University helps global organisations reduce environmental impact of their supply chains

An innovative tool launched by the University of Sheffield in partnership with Microsoft is helping organisations to reduce the environmental impact of their supply chains.

In alignment with the upcoming United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21) in France later this year, the urgent need to reach an international agreement to battle CO2 emissions is unequivocal.

Now, public and private sector organisations have the ability to better understand the environmental impact of their supply chain thanks to a new Cloud based tool SCEnAT+ (Supply Chain Environmental Analysis Tool).

SCEnAT+ has been implemented in various organisations to help reduce their carbon emissions and pinpoint efficiency improvement opportunities within their supply chains. By running an analysis of a supply chain and presenting a carbon “heat-map”, SCEnAT+ provides recommendations for reducing the carbon footprint of the supply chain.

The pioneering tool enables companies to perform improved life cycle analysis, better life cycle costing, supply chain benchmarking and evaluation of a plethora of supply chain environmental impact on the ecosystem and wider economy, leading to increased revenues and decreased CO2 emission.

Professor Lenny Koh, Director of the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Resource Efficiency Centre, said: “Microsoft’s Futures programme is the ideal platform for us to base the SCEnAT+ on as it will enable its scalability, interoperability and reconfigurability.

“We look forward to working with Microsoft on further new developments in the future. Our goal is embedding sustainability conditions in all decision making across supply chains around the world.”

Mike Davies, Head of Higher Education Business from Microsoft UK, said: “We are pleased to announce this new partnership with the University of Sheffield and its Advanced Resource Efficiency Centre.

“The SCEnAT+ has the ability to provide great benefits to organisations in reducing the cost and environmental impact of their supply chains, and it also showcases the abilities of our Cloud services.”

Dr Kenji Takeda, Solutions Architect and Technical Manager from Microsoft Research, added: “The future of research collaboration will be accelerated via Azure Research and Azure Marketplace which provide a rapid innovation environment supported by Cloud technology. SCEnAT+ technology is based on Azure infrastructure. We are looking forward to our next phase of collaboration with the University of Sheffield.”

Companies that have used SCEnAT+ include:

Muntons, the UK’s leading malt supplier who exports their products globally it reduced their CO2 emissions by 650 tonnes, following recommendations identified in SCEnAT+.

Northern Foods, which has managed to save 2.4 million road kilometres by implementing a Virtual Meeting Policy as recommended through the use of SCEnAT+.

Outokumpu, stainless steel producer saved £300,000 in energy costs after analysing their supply chain and implementing the identified potential solutions from using SCEnAT+.

David Clarkson, Managing Director of DBL Logistics said: “I am proud to say that DBL Logistics played a part in the SCEnAT+ development and for any companies involved the tool offers a unique opportunity to gain a new perspective of their supply chain and identify opportunities for both carbon and financial savings.”

Additional information For further information about SCEnAT+ please visit www.scenat.com or contact Professor Lenny Koh via email at S.C.L.Koh@sheffield.ac.uk University of Sheffield

With almost 26,000 of the brightest students from around 120 countries, learning alongside over 1,200 of the best academics from across the globe, the University of Sheffield is one of the world’s leading universities. A member of the UK’s prestigious Russell Group of leading research-led institutions, Sheffield offers world-class teaching and research excellence across a wide range of disciplines. Unified by the power of discovery and understanding, staff and students at the university are committed to finding new ways to transform the world we live in. In 2014 it was voted the number one university in the UK for Student Experience by Times Higher Education and in the last decade has won four Queen’s Anniversary Prizes in recognition of the outstanding contribution to the United Kingdom’s intellectual, economic, cultural and social life. Sheffield has five Nobel Prize winners among former staff and students and its alumni go on to hold positions of great responsibility and influence all over the world, making significant contributions in their chosen fields. Global research partners and clients include Boeing, Rolls-Royce, Unilever, AstraZeneca, Glaxo SmithKline, Siemens and Airbus, as well as many UK and overseas government agencies and charitable foundations.