmart's president and CEO. "We've been working to make a difference in these areas, both in our own footprint and our supply chain. We know that we have an opportunity to do more and the capacity to do more."

Industrial services company Harsco Corp. has selected IBM as its consulting partner for a business transformation initiative designed to create significant operating and cost efficiencies throughout Harsco's global supply chain.

"The intelligent supply chain of the future aligns perfectly with our One Harsco objectives for creating long-term strategic advantage as a more globally integrated and optimized enterprise," says Salvatore Fazzolari, chairman and CEO of Harsco. The project, which should be completed by the end of 2010, is expected to improve Harsco's return on invested capital and also contribute to the company's economic value added growth, Fazzolari notes.

Truck manufacturer Navistar Inc. has extended the role of  Menlo Worldwide Logistics, contracting with the company to provide an expanded range of fourth-party logistics (4PL) analysis, design and management services in support of Navistar's five-year plan to reengineer and improve performance in its supply chain.

In this larger "network manager" role, Menlo, a subsidiary of Con-way Inc., is working with Navistar to deploy an advanced strategic collaboration model for continuous supply chain improvement globally. Utilizing this model, the companies are redesigning Navistar's structure, processes and practices for global logistics, transportation and supply chain management. Navistar's objective is to achieve a 25% reduction in supply chain spend by 2013, while establishing the team and advanced management skills to drive continuous improvement into Navistar's operations going forward.

None of us can fully know the longer-term impact of the current global recession, nor whether its effects will be transient or permanent. Certainly, our sense is that many of the capabilities that proved useful in mitigating the negative effects of the recession will be reinforced by those who had the vision to develop them and copied by those who did not.