I am in Rotterdam today attending the CSCMP Europe 2010 Conference. Yesterday’s keynote presentations by Christoph Overlack, Vice President, Supply Chain Europe at Nestle, and Gary Cassell, General Manager, Logistics EMEA at Cummings, were very informative. Deborah Lentz, Vice President Customer Service and Logistics, Kraft Foods Europe, is giving the keynote this morning, and this afternoon we’re taking a tour of the Rotterdam port.

I’ll share my takeaways from the conference next week. In the meantime, here’s the news that caught our attention this week:

• UPS Using Technology to Offer “Green” Pickup Option to Small- & Mid-Size Customers
• Schneider National Outfits Tractor Fleet with First-of-its-Kind Aerodynamic Wheel Covers
• FedEx and Conservation International collaborate on environmental initiatives in China
• National Retail Federation, eBay Announce Partnership
• Logility Acquires Optiant
• QuestaWeb Unveils European Union Excise Movement and Control System Module

UPS, Schneider National, and FedEx all traded in their corporate colors for green this week. The news from UPS and Schneider National are examples of how companies can leverage technology to cut costs, enhance productivity, and in the process, reduce CO2 emissions. UPS introduced UPS Smart Pickup “designed for customers who want the convenience of a scheduled pickup but who may not ship a package every day.” As UPS CIO David Barnes explains in the press release, “Before UPS Smart Pickup, UPS would often arrive at a customer’s location only to discover that the customer had no packages for pickup that day. For the first time, a UPS service integrates the company’s operational and customer-facing technology to eliminate unnecessary stops.”

(Integrating these two systems seems like a no brainer—I wonder why it wasn’t done sooner).

The press release goes on to describe the process: “A customer uses a UPS shipping system, such as UPS WorldShip 2010, UPS CampusShip or UPS Internet Shipping, to process a package prior to a predetermined cutoff time. That shipping system then communicates with internal operations systems at UPS to notify drivers via their wireless, handheld computers that a pickup is required. The result is that a pickup is only scheduled when a customer processes a package in a UPS shipping system. The weekly flat fee for UPS Smart Pickup is $10.”

This is also a good example of the growing role and importance of mobile devices and communication in fleet routing and scheduling. UPS expects to eliminate 8 million miles from its U.S. operations and save an estimated 793,000 gallons of fuel and 7,800 metric tonnes of CO² emissions.

Schneider’s news also falls in the “no brainer” category, especially since cyclists have been using similar aerodynamic technology for a long time. As you can see in the video below, Schneider is installing the Deflecktor Aero Wheel Cover on its entire tractor fleet (initially on the four drive positions of each tractor). Schneider expects the improved mile-per-gallon efficiency of each vehicle will save 1.8 million gallons of fuel annually after implementing the Deflecktor on its fleet of over 12,000 tractors.

FedEx’s news falls more in the sustainability category. According to the press release, “FedEx will donate $600,000 to Conservation International (CI) to run ten community conservation projects in China’s Sichuan Province that will assist in the survival of one of the region’s most well-known natives – the giant panda. Together, FedEx and CI will support reforestation in Sichuan Province, which was severely impacted by a major earthquake in 2008, and raise environmental awareness through programs designed to empower FedEx employees to share the importance of a balanced ecosystem with their community.”

On the technology front, Logility acquires Optiant for $3.3 million in cash. The VCs who had collectively invested almost $40 million in Optiant took a bath on this deal. Optiant was one of the pioneers of multi-echelon inventory optimization solutions, with clients such as Black & Decker, Procter & Gamble, Kraft, HP, Nestle, and Boston Scientific. Bottom line: a great deal for Logility when you compare the purchase price to the valuable IP and customers it’s getting.

Have a great weekend!