Green logistics

In our modern world the increase in air pollution, global warming, environmental issues and degradation has become a significant matter of concern not only for modern businesses but also for societies and governments. Consequently, Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) is moving more and more into the focus of attention of society and businesses. But before we go into more detail, we should take our time to define what a green supply chain is and how we can create it.

GSCM is a diverse concept but by breaking it down to the core, it is the principle of reducing waste by increasing efficiencies. Therefore, GSCM is all about delivering products and services from suppliers to clients through material, cash and information flow in the context of environment. Effective management of suppliers and resources is a crucial part of GSCM. GSCM adds a new ecological layer to each and every stage of crafting and service and increases awareness and concern among people and businesses about climatic factors.

1. Enhancing brand image: Businesses that consequently follow the ecological road of GSCM will find that it does enhance the brand imagine and reputation in a customer’s ‘mind
2. Transparency of the supply chain: By implementing the ecological aspect to every step of the supply chain, businesses often become more transparent to customers, which also boosts the brand imagine, as mentioned earlier
3. Competitive advantages: Among many other factors, recent researches have shown that roughly 6 percent of leading companies already deselect suppliers who fail to manage carbon (1)
4. Cost reduction: By implementing digital technologies, businesses will financially profit from it. A prime example for cost reduction is reducing unnecessary kilometres by switching to local suppliers if possible and reasonable

1. The Akerlof effect: George A. Akerlof has shown that there are issues that arise regarding the value of a product due to asymmetric information possessed by the buyer and the seller (2) In this case buyers cannot distinguish between a high-quality car and a “lemon”. Therefore, they may not be willing to pay no more than the average price. The seller on the other hand knows the difference and knows whether he is selling a lemon or a peach. Given the fixed price at which buyers will buy, sellers will sell only when they hold lemons and they will leave the market when they hold peaches. When enough sellers of peaches leave the market the WTP of buyers will slowly decrease leading to even more sellers of peaches to leave the market through a positive feedback loop
2. Supplier compliance: In order to create a green supply chain, a company must procure its materials from other green supply chains. Therefore, we can say that the idea behind a green supply chain is based on the foundation of trust and good faith. The problem here is to get your suppliers to comply to your ideals (and this is usually near impossible in most cases)
3. Monitoring complex supply chains: The bigger the company is the greater are their supply chains. Monitoring these supply chains will be very challenging, as a single product may have a myriad of different materials, suppliers and manufacturers along its supply chain. Furthermore, smart businesses employ several suppliers per piece to ensure continued delivery in case on supplier drops out

Previously mentioned benefits, including competitive advantages & cost savings will, in the long run, become a pre-requisite for business sustainability. In the end, it is up to you to decide to change to a greener supply chain or to stick to the existing one. Whether to comply with government regulations or meet the expectations of the customers or clients, businesses are finding motivation to go green. (3)

For our supply chain area, we take many arrangements to make the transport of products as green as possible. The sustainability strategy will be constantly optimized and the process will be adapted by further measures in order to come as close as possible to absolute green transport.

A first starting point for medical magnesium is the recycling and reuse of packaging materials.

Why consume new valuable resources for something that will only be thrown away?

Recycled paper products, cardboard boxes, filling material, etc. are partly designed to be used more than once, so packages can be perfectly packed without unnecessarily wasting resources.

Furthermore, we rely on recycled materials when it comes to padding. For the protection of the goods fiber boards from the company Biobiene (FSP Full Service Packaging) are used:

Figure 1: Fiber Boards

The protective fiberboard protects sensitive shipping goods by resilience and shock absorption. Since they are made of environmentally friendly and easy disposable 100% post-consumer paper, they can be returned to the waste-paper-cycle after use. (4)
In order to get closer to „green shipping“, in the future plastic document pouches will be replaced by paper delivery note pouches. The used paper grades are bleached without chlorine and meet the sustainability criteria of forest management in accordance with FSC and PEFC standards. This adhesive not only provides a firm hold on transport boxes but is also particularly environmentally friendly. (5)
Our supplier has been awarded the sustainability prize of the German Brand Award. In addition to the German Brand Award, we obtain our shipping products from a supplier who has achieved the highest distinction of the German Brand Award „Best of Best“ Sustainable Brand of the Year 2018. (6)
For the protection of our implants, we use foam inserts made from recycled PE-foam with CO2-neutral production. The foam is made from recycled and shredded foam leftovers and creating a closed recycling loop. The PE-LD recycling system is connected to a photovoltaic system, so that production and manufacturing take place with climate-neutral solar energy. (7)

Figure 2: Custom made PE-foam inserts for implant protection

Even changing small factors within the supply chain can have a big impact. That’s why we use paper tape from Naturapack GmbH instead of conventional adhesive tape. The paper tape has an adhesive layer made of environmentally friendly natural rubber and is therefore free of plastic. (8)
In the future, we will dispense with the classic plastic air cushion bags for cushioning the spaces between the goods and instead rely on a paper cushioning system. Natural and environmentally conscious paper pads are an optimal and efficient protection for packaging.

Figure 3: Paper cushioning system

In addition to green shipping, we also set focus on the sustainable production of our implants. Through continuous monitoring and education, we can identify processes to make sustainable adjustments or replace with greener alternatives.

In some places, unfortunately, our hands are tied, when it comes to our material, since these implants out of the magnesium are still very innovative. But here, too, we keep an eye on the manufacturing processes in order to identify adjustment options as early as possible. However, we try to make the entire production as green as possible and are always on the lookout for more environmentally friendly alternatives.

We look for recyclable and sustainable products with minimal CO2 footprint, environmentally friendly packaging, and responsible life cycle when it comes to supplier selection for the packaging system so that our supply chain aligns with regulatory and corporate sustainability goals.. We are happy that our mm.x implants make a sustainable way to our customer and hope to support sustainability within the supply chain to create awareness and transparency with our blogpost.

References

1. Sheffi, Yossi. „Clarifying The Business Case For Green Supply Chain Management.“ 13 June 2018, www.inboundlogistics.com/cms/article/clarifying-the-business-case-for-green-supply-chain-management/. [Accessed 14 June 2022].
2. Akerlof, George A. (1970). „The Market for ‚Lemons‘: Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism“. Quarterly Journal of Economics. The MIT Press. 84 (3): 488–500. doi:10.2307/1879431
3. Bomler. “3 Challenges of Sustainable Supply Chain Management [and How to Solve Them].“ 16 August. 2021, www.bomler.com/blog/3-challenges-of-sustainable-supply-chain-management-and-how-to-solve-them. [Accessed 14 June 2022].
4. Biobiene – Faserplatte, [Online]. Available: https://www.biobiene.com/schutz-faserplatte-780-mm-x-380-mm-x-25-mm.html. [Accessed 13 June 2022].
5. Biobiene – Lieferscheintasche, [Online]. Available: https://www.biobiene.com/verpackungsmaterial-gruene-lieferscheintaschen-aus-papier-din-lang?c=2030. [Accessed 13 June 2022].
6. Biobiene – Award, [Online]. Available: https://www.biobiene.com/magazin/german-brand-award/. [Accessed 13 June 2022].
7. Stephan Verpackungen, [Online]. Available: https://www.stephan-verpackungen.de/. [Accessed June 13 2022].
8. Naturapack GmbH, [Online]. Available: https://plastikfrei-verpacken.de/produkt/kleben/papierklebeband/papierklebeband-weiss-50mm-x-50m-3-fach-faserverstaerkt/. [Accessed 14 June 2022].