Logistics Viewpoints

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Guest Commentary: Driving Data Integrity in the Supply Chain

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Collecting and analyzing data is critical for organizations to make strategic, data-driven decisions that positively impact the supply chain. But simply collecting data can lead companies to make incorrect decisions based on inaccurate data. As a result, data collection and integrity are critical to a company’s success – both financially and environmentally.

In a recent panel at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals’ (CSCMP) 2013 Annual Global Conference, I joined representatives from Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Sharp Electronics, Menlo Worldwide Logistics and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to address the commitment to data integrity within the EPA’s SmartWay partnership, and highlight steps the transportation community can take to support more accurate, consistent and reliable SmartWay data collection and reporting.

Best Practices to Ensure Data Integrity

Data is at the foundation of an organization’s planning and decision making, and as a result, data integrity is essential to establish what a company has done and to build strategies for moving forward – whether it’s to reduce transportation costs or carbon emissions. Likewise, SmartWay’s success depends on measuring and documenting emissions savings, making it critical that SmartWay partners track and report their data accurately and completely. As a result, the EPA and its SmartWay partners worked collaboratively to develop and implement a number of data quality assurance best practices that help ensure SmartWay’s data integrity. These best practices are intended to help SmartWay partners in their own efforts to collect, manage and assure the quality of their SmartWay-related data and get the most out of their investment.

Ensure Data Security
A critical quality assurance component is to ensure the physical security of your supply chain data. This can be done by:

  • Limiting access to the data to just those staff members who are charged with entering it into the system and those who directly need to use it. Do this by making the data “read only.”
  • Using a rigorous data back-up process, and having a data recovery system in place.
  • Citing your data sources so users know where they can go to retrieve the information should there be a computer malfunction or a system crash.
  • Keeping copies of data in another physical location or back-up data center.

Ensure Effective Data Management
Many companies are already using established quality systems and standards – for example, ISO registration or Lean processes – to ensure quality across their entire operations, but quality can be taken to the next level by integrating SmartWay data collection and tracking into these procedures. Having comprehensive and up-to-date standard operating procedures in place for the collection, storing and reporting of all SmartWay-related data is essential in ensuring quality. These practices include:

  • Train staff assigned to perform SmartWay data collection and entry. SmartWay has excellent user guides that you should share with your staff. It’s very important that you be able to seamlessly transition from one person to the next in collecting and storing SmartWay data in case there is staff turnover.
  • Conduct periodic reviews on SmartWay data and have multiple trained team members review the reporting tool data. Don’t forget to perform a year-over-year comparison of the SmartWay data before submitting the reporting tool.
  • Specific red flags to watch out for include major discrepancies or missing data, as these could indicate data entry or collection errors.
  • Share the data from the report with senior management before submitting it, which is another way to double check the accuracy of the data. It’s also a great way to involve them more in SmartWay, as it may lead to collaboration on crafting new environmental performance goals for the company.

SmartWay is about more than the trendy “being green” and cutting down your company’s environmental impact – it’s about being a true leader in freight supply chain environmental performance and energy efficiency. And achieving and sustaining environmentally responsible supply chain operations requires organizations place a strong focus on data integrity and implement best practices that support more accurate, consistent and reliable collection of information.

Ben Cubitt is Senior Vice President, Consulting & Engineering, at Transplace. With more than 20 years of industry and consulting experience in freight optimization, Mr. Cubitt has a deep familiarity with the freight procurement field working for consulting firms and multiple Fortune 500 companies in the consumer products, paper and automotive industries. Mr. Cubitt joined Transplace in July 2010 after four years as Vice President, Supply Chain for RockTenn Corporation. At Transplace he leads the engineering and consulting teams.

Guest Commentary: SmartWay Certified Carrier – So What?

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Launched in 2004, SmartWay® is an EPA program that reduces transportation-related emissions by creating incentives to improve supply chain fuel efficiency. For years shippers have worked to recognize and reward “SmartWay Carriers” with more business and bid awards. Some shippers have mandated that any carrier participating in their bid be SmartWay certified or become certified within a specified time period after the bid is completed.

But many shippers are also uncertain exactly what it means to be SmartWay certified and wonder “Is this just marketing?” or do SmartWay carriers have to really work to become certified?

Results of a recent survey initiated by PepsiCo and Transplace confirmed that SmartWay certification is much more than marketing, and carriers are working hard to evaluate, implement and optimize the technology changes that will significantly improve fleet fuel mileage performance.

We worked with many of our core carrier partners and the EPA SmartWay team to design the survey, which was sent to 65 carriers – representing a range of small, mid-sized and large carriers. The survey results showed which initiatives are being widely implemented with good results, and they also revealed some surprising insights.

SmartWay Technology Implementation
The survey and discussions with participating carriers confirmed that some initiatives have a clear payback and are widely implemented while others have a mixed track record on both ROI and levels of implementation. Widely implemented initiatives include:

  • Drive Training and Awareness
  • Reducing Highway Speed
  • Progressive Shifting
  • Verified Low Rolling Resistance Tires
  • Record Engine / Performance Data (for driver feedback and training)

Each carrier is evaluating these initiatives on a wide range of criteria, such as fit with their fleet (avg. length of haul, trailer-to-tractor ratio, customer base, etc), cost to implement and capital plans. This was reflected in the survey results, and some of following initiatives showed a mixed level of adoption or implementation across fleets:

  • Tire Pressure Monitoring System
  • Trailer Gap Reducers
  • Trailer Side Skirts
  • Nitrogen Filled Tires

Survey Surprises
The survey uncovered a number of findings that stood out as surprises or gave a deeper understanding of why there is such a variance in how widely or consistently initiatives are implemented. Some of these include:

  • Every technology does not fit every fleet. Side skirts, for example, have a higher payback for fleets with a longer average length of haul and/or a lower trailer-to-tractor ratio.
  • It is difficult for carriers to get all of their existing trailers into the shop to retrofit them with fuel mileage technology. Some initiatives therefore, are either implemented only on new equipment purchases or as existing trailers come in for other repairs or work.
  • While some initiatives may not have a clear ROI they may still be implemented on dedicated fleets where fleet customers want to maximize sustainability initiatives.
  • Driver support may be difficult at first, but over time, as they see the benefits, they become enthusiastic supporters. Drivers reported liking that “side skirts” make pulling the trailers much easier while also helping improve fleet miles per gallon.

The SmartWay Technology Program has helped encourage industry adoption of fuel efficient technologies. As a result, carriers are doing their part to implement the initiatives that they believe fit their fleet, have a positive ROI, and help increase fleet fuel efficiency.

Original equipment manufacturers and after-market suppliers continue to improve the technology, and carriers are working with these partners to evaluate and improve these technology innovations. There is tremendous work being done in this area and its impact on fleet miles per gallon has been significant.

We continue to work with the EPA SmartWay Team, PepsiCo and carriers to expand the survey, while sharing the results with carriers and shippers to ultimately improve our collective understanding of how SmartWay technology is being implemented and the overall benefits for the whole industry.

Ben Cubitt is Senior Vice President of Transplace, leading the company’s Engineering, Consulting and Strategic Carrier Management team. Ben has been active in Supply Chain and Transportation optimization for over twenty years, with most of his time spent on the shipper side of the table with companies including Federal-Mogul, MeadWestaco and RockTenn Corp. He also has more than five years of experience in consulting.

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