The Supply Chain Year in Stories: February 2024

How Amazon Business is Helping Drive Supplier Diversity

Amazon Business (AB) is growing in popularity as a procurement platform of choice for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – but is now also helping businesses in another important area: supplier diversity.

The traditional view of AB is that it allows for the bulk purchasing of everything from lawnmower parts to office essentials. However, this being Amazon, AB is also able to offer a wealth of rich data, which is vital for providing actionable insights. 

This means its customers can understand buying behaviours using advanced analytics and dashboards. They can see who’s buying what, and for how much. 

And it is this aspect of the service that is helping service customers’ desire to build diversity into their supply chains.

Supporting local suppliers

John Hopkins University is among those using AB not only to buy the supplies it needs every day, but also to help it support the local economy by purchasing directly from local businesses. 

Using AB, John Hopkins is able to identify credible suppliers, “including minority- and women-owned businesses that have the products they need”, says AB. 

Based in Baltimore, Maryland, Johns Hopkins University was founded in 1876 as the first research university in the US. It is known for academic rigour, scientific advancements, award-winning alumni and faculty and receiving major federal research grants.

Procurement is an essential part of being a leading scientific research university. 

“We cannot enable science without a robust procurement supply chain,” says Brian Smith, Chief Procurement Officer at Johns Hopkins University. “The goal of our department is to support the university’s mission to teach students, empower research and discovery and improve medicine.”

To better fulfil its mission of research, education and patient care, the university needed to step-up its capability to purchase products such as lab supplies, office products, maintenance repair items and IT peripherals. 

DHL & Schneider Electric Initiative is SAF Scope 3 Boost

A key element for businesses looking to cut Scope 3 carbon emissions in their supply chains is to support the development of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

SAF is a biofuel with similar properties to conventional kerosene-based jet fuel but with a smaller carbon footprint. Although demand for SAF is increasing, the global supply is unable to keep pace.

According to figures from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) – the trade association for the world's airlines – SAF fuel production in 2022 accounted for just 0.1% of the overall volume of jet fuel. 

But on a brighter note, IATA does say that output of SAF has grown five-fold over the past three years, and that this is “indicative of robust demand”. 

For supplies to grow, IATA says “investment in SAF needs to be accelerated to support the demand coming from international, regional, national policies and airline commitments”. 

DHL & Schneider Electric in SAF initiative

An initiative between DHL partners and Schneider Electric is exactly what IATA is hoping to see more of.

DHL Global Forwarding, the freight arm of DHL Group, is partnering with energy solutions specialist Schneider Electric to design the air cargo industry’s first multimodal SAF shipping model.

For many organisations, air freight is a core part of the global supply chain. A big problem is that air freight emits more carbon than sea freight -- and while SAFs reduce carbon impact, they are significantly more expensive than conventional jet fuel. 

So, Schneider’s solution is to introduce intermodal ‘bridges’, using both sea and air freight.

By using sea freight in conjunction with air freight on particular routes, companies can make savings, which are then used to purchase SAFs, further reducing carbon emissions.

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