UPS to improve precision logistics
Early next year UPS will launch its UPS Premier service, which will use sensors that can track medical packages at all times. The service will use a combination of these sensors and data analytics which the company intends to use to improve precision logistics in the healthcare industry.
UPS Premier will prioritize handling of shipments of healthcare supplies such as personalized medicines, DNA and gene therapies, investigative drugs, laboratory specimens and implantable medical devices. The goal is that the packages will be able to arrive at exactly the right time and place, despite factors such as bad weather. UPS intends to achieve this by allowing the exact location of medical packages available in near real time.
According to Juan Perez, UPS’ chief information and engineering officer, “having better visibility about where shipments are [means] when unexpected things happen, we’ll be in a better place to react.” He continued that the information provided by the sensors will allow UPS employees to use the information to prioritize deliveries and change them as necessary to ensure everything arrives on time.
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Amazon makes its supply chain visible
Following requests from organizations campaigning for more transparency in the fashion and e-commerce industry, Amazon has revealed details about its supply chain by publicly disclosing the names and addresses of over 1,000 facilities, which produce Amazon branded products.
The move has been celebrated with official statements from both the Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), but statements also called for Amazon to do more. While Aruna Kashya, Senior Women’s Right Council at HRW, notes that Amazon’s decision “sends an unambiguous message that transparency is critically important to stay and grow”, she also continues that the information is “not easily accessible” and that this makes it “harder to determine whether they are acting responsible or not”.
Amazon’s announcement comes as the Fashion Transparency Index (FTI) shows that more businesses in the industry are being transparent. According to the 2019 FTI, of the 200 major apparel brands surveyed, 35% publish their production locations, which is up 12.5% from the 2016 index.
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Consumer Goods Industry falls short of 2020 deforestation goal
Last month, Nestle and Procter & Gamble announced that they would miss their targets to contribute to no deforestation by 2020. However, these are not the only companies that will fall short according to the CDP, who concluded in a new report that in fact the majority of the Consumer Goods Forum will not meet its 2020 deforestation goal.
The goal, which was set by the Consumer Goods Forum in 2010, was that by 2020 companies would achieve net-zero deforestation in the supply chains of palm oil, soy and cattle, but according to experts a “more immersive on-the-ground work is needed to achieve reductions in deforestation”.
The CDP report also highlights that no company has achieved “complete traceability” in their supply chain of palm oil, soy or cattle and suggests that “current certifications and traceability systems are not doing the job”. However, it provides several solutions with some experts suggesting a jurisdictional approach, which sees corporations work alongside Government to make change. Whereas others suggest a more landscape approach, which recognizes that these goals can only be achieved if they are not competing with the priorities with those on the ground, could be more effective.
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Have a great weekend!