Ricoh will use BigMile's software globally to calculate, analyse and report transport-related CO2 emissions. 'By standardising BigMile globally, we will be able to compare emissions across regions and be ready in time for the emerging regulatory reporting requirement,' says Martijn Spee of Ricoh Europe SCM.
Ricoh, specialist in digital workplaces, has been a BigMile user from the very beginning. The company is continuously committed to socially responsible business practices and has already received worldwide recognition for its sustainability strategy. CO2 reduction measures in supply chain and logistics are part of this strategy. Initiatives such as increasing load factors, applying modal shift and optimising transport routes are now commonplace.
Data challenges
'Scope 3, the indirect CO2 emissions, was introduced in 2015 as part of the overall reduction strategy,' says Martin Swinnerton, manager of business excellence at Ricoh. 'Our transport is 100 per cent outsourced, so it was complicated to get the data from all carriers together. It took a whole year before we had a baseline. And after three years of Excel, we needed to make CO2 emissions transparent outside Excel. We were looking for a solution where we were not necessarily dependent on the carriers to provide their data.'
Standardisation
In addition, Ricoh wanted not only insight into total CO2 emissions, but also insights into emissions from different modes, lanes and regions. 'How were we going to do that for four million parcels,' says Martijn Spee, manager transport at Ricoh. With this, he underlines the need for specialised software to calculate transport-related carbon footprints.
To compare emissions, a standard measurement methodology is necessary. 'That is where BigMile and the Global Logistics Emissions Council (GLEC) framework provide an answer. This allows us to compare not only carriers with each other, but also, for example, regions, lanes or the emissions of a tuk-tuk in Asia with a large US truck,' Spee illustrates.
Communicating policy
At the time, Ricoh chose BigMile partly because it is a Dutch company. 'Because everything was still under development, we liked having a supplier close to home,' says Spee. So the fact that the Japanese multinational will now roll out BigMile to five global regions (North America, Latin America, EMEA, APAC and Japan) is significant for both BigMile and Ricoh itself. 'Ricoh Europe is leading the way and setting an example for regions like Latin America and Asia. The regions are happy that best practices are being proactively extended to them. Each region will soon be able to upload its own data in BigMile.'
BigMile also helps to develop regional strategy, Spee believes. 'Our strategy is to become CO2 neutral. That means a minimum 4 per cent reduction per year worldwide. Only then will we reach 40 per cent reduction in 2030 compared to 2020, which is our target for Scope 3. And each region is free in how they achieve this: through more sustainable transport solutions, network efficiency or better load factors,' said Spee.
Future-oriented
Sven Poot, business development manager at BigMile, said: 'Ricoh is our first customer to roll out globally. We are very proud of the trust Ricoh has placed in us. They are constantly helping us work towards a greener future for the entire industry. We are eager to evolve and innovate further with them.'
[photo: Martin Swinnerton (left) and Martijn Spee (right)]
