Using Air Freight Only When Necessary for International Shipments
Canon is revising its packaging design and dimensions to raise the transport efficiency of international shipments, which have a particularly high impact on the environment. In particular, we are promoting measures to cut air freight use to the bare minimum.
In the second half of 2006, we began switching air transport to China of products produced in Kyushu, Japan, to the high-speed sea transport link between Hakata and Shanghai that we had occasionally used to import business machines from China.
Furthermore, we are starting selectively to use sea transport for such compact, high-value-added products as digital cameras and lenses, which have previously been shipped by air freight. In the future, we will promote the appropriate use of air freight only when necessary.
Shortening Transportation Distances by Using Multi-Stop Pickup (Milkrun)
Canon uses multistop pickups, in which transport companies go around to a number of suppliers to load parts for delivery. Multistop pickup results in better loading efficiency of transport vehicles than if each supplier were to deliver its parts independently. This method also reduces the number of transport vehicles and transport distances.
Canon commenced milkrun pickups in Japan in 1998, and is extending this method of collection to production sites in China, Thailand, Vietnam and other countries.
How Multistop Pickup (Milkrun) Works
Promoting Direct Shipments to Reduce Unnecessary Transportation
Direct shipments are an effective logistical way to reduce environmental impact by cutting transportation distances.
For domestic product shipments, Canon distributes directly to sales companies’ regional warehouses instead of delivering from production sites or ports of import to warehouses for storage. In addition, deliveries are made directly from sales companies to customers, without passing through sales subsidiaries. Through such simplifications, we promote direct shipments.
Furthermore, for our overseas product shipments, such as delivery from production sites in Asia to other Asian regions or to Europe, goods are not transported via regional headquarter sales companies, but delivered directly to the warehouses of sales companies in the country of ultimate sale. In particular, to cope with the growth in exports to such emerging markets as Africa and Eastern Europe, we have established distribution center in key areas and are expanding direct shipments from these points of dispatch to sales markets without passing through European Headquarters’ warehouses. Within the EU, we have investigated modal shifts for shipments of products to Spain, and further reduced shipment distances through direct shipments of imported goods.
In the United States, some shipments of such business products as copying machines and printers do not go via the delivery centers of Canon USA sales subsidiaries. We have started shipping directly to warehouses controlled by the Head Office in each area, from which products are delivered to end users. In the future, we plan to expand our direct shipments to reduce unnecessary transport.
Promoting Diversion (changing of destinations) to Reduce Transportation between Warehouses
Canon dispatches its business products for the United States and Canada to five warehouses in North America from its production sites in Japan and Asia. When using shipment by sea, in general we arrange vessels after determining destination warehouse. However, if demand changes while the goods are in transit, the shipment has had to be re-shipped from its original destination warehouse to another warehouse in the new area of demand.
To reduce this unprofitable re-shipment, Canon has introduced a diversion system for part of its product shipments by which determining final destination warehouse can be postponed until 48 hours before docking on the West Coast of North America. This method alleviates inventory distribution imbalances between warehouses in North America and can reduce the CO2 emissions arising from further haulage between warehouses.
In Europe, we have commenced procedures to switch a portion of consumer products to an order-based method. Hitherto, we carried out supply and demand adjustments based on warehouses by national units (requisite volumes determined by country at the time of placing orders, with shipments made accordingly). Viewing Europe as a single warehouse destination, we can examine the latest inventory information at the time of shipment from production sites in Japan and elsewhere in Asia, and by initially sorting quantities by country, can reduce inventory imbalances in Europe and cut avoidable transport between warehouses.
Utilizing Low-Emission Vehicles*
To reduce global warming and pollution, Canon is promoting the conversion of its fleet of business vehicles to energy-saving, low-emission models.
Canon Marketing Japan, which is responsible for sales in Japan, has introduced 237 low-emission vehicles, including 22 hybrid cars. From 2007, we will aggressively promote the introduction of such vehicles so we can conduct our business activities with less environmental impact.
To expand the reuse as materials of collected products we have developed a collapsible “eco-material container” made from collected ink cartridges. Since 2006, the collapsible containers have been used to collect spent service parts and units from sales and maintenance companies in the Tohoku region in northeast Japan.
Eco-material containers are made from recycled polypropylene from collected ink cartridges after dismantling their ink tanks and removing labels. Materials can be manufactured by a Group company that recycles, which contributes to the Canon Group’s internal circulation rate. In addition, these boxes can be reused, unlike the cardboard boxes formerly used for collections, which aids our drive to reduce our environmental impact. As the boxes are made from translucent plastic, the contents can also be confirmed without opening.
Collapsible eco-material container
