Addressing Climate Change
Promoting Decarbonization in Distribution
In order to reduce CO2 emissions associated with distribution, transportation must be streamlined and means of transportation with little environmental impact must be chosen. Konica Minolta is reducing CO2 emissions derived from distribution operations by measures such as shortening transportation distances through optimization of logistics facilities and routes worldwide, reducing the number of containers through improved loading efficiency.
Major Initiatives
Optimizing Shipping Container Loading Efficiency
Konica Minolta is reducing CO2 emissions and increasing the efficiency of shipping container loading during transportation by employing consolidated services based on loads. In the Business Technologies Business, for example, when Konica Minolta delivers office equipment to various European countries from its distribution center in Germany, achieving optimal loading efficiency according to the size, shape and changes in the logistic quantity of products is one of the key challenges. The company has been improving loading efficiency through the introduction of a loading simulation program.
Furthermore, since fiscal 2016, Konica Minolta has improved loading efficiency by optimizing the packaging form to suit the shipping conditions, focusing on marine transportation of parts procured in Japan to plants in China and ASEAN for assembly, shipment of products from Chinese warehouses to distributors worldwide, and land transportation of products manufactured in Mexico into the U.S.
Promoting a Modal Shift
Konica Minolta has been promoting a modal shift for the transportation of products and parts, switching from aircraft and trucks to ships, railways, and other means that emit less CO2.
In Europe, for instance, it uses barges that run along the Rhine River as the means of transportation from the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands to its base warehouse in Emmerich, Germany. In the U.S., it has reduced CO2 emissions by using railroads when transporting cargo from the Port of Los Angeles on the West Coast to the interior and the East Coast.
Reconsidering Distribution Routes and Consolidating Logistics Facilities
Konica Minolta is restructuring its logistics facilities both in Japan and outside of Japan for reducing CO2 emissions from its distribution processes.
In fiscal 2023, the company continued its efforts from the previous fiscal year to streamline logistics by optimizing distribution routes for products and service parts shipped from office equipment production and distribution sites in China and ASEAN to customers worldwide.
In production procurement, at its Malaysian factory, Konica Minolta took the external warehouses and parts supplier production sites dotted around distant locations and consolidated them in the vicinity of the factory, establishing a Smart Industrial Center (SIC). This reduced the transportation distance considerably, enabling achievement of just-in-time (JIT) supply to the factory. Transportation distances were also reduced considerably by changing parts shipped to Malaysia from Chinese parts suppliers to Malaysian production.
Moreover, with the proactive utilization of a lead logistics provider (LLP) for distribution in Japan, Konica Minolta reorganized distribution sites, revised routes, and utilized sharing with other companies, thereby strategically reducing CO2 emissions from distribution activities. Improving the efficiency of distribution routes and sites has also led to reductions in the space and energy used at distribution warehouses.
Milk Run Logistics (Common Collection of Cargos)
The term "milk run" originally came from the milk collecting system of dairy producers who visited dairy farms to collect milk in a single vehicle. In the manufacturing industry, it refers to a collection method in which a single vehicle is used to make rounds picking up goods from various suppliers instead of requesting each supplier to deliver goods individually.
Konica Minolta is using milk run logistics in Wuxi City and the suburbs of Shanghai and Suzhou in East China, where office equipment component manufacturers are concentrated, and in the suburbs of Dongguan and Shenzhen in South China, as well as in Kuala Lumpur and Johor in Malaysia. This helps to reduce CO2 emissions by shortening the total driving mileage of the trucks.
In addition, the Group is also reducing waste by using re-usable boxes instead of cartons to transport the parts.
Joint Transport
Konica Minolta Japan, Inc., a sales company, carries out joint distribution of office equipment with Epson Sales Japan Corporation, including installation work, in the Kanto and Koshinetsu areas in Japan. In Japan, nine Company manufacturers joined the Joint Arterial Logistics Delivery of the Japan Business Machine and Information System Industries Association (JBMIA) and began preliminary implementation of the Last One Mile Joint Delivery in the northern Hokkaido region in November 2021.
(Ref: JBMIA website in Japanese)
These initiatives result in high-quality delivery and installation operations that raise the satisfaction of customers and help reduce CO2 emissions.
Reducing CO2 Emissions Associated with Shipping by U.S. Sales Company
Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. is a member of the SmartWay program operated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This initiative helps companies improve their supply chain sustainability by measuring, benchmarking and improving the efficiency of freight transport.
As a member of this program, the company is working on:
- Reducing emissions and fuel consumption in logistics activities
- Shipping more than 50% of goods through EPA designated SmartWay carriers
- Using railway cars and Smartway truck trailers, avoiding vehicle idling, and reducing transport distances
- Shipping multiple orders together
