Modelling the Carbon Footprint of Non-Optimal Ecommerce Last Mile Distribution
Open Access
- Author:
- Mc Carthy, Reilly
- Area of Honors:
- Supply Chain and Information Systems
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Robert Alexander Novack, Thesis Supervisor
Saurabh Bansal, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Supply Chain
Sustainability
Ecommerce
Carbon Footprint Calculator
Supply Chain Management
Last Mile Distribution
Network Optimization
Environmental Impact - Abstract:
- The topic of sustainability is now a top priority for business strategy, consumer discretion, and government aid. Sustainability’s mass adoption comes from the issues arising from climate change and the ability to use metrics to tell what actions are primarily contributing to the increase in emissions. The top contributors of GHG emissions are large companies conducting business. The largest proponent of climate change for a business, making up ninety percent of the GHG emissions, is related to a company’s supply chain. Since business is a top contributor to emissions, companies are now investing heavily in technology to reverse or minimize their environmental harm. One way a business can look at sustainability is through a carbon footprint or carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) calculator. These calculators allow the business to view its emissions from the tasks the calculator is considering. This research partners with a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider specializing in network optimization to build a carbon footprint modelling tool. The research investigated potential emission savings from perfect inventory placement, simplified ways to portray emission metrics, and financial savings related to transportation with perfect inventory placement. It was found that there is potential for a business to save 35.5 percent of total emissions related to last mile transportation if it has perfect last mile inventory placement. In addition to the emission savings, seventeen different ways to portray tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) emission metrics were gathered in Table 5. Finally, it was found that annual savings in total transportation costs are $5,763,963.53 by evaluating tractor trailer and last mile delivery van fuel and labor costs.