Yes / Purpose Previous research (Bandoophanit et al, 2017) has shown that pharmaceuticals are a key input into effective healthcare operations but other equally important inputs are medical supplies, food, utilities, equipment and linen. As stated by the Twelfth National Economic and Social Development Plan (2017-2021) of Thailand, to attempt to deliver national Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) organisations should preserve resources and minimize waste-generation in all aspects. The principal aim of this research project was to identify green practices and develop a model which supported and promoted healthcare efficiencies. Research Approach This was a mixed methods multi-site study using both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methods. Six public hospitals were selected as case organizations, covering different types/sizes, locations, and environmental performance expertise. The data collection methods included interviews, documentation reviews and in situ observations. Respondents’ selection was purposive and a bespoke form of content analysis was used for the data review before further cross-case analysis, resulting in the identification of best practices using key indicators. Findings and Originality In spite of facing financial crisis, by reviewing key logistical processes and lifecycle, the overuse of healthcare resources and the poor management of waste, were clearly identified within in this study. This had a negative effect on personnel and patient hygiene. The result of identifying effective GL practices were reported as: (i) promoting the usage of multiple-use medical devices that can minimize inputs, waste, and cost, and (ii) producing/selecting organic food materials and fruits and reusing these waste byproducts to create secondary products e.g. fertilizer, biogas and electricity and cleaning/sterilizing liquid. The results also indicated that there was a drive from leaders to introduce green and efficient systems to improve staff personnel awareness and engagement in this area. The output of this study presents a model for GL implementation guidance, grounded in Thailand’s Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP) concept. Research Impacts Currently, healthcare green logistics has received limited attention in developing nations and this study contributes to the reduction of these gaps. The SEP concept promotes sustainable health standards and underpins the focus and the originality/impact of this study. Practical Impacts This study recommends that staff in Thai hospitals focus on effective resource and waste management to contribute to sustainable sufficiency. This allows Thailand to offer an effective healthcare service to its patients. The study presents guidance and support to do this.

Background: The transportation sector, a major part of logistics, significantly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, making it a key environmental concern. As awareness grows, the importance of green logistics becomes evident. However, Small and medium logistics companies face challenges in implementing green logistics due to limited resources and knowledge. This study explores the post-adoption challenges SMEs encounter and identifies effective approaches for integrating sustainable methods.  Purpose: The study explores green logistics practices within small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), addressing the gap between awareness and practical application of sustainable methods. The primary objective is to understand the operational challenges SMEs face after adopting green logistics practices and to identify effective strategies for their integration. Method: This study employs a qualitative interview approach with 10 interviews carried out with representatives from various small and medium logistics firms. Conclusion: The study shows that small and medium logistics firms face several post-adoption challenges. The most significant challenge identified is the infrastructure limitation and accessibility, particularly concerning electric vehicles. SMEs are severely constrained by the lack of charging facilities for electric trucks during lengthy trips and the limited availability of alternative fuels. To support the integration of green logistics practices, the research also highlighted six key approaches employed by SMEs. The most significant approach is the development of specialized sustainability teams and promotion of employee involvement through educational programs.

Many believe that the current application of modern logistics solutions in general and centralisation of distribution systems in particular is damaging from an environmental perspective. The reason for this claim is that when a distribution system is centralised, products need to be shipped over greater distances. This causes an increase in transport work, which in turn is believed to cause an increase in emissions. Further, the decision to centralise distribution can be characterised as a structural decision and earlier research has helped illustrate how such decisions have greater impact on the overall performance of a distribution system than decisions taken at subsequent levels (tactical and operative). The reason for this is that structural decisions help create new opportunities to make other logistical decisions that are beneficial for the performance of a distribution system, as measured in terms of costs and service. It is also acknowledged that there is a lack of research illustrating the actual environmental effects of centralisation. This area is the theme of this thesis and the overall purpose is to describe and analyse how centralisation of a distribution system can affect the environment. This purpose has been divided into two research questions, where the first one reads: - How does physical centralisation of a distribution system influence the environment? This question aims at investigating what effect centralisation has on the amount of emissions that are caused by transport in a distribution system. One of the main advantages with a centralised distribution system is that emergency deliveries are expected to decrease. This type of transport is often performed by airfreight, which is a mode of transport that is regarded to cause the largest amount of environmental stress among the four most commonly used transport modes. The argument that is made is that even though centralisation causes an increase in transport work, this must not necessarily mean that emissions increase. As indicated above, earlier studies on structural changes in distribution systems have shown that this type of decision creates new opportunities to make other decisions that are beneficial for the performance of a distribution system, albeit in terms of costs and service. The aim of the second research question is consequently to study this issue, but from an environmental perspective. This question therefore reads: - How do structural decisions in logistics create new opportunities to improve on the environmental performance of a distribution system? The results of the study show that it is not sufficient to only consider transport work and emergency deliveries when the environmental effect of a centralisation is to be evaluated. It has also been concluded that centralisation creates an opportunity to make improvements within the distribution system that can prove beneficial from an environmental perspective. In summary, three characteristics besides transport work and emergency deliveries were identified as being of importance when considering the environmental effects of a centralisation. These included centralised flow, modal change, and bargaining power. This model (see full pdf) does not aim to include all characteristics that can be relevant in an environmental evaluation of a centralisation, but rather those that have been found significant in this study. However, the model helps illustrate that there are many aspects that need to be considered in such an evaluation and that depending on the characteristics of the distribution system at hand the results can vary quite extensively.

Introduktion- Den miljömässiga varianten av Supply chain management, även kallad Green supply chain management, har som mål att minimera eller eliminera negativ miljöpåverkan. Onödiga transporter innebär negativ miljöpåverkan. Trots transporters påverkan på miljön, finns lite forskning om samband mellan transporter och Green supply chain management. Syftet med studien är därför att utforma en strategi för att uppnå Green supply chain management och minska på onödiga transporter med fokus på osäkerhet, variation och transparens.   Metod- För att möjliggöra ett besvarande av syfte har en fallstudie bedrivits med hjälp av litteratur och ett fallföretag.   Resultat, analys, diskussion och slutsats - Fallföretaget påverkas negativt av osäkerhet, variation och har även brist på transparens i försörjningskedjan. Onödiga transporter genom återkallningar skapas på grund av kvalitetsbristerskapar hinder för en effektiv supply chain management strategi. Ett systematiskt tillvägagångssätt genom PDCA kan hjälpa fallföretaget att skapa en stabil grund och uppnå Green supply chain management. Det är viktigt att Plan-Do-Check-Act bedrivs med god kommunikation för att skapa transparens, hindra osäkerhet och variation. Green supply chain management kan uppnås genom en kombination av ISO 9001, ISO 14001 och Lean. Dessa delar ska bedrivas med Plan-Do-Check-Act för att minska på onödiga transporter. / Introduction- The environmental variant of Supply Chain Management, also known as the Green supply chain management, aims to minimize or eliminate negative environmental impacts.  Unnecessary transports are a negative environmental aspect and means negative environmental impact. Although transports affect the environment, there is little research on the relationship between transport and Green supply chain management. The purpose of the study is therefore to design a strategy for achieving Green supply chain management and reduce unnecessary transport with a focus on uncertainty, variability and transparency. Method- To enable the answering of purpose, a case study conducted with the help of literature and a case company. Results- The case company is negatively affected by uncertainty, variety, and also by a lack of transparency in the supply chain. Unnecessary transportations through recalls are created because of quality defects. This creates obstacles for a supply chain management strategy to be more effective. A systematic approach by Plan-Do-Check-Act can help the case company to create a stable basis and achieve green supply chain management. It is necessary to conduct Plan-Do-Check-Act with good communication in order to create transparency, prevent uncertainty and variation. Green supply chain management can be achieved through a combination of ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and Lean. These parts should be conducted with PDCA, which can reduce unnecessary transportation.

<p>Business has globalized rapidly during the last decades. Distances between point of origin and point of consumption have increased as a result of globalization. Today’s increased distances mean that companies require faster logistic responses. Air transportation is preferred because it’s worldwide lead-time, of just 1-2 day, fulfill business expectations. However, transportation operation costs have risen dramatically and there are growing concerns about the high CO₂ emission levels associated with air transportation. These issues have recently become a point of focus for most globalized companies.</p><p>Currently, Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB, in Örebro is mostly using air transportation for their inbound logistics flow from North America <em>Shared Distribution Center </em>(SDC). In this thesis, sea transportation is surveyed to asses it’s suitability as a replacement in both economic and environmental terms. The formulated questions are:</p><p>(1) For which items can SDC use sea transportation instead of air transportation at the lowest cost and with the lowest risk?</p><p>(2) How much can SDC reduce their CO2 emission with the new setup? Does it comply with the ”environmental targets” of Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB?</p><p>(3) How would SDC make decisions about suitable transportation setups for additional items in the future?</p><p>When the transportation method is changed from air to sea more than one of the total logistics costs are affected. In reflection of the longer lead-times connected with sea transportation warehousing costs will increase. Therefore, when researching the ”lowest cost” we must consider the lowest total logistics cost. Extended lead-times also decrease the companies’ capability for flexibility; additionally, there will be heightened risk in connection with product life cycles. The possible environmental effects of sea transportation are considered carefully before an item’s transportation method change is suggested to the company. All calculations of CO₂ emissions have been done in accordance with <em>Nätverk </em><em><em></em></em><em><em>för Transporter och Miljö ’s (Network for Transporter and Environment) (NTM) formula </em></em>in order to reach a credible result. The findings are compared with the company’s environmental policy. An excel model has been developed to calculate results for extra items which may be added to the product range in the future.</p><p>As a result of the research analysis it has been shown possible to reduce total logistic cost up to, 33%, 3.247.000 SEK. By changing transportation mode, the CO₂ emission levels for transportation per item for these can even be reduced by up to 97%. Additionally, the excel model can be used internally to implement future changes.</p>

Business has globalized rapidly during the last decades. Distances between point of origin and point of consumption have increased as a result of globalization. Today’s increased distances mean that companies require faster logistic responses. Air transportation is preferred because it’s worldwide lead-time, of just 1-2 day, fulfill business expectations. However, transportation operation costs have risen dramatically and there are growing concerns about the high CO2 emission levels associated with air transportation. These issues have recently become a point of focus for most globalized companies. Currently, Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB, in Örebro is mostly using air transportation for their inbound logistics flow from North America Shared Distribution Center (SDC). In this thesis, sea transportation is surveyed to asses it’s suitability as a replacement in both economic and environmental terms. The formulated questions are: (1) For which items can SDC use sea transportation instead of air transportation at the lowest cost and with the lowest risk? (2) How much can SDC reduce their CO2 emission with the new setup? Does it comply with the ”environmental targets” of Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB? (3) How would SDC make decisions about suitable transportation setups for additional items in the future? When the transportation method is changed from air to sea more than one of the total logistics costs are affected. In reflection of the longer lead-times connected with sea transportation warehousing costs will increase. Therefore, when researching the ”lowest cost” we must consider the lowest total logistics cost. Extended lead-times also decrease the companies’ capability for flexibility; additionally, there will be heightened risk in connection with product life cycles. The possible environmental effects of sea transportation are considered carefully before an item’s transportation method change is suggested to the company. All calculations of CO2 emissions have been done in accordance with Nätverk för Transporter och Miljö ’s (Network for Transporter and Environment) (NTM) formula in order to reach a credible result. The findings are compared with the company’s environmental policy. An excel model has been developed to calculate results for extra items which may be added to the product range in the future. As a result of the research analysis it has been shown possible to reduce total logistic cost up to, 33%, 3.247.000 SEK. By changing transportation mode, the CO2 emission levels for transportation per item for these can even be reduced by up to 97%. Additionally, the excel model can be used internally to implement future changes.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-08T14:53:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 3056611 bytes, checksum: e73001b52f3f37e092e742b4d599ce04 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-14 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / This dissertation deals with the Pollution-Routing Problem (PRP), a Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) with environmental considerations, recently introduced in the literature by Bekta ¸s e Laporte (2011). The objective is to minimize operational and environmental costs while respecting route-load constraints and service time windows. Costs are based on driver wages and fuel consumption, which depends on many factors, such as travel distance and vehicle load. Vehicle speeds are additional decision variables of the problem which complement routing decisions. They impact the total cost, the travel times between the locations, and thus the set of feasible routes. We propose a hybrid method that combines a local search-based metaheuristic with an exact approach and a recursive speed-optimization algorithm. Moreover, two other green VRP variants, the Fuel Consumption VRP (FCVRP) and the Energy Minimizing VRP (EMVRP), are addressed. The results obtained compare very favorably with those found in the literature, and many new improved solutions are reported. / Esta dissertação lida com o Pollution-Routing Problem (PRP), i.e. um Problema de Roteamento de Veículos (PRV) com considerações ambientais, recentemente introduzido na literatura por Bekta¸s e Laporte (2011). O objetivo consiste na minimização dos custos operacionais e ambientais, respeitando as restrições de carga dos veículos e janelas de tempo dos clientes. O custo é baseado no salário dos motoristas e no consumo de combustível, que depende de diversos fatores, como distância percorrida e carga transportada. As velocidades dos veículos são variáveis de decisão adicionais que complementam as decisões de roteamento. Tais velocidades interferem diretamente no custo total, nos tempos de viagem, bem como no conjunto de rotas viáveis. Uma abordagem híbrida que combina uma metaheurística baseada em busca local com uma abordagem exata e um algoritmo recursivo para otimizar as velocidades é proposta para solucionar o problema. Além do PRP, outras duas variantes do PRV com considerações ambientais são tratadas: o PRV considerando consumo de combustível e o PRV com minimização de energia. Os resultados obtidos se mostraram bastante favoráveis quando comparados com os melhores da literatura, e diversas soluções melhoradas são reportadas.

This master thesis deals with effects of green logistics onto logistics, which is closely connected to international trade. A part of this theses is also analysis of methods of green logistics used in company AB-InBev.

Der gesellschaftlich in den Fokus rückende Faktor der Klima- und Energieeffizienz von technischen Produkten eröffnet Unternehmen die Möglichkeit, ihre unternehmerischen Gesellschaftsverantwortung (CSR - Cooperate Social Responsybility) zu definieren und mit konkreten wirtschaftlichen Vorteilen zu verknüpfen. Kerngedanke der CSR ist der Ansatz der Nachhaltigkeit. Den folgenden Generationen soll ein intaktes ökologisches, soziales und ökonomisches Gefüge hinterlassen und dabei langfristig bilanzierbare Gewinne erwirtschaftet werden. Für die technische Intralogistik resultiert daraus die Anforderung, nachhaltige und ressourceneffiziente Systemkomponenten, Systeme und Prozesse („Green Logistics“ oder „grüne Fördertechnik“) bereitzustellen.

Bakgrund: Förändringar i konsumtionsmönster har på senare år uppkommit i vårt dagliga liv. Ju mer vi efterfrågar och konsumerar, desto mer ökar transporterna vilket skapar negativa konsekvenser på vår omgivning. Ökat avfall, onödiga kostnader, osunda arbetsförhållanden och ineffektiv användning av tillgångar är exempel på när företag inte tar sitt ansvar på de miljömässiga, ekonomiska samt sociala hållbarhetsområdena. Logistikföretagen har en direkt negativ påverkan på sin omgivning genom dess koldioxidutsläpp från fordonen, och har därmed en direkt möjlighet att kunna påverka detta. Logistikbranschen står idag inför olika utmaningar, men kan genom ett integrerat hållbarhetsarbete erhålla förmåner i både monetära och icke-monetära former. Företagen kan ta ansvar för de miljömässiga, ekonomiska samt sociala aspekterna, vilket benämns som Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Den effektiva resurshanteringen som kan implementeras i logistikföretagen utgörs av modellen cirkulär ekonomi och grundas i att reducera, återanvända och återvinna resurser inom verksamheten. CSR och cirkulär ekonomi utgör därmed grunden i denna studie för att ta reda på hur ett hållbarhetsarbete kan tillämpas på bästa möjliga sätt hos företag inom logistikbranschen i Sverige. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur logistikföretag i Sverige arbetar med hållbarhet. Vidare avser vi att identifiera och undersöka vilka möjligheter och förutsättningar som finns för implementering av cirkulär ekonomi inom logistikföretag för att skapa ytterligare resurseffektivitet och hållbarhet. Genomförande: Studien har genomförts med en kvalitativ karaktär genom intervjuer med insatta aktörer som har en direkt koppling till logistikbranschen i Sverige. Detta val grundas i att erhålla en ökad förståelse baserad på olika källor från branschen med respondenter som har varierade befattningar och kunskaper. Slutsats: Resultatet av denna studie innebär att en effektiv resurshantering baserad på den cirkulära ekonomins modell kan först uppnås när fyra delar är förverkligade tillsammans med ett hållbart ansvarstagande. Första kravet behandlar en hållbar strategi, det andra kräver att transportbeställaren efterfrågar hållbara transporter. Dessutom krävs även att företagen implementerar hållbara logistikaktiviteter som optimerar verksamhetens resurser. Slutliga kravet begär att intressenter ser incitament till att investera i verksamheten och långsiktiga samt branschöverskridande samarbeten tillsammans med att lagar stiftas för att driva hållbarhetsarbetet framåt. / Background: A shift in consumption has been noted in recent years. The more we demand and consume, the more increases the number of transports which leads to negative consequences in our environment. Logistic firms have a direct effect on the environment through their carbon emissions from their vehicles, therefore they have a direct possibility to influence this. The logistic sector is facing multiple challenges, but can through integrated sustainability actions acquire benefits, in both monetary and non-monetary forms. The companies can be responsible regarding the environmental, economic and social aspects, which is called Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The efficient resource management that can be implemented in logistic firms constitutes of the circular economy model, which is based on reducing, reusing and recycling resources within a company. CSR and circular economy compose the base in this study for the investigation of how a logistic firm can in the most optimal approach, implement sustainability actions within the logistic sector in Sweden. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine how logistic firms in Sweden work with sustainability. Furthermore, we aim to identify and investigate what are the possibilities and conditions for an implementation of circular economy within logistic firms to create a more resource efficient and sustainable sector. Completion: The study has a qualitative outline through interviews with competent actors that have a direct connection with the logistic sector in Sweden. This decision is based on the aim of obtaining a greater understanding from different sources in the sector with persons that obtain varied positions and knowledge. Conclusion: The results of this study implies that an effective resource management based on the circular economy model only can be achieved when the following four elements are realized with sustainable responsibility. The first requirement deals with a sustainable approach, the second requires that there is a demand for sustainable transports, it also requires that companies implement sustainable logistic activities that optimize business resources. The final requirement is that stakeholders seeks incentives to support and invest in the business both long-term and with cross-sector collaborations together with the laws enacted to drive the sustainability agenda forward.