An analytical model to investigate the economic and environmental benefits of a supply chain resource-sharing scheme based on collaborative consolidation centres
Résumé
This study evaluates the cost and carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions of different supply chain
configurations to determine when suppliers should move to a greener resource-sharing scheme.
We build an analytical model based on a case study of a retailer that has developed a resourcesharing
initiative introducing collaborative consolidation centres (CCC) between its suppliers
and its warehouses (WH). We compare the costs and carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions of
using a pair of CCCs with direct delivery to twenty WHs. Our parameters include the distances
between suppliers, CCCs, and WHs, in addition to the volumes delivered. This model determines
when there should be a switch to the CCC system. We also compare the actual CCC locations
with better alternatives, the centres of gravity of the regions. On a real cost basis, economic
gains, but not environmental ones, occur, highlighting a need for alternative models for optimal
locations, which would include economic and environmental constraints.