Kraft Makes MOST of Sustainable Logistics
Kraft Foods Global Inc. instituted a new synchronized trip program last year, Project MOST (Management of Optimized Sustainable Transportation), designed to achieve a reduction in "empty miles" within its U.S. private fleet and top 50 carriers.
One year later, Project MOST is the cornerstone of Kraft's transportation sustainability efforts. It identifies the repeated patterns of truck movements into and out of Kraft distribution locations and then creates a series of trip segments for individual drivers and tractors in order to avoid trucks moving while empty, creating "empty miles".
"Even before the increases in the price of oil, and the growing focus on sustainability, we knew we could improve the movement of trucks carrying products to our customers," says Mike Cole, director North America Transportation, Kraft Foods Inc. "The challenge is to identify the recurring patterns of truck movements when you have almost a million shipments a year, spread across a network covering more than 25,000 potential origin and destination combinations on any given day."
Kraft collaborated with Oracle Corporation to develop innovative transportation functionality that enables Kraft to perform strategic analysis of its network, identify ways to leverage freight and form efficient routes for trucks.
Oracle Transportation Cooperative Routing, the new transportation optimization tool based on Oracle Transportation Management, helped to put the more efficient "loops" into practice to save miles and fuel for both the Kraft private fleet and its third-party carriers.
One year later, Project MOST is the cornerstone of Kraft's transportation sustainability efforts. It identifies the repeated patterns of truck movements into and out of Kraft distribution locations and then creates a series of trip segments for individual drivers and tractors in order to avoid trucks moving while empty, creating "empty miles".
"Even before the increases in the price of oil, and the growing focus on sustainability, we knew we could improve the movement of trucks carrying products to our customers," says Mike Cole, director North America Transportation, Kraft Foods Inc. "The challenge is to identify the recurring patterns of truck movements when you have almost a million shipments a year, spread across a network covering more than 25,000 potential origin and destination combinations on any given day."
Kraft collaborated with Oracle Corporation to develop innovative transportation functionality that enables Kraft to perform strategic analysis of its network, identify ways to leverage freight and form efficient routes for trucks.
Oracle Transportation Cooperative Routing, the new transportation optimization tool based on Oracle Transportation Management, helped to put the more efficient "loops" into practice to save miles and fuel for both the Kraft private fleet and its third-party carriers.
Click here to read this full case study, "Driving Change" from the CGT March 2009 issue.