Ecologistic and Supply Chain.

Climate changes!! And one of the reasons of the changes is the industrial pollution.
The logistic has a significant role to play in the amelioration of the situation.
In fact not only gas consumption could be reduced, but also packing and warehousing should be improved.

The "Green Logistic" or "Ecologistic" will be one of the top priorities of the companies in few years.
Managers will face the costs increase of energy and we can imagine that the road transportation will be taxed, as it is already the case since 01/01/2005 in Germany with the "Maut". This tax could increase the price of 0,14 euro per kilometer. e.g. for a transport between Paris and Berlin the tax could reach 90 euro for an 8 tires tandem axles truck.

New stakes concern the "reverse logistic". Products have to be ecological and wastes and trashes have to be recycled. But the matter is that it is not a "symmetrical" Supply Chain anymore. The reverse logistic includesa lot of administrative papers and accreditations because goods could be classified as hazardous for instance. So there are different agents for the transportation and the delivery. The transportation companies have to built recycling centers or outsource them. French companies are late compare to the German neighbor.

But the reason why we are behind in France is that the managers don't see the opportunity of making benefits. It is true that all those regulations need expenses, but a long term strategy is to be designed. New warehouses which are most efficient and new products with new packing and packaging.

But the Ecologistic could change the philosophy of the Supply Chain.
One of the golden rules of the SCM is "Just in Times" rule. But to achieve the just in time strategy, companies use a lot of small shipments. That means a lot of trucks in this case. With the Ecologistic and the rationalization, it's better to operate one truck than three.

Managers still have in mind the necessity of the Ecologistic, because they anticipate laws and regulations. But This new environmental policy will certainly radically change the way of carrying goods, especially with trucks.