Learn more about our Develop your Sustainable Logistics Roadmap Training: Interview with participants Michael Ellis and Tony Graham from Microsoft
Amsterdam, 18 November 2021 – Michael Ellis, Senior Program Manager, Cloud Supply Chain Sustainability and Tony Graham, Program Manager, Microsoft, spoke to Smart Freight Centre about their recent experience with our Develop Your Sustainable Logistics Roadmap training.
What have you learned from the course and what insights have you gained?
We feel we’ve gained a robust and extensive understanding of sustainable logistics from this course. The expert insights, such as how to build and utilize relationships across our supply chain to implement sustainable approaches, are valuable in planning a strategic roadmap, going forward. The sessions also validated some of our current practices and work, giving us the confidence and assurance we’re on the right path, as well as highlighting areas to work on, at Microsoft.
What did you like most?
The training covered many real-world scenarios and situations that companies like Microsoft could find themselves in. From fuel options to difficulties with calculating scope three emissions, the course was full of tailored information which was concise and useful. Also, we’ve already been aware of some ‘levers to pull’ to make practices more sustainable, but this course helped us understand the calculations needed to determine the effectiveness of such approaches. We also found the information about what other companies were doing very useful in comparing approaches and identifying established solutions.
How did the training impact your approach to sustainability and emissions reduction in logistics?
The course really helped us understand how carbon accounting is done to a worldwide standard in relation to the GLEC Framework. This was valuable given we were able to break down GHG emission calculation and reduction goals into a concrete workflow that was achievable, understandable and, most importantly, practical. The training was impactful in the sense that the implementation of all theory, concepts and the required steps was clear.
The course was also useful, in that it made us realize the challenges of meeting our ambitious emission reduction goals and that it’ll take a lot of collaboration, work and change to meet our targets.
What would be your message or advice be for future participants?
We’d recommend prioritizing and homing in on understanding the core principles and calculations that inform the development of a sustainable logistics roadmap. Establishing a robust, data-driven baseline of current emissions is critical in understanding where your company currently stands. This, in turn, will allow realistic emission reduction goals to be set, effective strategies to be identified and progress to be assessed.
What are you changing within your company as a result of the course?
The Develop your Sustainable Logistics Roadmap training provided strong foundations to build on. We’ve used the resources given to us in the training to develop a slide deck (presentation slides) and several documents to share what we learned in the course with other teams. The course has verified many of our existing approaches, which means there’s now the authority to continue our work with confidence and a continued drive towards concrete solutions.
Would you recommend the course?
For sure! The course validated many of our practices and processes, giving us the confidence and authority to largely carry on with our maturing approach. There were many examples of what other successful companies were doing to reduce emissions as well as detailed, valuable explanations of calculation and reduction methods. All the core, critical topics were well covered, and we were left with the confidence and assuredness to continue developing our approach, moving forward.
Photo credit: Erik Odiin