The growing concern and worldwide mandate to improve the environment caused Sharp Electronics Corporation to reco¬gnize the problems and issues of greenhouse gas emissions and impacts on air quality. Sharp Electronics established a goal to reduce their impact on the environment. Accor¬ding to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), in the United States, trucks travel over 200 billion miles a year using 55 billion gallons of fuel. This equates to 27% of all US oil consumption and 13% of all carbon emissions. Trucking also contributes to 56% of the NOx emissions and 32% of PM emissions.
The issue is while there is a lot of work being done on recycling paper & plastics, and on manufacturing activities related to the environment, there were only limited activities in the logistics area. Sharp’s goal was to get involved in the area of transportation, based upon the above statistics. The target was to implement four key initiatives dealing with logistics and the environment.
One of these was for Sharp Electronics USA to partner with the EPA to achieve reductions in CO2, NOx, and PM within the United States under a voluntary green transport market¬place program called the SmartWay Transport Partnership.
By doing so Sharp Electronics would met the Corporate Balanced Scorecard on CO2 emission reductions with a goal of the company and its products having zero emissions by 2012.
Sharp Electronics Corporation is a global electronics manufacturing company based in Osaka, Japan. One of the company’s core values/commitments is reducing environmental impacts including minimi¬zing greenhouse gases. Sharp in the USA wanted to explore how they could con¬tribute in the transportation area. Sharp decided to join a transport partnership - called SmartWay - which was implemen¬ted by the US governmental organisation EPA. A partnership between shippers and carriers who committed to operating green transport practices, which also lead to increased revenue and cost savings.

THE SOLUTION
Sharp’s first step was to educate the corporation on the SmartWay Transport Partnership.
SmartWay Transport is a voluntary partnership between various freight industry sectors and the EPA that establishes incentives for fuel efficiency improvements and greenhouse gas emissions reductions. By 2012, this initiative aims to reduce between 33 and 66 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and up to 200,000 tons of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions per year. At the same time, the initia¬tive aims to achieve fuel savings of up to 150 million barrels of oil annually.
There are three primary components of the programme: creating partnerships, reducing all unnecessary engine idling, and increasing the efficiency and use of rail and intermodal operations.
Sharp focuses on utilizing SmartWay carriers for at least 50% of its shipments within three years. Carriers commit to implement actions which will reduce emissions, such no truck idling, low sulphur diesel, and installing diesel scrubbers.
The core team worked with Sharp-approved carriers to understand the partnership and established a plan that included the following:
Communication of a “No-Idling” policy for truckers wor¬king with Sharp’s Logistics Centers
Promoting carriers that used low emission equipment and higher fuel standards
Increased intermodal shipping
Driver Comfort stations to promote less idling while waiting for their appointments
Increased commitment to use SmartWay Transport Partnership carriers at least 50% of the time within two years

Company name: Sharp Electronics
Location: USA Mahwah, NJ
Industry/Sector: Consumer goods
Company size: Large
Employees: 58,900
Turnover: 33,000 mil. $ (2007)
Services/products offered:
Electronics Manufacturer and Seller, Areas include LCD TV, Copiers, Solar Panels, Microwave Ovens, Fax Machines, and Business Products
Further case related logistics figures:
-    Shipments of 108,000 Tons – 2007
-    6 Shipping Logistics Centers
-    Utilizing 47 Key Trucking Companies

The solution to avoid having to find new carriers was to get current carriers to become SmartWay members. Sharp was very successful in getting 34 of 35 carriers signed up. From the carrier perspective the EPA provided tools for the carriers to improve their processes.
The SmartWay Transport program works with states, banks, and other organizations to develop innovative financing options that help partners purchase devices that save fuel and reduce emissions, and shows companies how they can reduce emissions and save money by using the SmartWay Technology Package Savings Calculator.

Lastly the big benefit of SmartWay was that Sharp used it as a platform to become more involved in other environmental projects. While some of these are small they have got people involved:
1. Installing motion detectors at a Logistics Center, saving
electricity
2. When travelling, only renting hybrid cars
3. Using recycled paper in faxes, copiers, and printers
4. Printing double sided copies
5. Giving CFL lights to employees
6. Test using corrugated honeycomb recyclable pallets

The project manager found that the level of interest in his department increased, as the management saw environmen¬tal issues were not just the job of the Environmental Mana¬ger and not just a matter of recycling paper.
Sharp has a Corporate Social Responsibility annual report and a corporatewide environmental section of the company’s strategy. The core values include environmental awareness. This programme is now part of Sharp‘s ISO 14001 pro¬gramme.

Implementation:
Number of SmartWay Carriers of Sharp USA
Year 1 – 24 out of 85 Total Carriers (28%)
Year 2 – 39 out of 85 Total Carriers (46%)
Year 3 – 72 out of 80 Total Carriers (90%)
Year 4 – 39 out of 47 Total Carriers (83%)

Tons Shipped With SmartWay Carriers of Sharp USA
Year 1 – 41,808 out of 127,841 Total Tons (33%)
Year 2 – 81,499 out of 102,808 Total Tons (79%)
Year 3 – 113,546 out of 115,468 Total Tons (98%)
Year 4 – 104,415 out of 108,313 Total Tons (97%)

CHALLENGES
Challenge 1: Reduction of green¬house gas emissions with minimal to no impact on the quality of service that Sharp provides to its customers in the areas of trans¬portation and logistics.
Challenge 2: Whether going to new carriers as part of the SmartWay program would cause service issues was a challenge, as getting current carriers to sign up was critical to achieving zero service changes.
Challenge 3: Find a quality solution without impacting the costs of transportation and logistics services.
Challenge 4: The modernisation of the fleet/carriers in US was effected due to varous laws taking effect, not by SmartWay.
Challenge 5: Convince Sharp-appro¬ved carriers to join us in becoming an EPA SmartWay partner or risk having new carriers handle business, increasing risk.

LESSONS LEARNED AND SUCCESS FACTORS
Being one of the programme‘s first partners and pioneers has given Sharp credibility in the corporate environment and influence in this field.

The EPA SmartWay Transport Partnership provides resources and tools that are no cost to the shipper.

From the carrier perspective the EPA provided tools to  the carriers to improve their processes. The SmartWay Transport Program works with states, banks and other organizations to develop innovative financing options that help partners purchase devices that save fuel and reduce emissions and show companies how they can reduce emissions and save money by using the SmartWay Technology Package Savings Calculator.

Increase awareness of environmental issues. Having the team understand SmartWay has caused them to think of other ways to become involved.

Commitment from carriers to the SmartWay Transport Partnership was a key milestone in order to make the partnership work. Getting current carriers to join the programme allowed Sharp to continue using the same carriers, thus causing no service disruptions.

The cost was minimal to Sharp Electronics while making a substantial impact to the world we live in. Overall, according to reports from the carrier, the investments they made were offset by the fuel reduction they achie¬ved. So to them it was cost neutral with business gain.
Peer awareness helped convince Panasonic & Sony to join the SmartWay program.

Economic
None

Environmental
Reduced diesel fuel consumption.
Reduction in electricity from motion sensors in California Logistics Center. From October 2004 to September 2007 Sharp has calculated that by shipping with SmartWay carriers they have executed the following improve¬ments:
- Reduced CO2 emissions by 1,383 tons, NOx by 26,5 tons, particulate matter by 1,1 tons.
- Increased percentage of rail shipments from 7% to 12% of the annual tonnage.  
- Implemented “No-Idling” policy at Logistics Centers.
- Increased the percentage of Sharp‘s SmartWay carrier usage from 33% tons in the first year to 97% by the fourth year.
Sharp also took smaller steps by using recycled paper in copiers, renting hybrid cars when travelling and carrying out preventive maintenance on forklift trucks.

Social
Since joining SmartWay, Sharp has been recognized by consumers, partners, and inter¬nal management as being a leader in the promotion of Corporate Social Responsibility. A sense of community has been established revolving around the stewardship of the environment.
As part of Sharp Electronics Corporate Social Responsibility programme this fits into the Corporate Strategy. For those that know of SmartWay it has made Sharp look like a better corporate citizen.

Transferables
This case is relatively independent of country and sector characteristics.

Limitations
Needs to be adapted by an independent body, ideally for the whole of Europe, to get it to work. The development of such a platform by a SME is very limited.