Logistics and SCM have a major impact on the global economy as well as everyday life. The concepts of transportation or ‘Go’ and storage or ‘Stop’
activities enable the right products to be in the right place in an efficient and effective manner. However, while the trends of increased globalization, increased outsourcing and deeper relationships, more use of technology, lean and agile supply chain processes, and a one-way flow in the supply chain have assisted logistics and SCM activities, they have also been detrimental from a sustainability perspective. Emissions of greenhouse gases, use of fuel and other natural resources, other forms of pollution, and increased levels of waste from packaging are just some of these detriments.
There are several recurring themes regarding sustainable logistics and SCM that stem from works discussed above that tie in to these current trends for logistics and SCM. First, firms need to recognize that sustainabil- ity needs to form part of their logistics and supply chain strategies and for the right reasons – this theme is developed further in Chapters 8 and 9.
Second, internal operations including transportation, warehousing and production need to be conducted as efficiently as possible. These elements of this theme feature in Chapters 3, 4 and 5 respectively. Third, relation- ships with upstream suppliers and downstream customers need to embrace sustainability. Chapter 6 discusses relationships with suppliers in the context of sustainable purchasing and procurement. Finally, what goes downstream in the supply chain must also come back upstream; hence reverse logistics is important and will be discussed in Chapter 7.
Some issues of sustainable logistics and supply chain activities have been examined over the past 15 years. However, they are becoming more important due to a realization that economic and environmental sustainability issues require urgent attention and that logistics and supply chain activities have a significant impact on the natural environment. The science of sustainability and its relationship to logistics and SCM will be discussed next in Chapter 2.
This domain is growing rapidly and many initiatives are underway to increase efficiencies in sustainability, particularly energy use and emissions.
However, it is still under-developed and under-researched, particularly regarding tradeoffs between a sustainable supply chain and current logistical
and supply chain practices that involve long, global one-way supply chains dependent on technology, outsourcing and time compression to meet ever- increasing customer demand for more and better products in a timely manner.
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