THE NEW SCENARIO

Due to a growing international mobilization, since the Rio the Janeiro conference held in 1992, sustainability became a topic of growing interest for companies as well as managers. This momentum has been consolidated in 2015, through two major acts:

  • The COP21 Climate conference, held in Paris
  • The 2030 UN “Sustainable development goals” Agenda, which identified 17 sustainability goals

THE TRIAD

In the past, the word “Sustainability” mostly identified the effort towards the reduction of GHG emissions and pollution in the environment. Today, it carries a broader meaning: we now consider sustainability as a triad of values and goals:

SOCIAL | ENVIRONMENTAL | ECONOMIC

AN AGREEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE LOGISTICS, WHY?

To raise a new awareness in the consumers, providing them with useful tools to acknowledge and consider the differences between products and services in terms of sustainable supply chain and considering all relevant elements: from the production process to the logistic processes along the entire life cycle; from the sourcing to the distribution and sales channels, as well as the desirable final recycle or reuse.

A STRATEGIC GOAL, BORN IN ITALY

Logistics and supply chain processes are today still considered to have a strong environmental, social and economic impact. As a matter of fact, these processes can often cripple sustainability efforts of many products and services that are consumed on a daily basis.

There are many issues related to negative conducts in the transport, storage and distribution fields, mainly due to a strong pressure for cost reductions. This approach is no longer sustainable, and is a consequence of a wrong perception of the value chain contribution that logistics and supply chain activities bring to manufacturing and e-commerce industries.

HOW IT WORKS

IN DETAIL

The protocol needs to be approved in two steps, and validated every year.
The first step is to verify that the organization has a “sustainable strategy” on three levels:

  • stakeholder: is there a sustainable strategy agreed with stakeholders?
  • materiality: in what will your sustainability investment be?
  • governance: is there an internal strategy to guide the process?

If the company manages to reach these strategic requirements, another 20 sustainable logistics requirements (environmental, social and economic) will be analyzed.
Requirements will be evaluated through a model of approximately one hundred open questions that analyze best practices, type of decision making processes are being used by the business. It is necessary to understand the pros and cons of the businesses sustainability for a correct protocol validation.

CERTIFICATION BODIES

BUREAU VERITAS

Bureau Veritas Italia is one of the major players on the international scene in inspection, testing and certification services since 1828, with approximately 77,000 employees and a presence in 140 countries. In Italy the organization has solid and historical roots, with 16 offices and about 900 employees.

It offers a wide range of verification services related to sustainability challenges.

From the protection of workers to the respect for the environment, from energy efficiency to the circular economy, Bureau Veritas aims to be the partner for organizations committed to Sustainability.

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BSI

For over a century, BSI (British Standards Institution) support organizations around the world in bringing excellence and building skills and capabilities for sustainable growth, solid risk management and organization resilience.

Its role as a leading standardization body, provides extensive experience in delivering solutions and services that improve performance and support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

As a certification body BSI can perform inspection and verification of the Logistic Sustainability Protocol, evaluating logistics and supply chain processes about their environmental, economic and social impact.

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CERTIQUALITY

Certiquality offers certification, inspection and training services, useful tools for sustainability and reliability in the management of logistics and transport services and the entire supply chain, in line with the UN Sustainable Develpment Goals at 2030.

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THE 20 CHALLENGES OF SUSTAINABLE LOGISTICS

ENVIRONMENTAL FOCUS

Circular economy
1
WASTE MATERIAL ENHANCEMENT
The challenge is to adopt a new paradigm and business model based on the Circular Economy. How to manage wasting material and how to enhance them.
Disposal can become an ADDED VALUE; from costs to revenues, through innovation and paradigm change. Such as? Through Waste reduction, Reuse, Recycle, Separate collection and Energy recovery.
Energy
2
RENEWABLE ENERGIES – CARBON FOOTPRINT ZERO
The challenge is to use renewable energies in the value chain processes, improving the renewable / total energy consumption ratio.
The process of verifying the energy supply sources used along the value chain must aim at a lower contribution in terms of CO2 emissions and at the same time provide the elements for a correct planning of the energy needs and for the continuity of the future supply.
B) RENEWABLE ENERGIES THROUGH SELF-PRODUCTION
The challenge is to reduce the costs and risks of price fluctuations: to become self-producers of energy needs through cogeneration, renewable energy and energy savings.
Manufacturing
3
RETROACTIVE INTELLIGENCE OF LOGISTICS
The challenge is an increasingly responsible product design that considers the effects on greenhouse gas emissions and harmful substances, energy consumption, soil, water and other natural raw materials in all phases of the product’s life.

The organization uses data related to logistic processes to improve product design processes (weight, portability, resilience, duration etc.)

4
INVERSE MANUFACTURING
The challenge is to extend end-of-life products and reuse.

A distinctive value is created on the market. Re-use serves to reduce the environmental impact of products at the end of their life cycle; to recover the products and re-insert them in the production cycle.

5
REDUCTION OF HARMFUL EMISSIONS ALONG THE SUPPLY CHAIN
The challenge is to respect the environment by reducing GHG emissions and natural resources consumption.

The organization implements measures to reduce GHG emissions in its supply chain and at the same time measures its direct and indirect environmental impacts on natural resources (air, water, soil), tending towards a carbon footprint balance over the medium / long term.

Transport and distribution
6
EFFICIENCY OF TRANSPORT, HANDLING OF GOODS AND PEOPLE MOBILITY
The challenge is the development of policies and rules for improving the efficiency of distribution, handling and transport processes.
Development of policies for filling round-trip vehicles to improve vehicle saturation. TCO reduction (total cost of ownership) through investments in handling and transport vehicles capable of reducing the environmental impact and management costs.
7
INTERMODAL TRANSPORT
The challenge is to better balance “service”, “costs” and “emissions” level”: developing intermodal transport solutions establishing and monitoring improvement targets on an annual basis.
People and logistic processes
8
TRAINING
The challenge is the awareness of individual and organizational behaviors and competence, which develop sustainability: design and execution of a widespread training program on values, behaviors, and good sustainability practices, benchmarking competition, involving local stakeholders, employees and managers of the company.
9
DIGITALIZATION OF OPERATIONAL PROCESSES
The digital challenge includes the digitalization of processes to reduce costs, improve delivery times and optimize processes with consequent lower emissions and lower costs.
10
KAIZEN
The challenge is the continuous improvement of products and processes: to define and adopt a strategy, organization and planning for the continuous improvement of processes / products and KPI of operational sustainability (KPI: key performance indicators)
11
METRIC – MEASUREMENT OF RESULTS AND PERFORMANCES
The challenge is to activate proper KPI to encourage virtuous practices: translate virtuous practices into incentive mechanisms, using economic indicators as measurement tools.
Logistic ECO-system
12
PARTICIPATED DESIGN OF SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS
The challenge is stakeholder engagement in solutions: learning from stakeholders, accelerating and innovating solutions, and including employees, suppliers or competitors in the design of sustainable solutions.
13
COMMUNITY and Public Authorities (PA)
The challenge is the inclusion of “territory” in company projects: exploit the know-how of the communities and the information and policies of the PA to improve projects and the reputation in the territory.
14
SHARING OF RESOURCES
The challenge is to cooperate with stakeholders – sometimes even competitors – to reduce costs: share key process resources, such as warehouses, transportation and delivery circuits in order to reduce costs and environmental impact.

FINANCIAL FOCUS

Sustainable investments
15
DECISION-MAKING INVESTMENT PROCESS
The challenge is the set of investment approval criteria, such as the new return times and the redefinition of the criteria implicit in the ROI.

Sustainability becomes a “good business”. Sustainability investments include new criteria related to well-being and quality of life including the territory. Return times are different from those of productivity or marketing investments.

SOCIAL FOCUS

Procurement (international)
16
SOCIAL PROCUREMENT
The challenge is in purchasing countries where social protection is not regulated by international standards.
The social dimension, such as that concerning child labor, gender equality, safety in the workplace must align with standard corporate values.
Relations with territories
17
HEALTH AND SAFETY ON THE TERRITORY
The challenge is the impact on the surrounding area of ​​the production or commercial plant, which must ensure standards shared with the local population.
The environmental impact, such as emissions and noise, must comply with standards shared with local communities, even better than the laws.
18
TRANSPORTATION GUIDE
The challenge is efficiency that creates energy savings and safety.

Safety comes first: investing in driver training and performance measurement systems.

OVERALL SYSTEM VIEW AND INNOVATION

Overall view
19
COMPLEXITY OF LOGISTICS
The challenge is to understand / act the non-linearity of processes: understanding and contrasting the counter-intuitive effects of logistic choices, adopting simulation tools of complexity and developing a mindset of sustainability for people.
Innovation
20
OPEN INNOVATION
The challenge is the solution that comes from the world: looking for sustainable solutions by accessing the world’s talents and technologies, going beyond the network of suppliers already available and adopting the “Open Innovation” paradigm in Logistics.

ADVANTAGES

The protocol aims at giving a feasible solution to businesses in facing the global supply chain and logistics challenges of the next 10 years.

A strategic and operational action to encourage all the players involved in the supply chain to create value through management of intangible assets directly related to the economic and financial issues of the business.

1. WHAT AM I
LOOKING FOR?

Am I leading, in the group,
or am I late?

2. FIND
DIVERSITY

The protocol tells me where
I am and where I can go

3. CONNECTIVITY

With experiences and
the know how

4. IMMEDIATE
APPLICATON

Start planning
straight away

5. WHAT I’M
BUYING

Independent audit tailored
on my specific business profile

6. BEFORE, DURING
AND AFTER

Coaching and
training programs

A TRADEMARK, 4 MAIN BENEFITS

MODEL

The protocol is a reference model for environmental, social and economic sustainability: the triad. The “circular economy” scheme is also part of the model, with the aim of maintain and protect the natural resources of the planet, like biodiversity and natural resources.

IMPACT

The protocol measures the impact of business’s activities on the environment. In tune with today standards, it validates the financial stability of the chosen strategies, including the incomes, according to the business standards.

COMPLETE STRATEGY FOR SUSTAINABILITY

The protocol tells us where we are, where to start, and which journey the business must follow to reach sustainability goals.

BRANDING AND COMMUNICATION

The SOSLOG trademark can be applied to products, on vehicles, equipment, logistics assets and in all the corporate communications and external relation tasks, including the relationship with the final customers and consumers.

DOWNLOAD PROJECT DOCUMENTS

APPLICATION

Download the Application for Registration in the Register of Qualified Companies

Download

PROCESS

Download the process for enrolment in the register of qualified organizations

Downlload

REGULATION

Download the Regulation of the Protocol

Download

CODE OF CONDUCT

Download SOS-LOGistica’s Code of Conduct

Download

JOIN THE PROTOCOL

Fill the form to join the SUSTAINABLE LOGISTICS protocol

SUBSCRIBE

    Number of relevant production plants
    Production plant means a place where operations are performed and contribute substantially to the value chain of the product/service offered.

    Employees

    Upload document PDF
    Upload the corporate financial statement / ethical code

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    REGISTER OF QUALIFIED ORGANIZATIONS

    The list includes the companies who can use the Sustainble Logistics trademark, for the year of latest protocol validation/renewal.

    Gruppo Maganetti 

    Gruppo Maganetti is a network of companies linked to the world of transport and logistics, all united by the objective of providing a high quality service and a timely and effective customer support, so much to have chosen as a “leit motiv” company that moves your business, we deliver your work. Maganetti’s commitment to sustainability has always been evident and has undergone a strong acceleration in recent years thanks to initiatives related to the introduction of liquefied natural gas as an innovative fuel for its fleet of vehicles. A commitment that went beyond its mission, thanks to the construction of one of the first LNG distributors built in Gera Lario as the backbone of its GNL Valtellina Logistica Sostenibile project. A plant open to the public that supplies only gas, designed specifically for all operators equipped with liquefied natural gas vehicles.

    Web site
    Official statement

    Bomi Group

    Bomi is an international operator that operates in the logistics and management of high-tech products for the healthcare industry. The Group offers its customers a wide range of tailor-made services: warehousing, temperature-controlled transport, solutions for Home Care and any other high value-added service to support the Healthcare supply chain. In September 2017 Bomi Group partnered with SOS-LOG, the first association for sustainable logistics, fully embracing the concept that Sustainability is not only a matter of reducing harmful emissions into the environment but also represents the “triple bottom line” of environmental, social and economic values and objectives. Within this paradigm Bomi Group rediscovered the essence of its corporate mission and therefore decided to adopt the Sustainable Logistics Protocol, aware that logistics executed in a sustainable manner is a key strategy to truly distinguish itself in its market.

    Web site
    Official statement
    CASILLI
    RATING SUSTAINABLE LOGISTICS

    Casilli Enterprise

    Casilli Enterprise is a transportation and logistics company.

    Web site
    Official statement