To stay with this week's theme of establishing an environmentally-friendly supply chain, here are a few more tips from Logistics Management on going green while at the same time cutting costs: Green logistics: Industry expert cites ways of going green and cutting costs at the same time. In the article, supply chain expert Jack Ampuja discusses strategies such as redesigning packaging and logistics systems, and the effect that oil price fluctuations can have on supply chains:

A recent survey conducted by GTM Research on 74 supply chain executives had some surprising results. Interestingly, sustainability is not at the top of the list of priorities - it falls in the middle of the pack. Companies are still investing in this area though, and the quest for energy efficiency is more popular than any other sustainable supply chain activity this year. Three fourths of respondants feel that their company's environmental stance will have a direct effect on customer relationships within three years. Approximately one third feel it is a issue with customers today.

In last week's post about greening the supply chain, I referenced an article that suggested starting with overseas suppliers (specifically those in China) to increase the supply chain's energy efficiency. The article also discusses how Walmart has established a supplier energy efficient program in China, where the company has set a target of improving the energy efficiency of 200 factories by 20 percent over the next three years.