At least thanks to such campaigns as "Friday for Future", our awareness of environmental protection has improved. This trend has also left traces in logistics. Due to the steady development of globalization, more and more companies feel the responsibility to always pay attention to their ecological footprint. Therefore, it is not surprising that many people are engaged in the cause of "green logistics". The goal of this sustainable corporate policy is to reduce operating costs, increase profits, and avoid negative impacts on the environment as much as possible. In this context, the correct software solution to realize the digitalization and automation of processes as much as possible is an important cornerstone to realize green logistics.
Although green logistics has been very common in the field of transportation, there is still a lot of untapped potential in the field of internal logistics, especially in the field of cargo handling. Just think about using sustainable product packaging and reusable load carriers, or avoiding idle consumption. Such measures can not only protect the environment, but also protect the budget. In addition, energy consumption should not be ignored. The saving potential of the logistics hall is particularly great: on average, nearly 50% of the energy flows to the transportation, storage and order picking technologies. Up to 35% of power consumption is due to heating, cooling or ventilation, while lighting accounts for another 15%.
The number one energy consumer is the transportation of goods in the warehouse, followed by temperature regulation. For example, if the door of the heating warehouse is opened for too long, the company will waste a lot of energy unnecessarily. This in turn increases operating costs - the first potential for optimization.
Optimization potential 1: energy consumers open the gate
Ideally, the intelligent video management solution with access control detection function plays a role here. They automatically detect doors and their status (open or closed) and allow effective energy management. In this way, the unintentional heat loss in the heated logistics warehouse can be avoided just like the cold loss in the cold storage hall. In addition, this will help improve the coordination of trucks to be unloaded or loaded. The door will not be opened unnecessarily, but only when the goods arrive or are loaded. This is particularly useful for refrigerated warehouses because it makes the logistics process more environmentally friendly, saves electricity, and is therefore more cost-effective. A good side effect is that with the help of this software solution, it can be determined at any time whether the door that should be closed for security reasons is inadvertently opened. Therefore, the company can not only optimally control the temperature regulation of the hall, but also benefit from higher security and maintain a lower theft rate.
The second potential of optimization: route planning
Another possible application area for video management software is to optimize truck tours. Through the corresponding functions, the quantity, volume and tonnage of the consigned goods can be displayed intuitively, and the expected and actual volumes on the truck can be compared quickly and intuitively. This enables all the real loading status of trucks departing within a week to be recorded and clearly displayed. This makes it easy to see which transport vehicles may not be fully loaded. If there are several, perhaps even should go to the same place on the same day, it is possible to load goods intelligently, which can save one or two trips. This function also makes it possible to quickly identify the potential of open loading space and better control distribution activities. The result: reduce driving kilometers, reduce fuel consumption and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Optimization potential 3: indoor positioning
Indoor positioning brings further saving potential. For example, the combination of video management system and positioning software can seamlessly track goods. With such a digital video solution, you can not only see the location of the searched package, but also its appearance, format and status. This in turn makes consignments faster and easier to find. And that's how it works. When a package passes through the logistics hall, the staff will scan the barcode attached to the package in each separate processing step. The data generated in this way is stored in the corresponding database, and at the same time, the video management software automatically connects with the cargo location and video data, thus forming a seamless mobile path. With the help of the consignment or package number, the location of the goods can be accurately determined. Because these packages are usually not small packages, but put on European pallets in bundles, and the hall is often very large, forklift is often used to search for missing goods. However, it is now easy to track consignments on computers to determine targets, so that time-consuming searches with forklifts are no longer needed, which in turn saves energy and resources.
Value oriented actions in logistics
Although "green logistics" inevitably reminds people of reducing carbon dioxide emissions in cargo transportation, internal logistics should not be ignored. This is a place where a great deal of potential for environment-friendly and resource efficient processes lies dormant. Just the large amount of goods that must be transported in the transfer hall every day provides more possibilities to act in a more environmentally conscious manner. For example, eco efficient planning of loading capacity and tours through software has long been established. The opening time of the door can also be precisely controlled in this way, which helps prevent temperature loss. Through more environmentally friendly, energy-saving and cost-effective processes, the video management system customized for logistics processes can not only help logistics companies optimize processes, but also make meaningful contributions to environmental and climate protection. Therefore, it provides an ecological and economic competitive advantage for the company.
In Gro ? beeren base of Emons Spedition, a medium-sized logistics company in Cologne, Germany, 900 to 1000 pieces of goods are produced every day. In such a large number, some packages that are not in the assumed location are not found, which is the essence of the matter. This is why Emons uses modular video management software to help identify lost cargo. The 85 cameras installed inside and outside the freight forwarding company take pictures in continuous operation and send them to the local database. There, intuitive modular software solutions take over the evaluation and structuring of data. In the transfer hall, each camera is assigned to the hall scanner currently in its view. In this way, each consignment number or barcode scan is linked to the video record of the shipment - from now on, the package can be found easily and quickly. To this end, the truck driver only needs to input the consignment number in one of the three driver terminals installed in the transfer hall, and he will receive information about the current location of the goods. If this is not enough, the truck driver can quickly display the photos of the missing pallet in the truck dispatching according to the consignment number.
In addition, Emons has implemented an additional function for route optimization. With this solution, you can generate various PDF reports, such as the loading status list of departing trucks, at the click of a button. The number of free loading meters can be easily determined by overlapping parking space marks. The video management solution with tour optimization function has also been installed in the Cologne headquarters of the transportation company, and useful additional functions have been added for monitoring the door conditions controlled by software.
With this software solution, the transportation company can achieve savings in all areas. Because of the video management solution, it can perform various tasks, such as package tracking, in a targeted and user-friendly way. Improved truck loading and monitoring of gate conditions also ultimately ensure sustainability.
