Convoy Case Studies Anheuser-Busch's Sustainability Challenge: Reducing 20 Million Empty Miles with IoT

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	Anheuser-Busch's Sustainability Challenge: Reducing 20 Million Empty Miles with IoT Convoy

Anheuser-Busch's Sustainability Challenge: Reducing 20 Million Empty Miles with IoT

Convoy

Technology Category	Functional Applications - Fleet Management Systems (FMS) Functional Applications - Transportation Management Systems (TMS)
Applicable Industries	Packaging Transportation
Applicable Functions	Logistics & Transportation Procurement
Use Cases	Autonomous Transport Systems Transportation Simulation
Services	System Integration Training
Challenge	Anheuser-Busch, a leading beverage company, had set ambitious sustainability goals for 2025, including a 25% reduction in carbon emissions across its entire value chain. However, the company faced a significant challenge in achieving these goals due to the 20 million annual empty miles in its supply chain. These empty miles represented a significant source of carbon emissions and inefficiency. Anheuser-Busch operates more than 100 facilities in North America, moving approximately 800,000 shipments per year across 12,000 unique lanes. The company uses a large private fleet and aims for a 50-50 balance between its own assets and purchased transportation. However, filling the backhauls of Anheuser-Busch's private fleet posed a significant challenge, representing a massive opportunity for efficiency gains and reduced environmental impact. Read More
About Customer	Anheuser-Busch is a leading beverage company with more than 100 facilities in North America. The company moves approximately 800,000 shipments per year across 12,000 unique lanes. Anheuser-Busch uses a large private fleet and aims for a 50-50 balance between its own assets and purchased transportation. The company has set ambitious sustainability goals for 2025, including a 25% reduction in carbon emissions across its entire value chain. To achieve these goals, Anheuser-Busch is focusing on reducing indirect emissions in the supply chain from suppliers and transportation partners, known as Scope 3 emissions. Read More
Solution	To address this challenge, Anheuser-Busch partnered with Convoy, a Seattle-based digital freight network, in 2016. Convoy's load batching capabilities offered Anheuser-Busch significant efficiency gains and helped reduce the company's environmental impact by reducing empty miles. With batching, carriers select round-trip routes, booking headhaul and backhaul loads at the same time to keep trucks rolling and asset utilization high. This solution was particularly beneficial during the coronavirus pandemic, when Anheuser-Busch's distribution was disrupted and the company needed to adjust its transportation strategy. Convoy's real-time insights into transportation market cost and capacity availability helped Anheuser-Busch make smarter purchasing decisions. Additionally, Convoy provided Anheuser-Busch with monthly facility reports based on carrier reviews, enabling the company to identify hot spots within its network, understand the cost of operating inefficiently, and rapidly implement changes. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Functional Applications - Fleet Management Systems (FMS)

Functional Applications - Transportation Management Systems (TMS)

Applicable Industries

Packaging

Transportation

Applicable Functions

Logistics & Transportation

Procurement

Use Cases

Autonomous Transport Systems

Transportation Simulation

Services

System Integration

Training

Challenge

Anheuser-Busch, a leading beverage company, had set ambitious sustainability goals for 2025, including a 25% reduction in carbon emissions across its entire value chain. However, the company faced a significant challenge in achieving these goals due to the 20 million annual empty miles in its supply chain. These empty miles represented a significant source of carbon emissions and inefficiency. Anheuser-Busch operates more than 100 facilities in North America, moving approximately 800,000 shipments per year across 12,000 unique lanes. The company uses a large private fleet and aims for a 50-50 balance between its own assets and purchased transportation. However, filling the backhauls of Anheuser-Busch's private fleet posed a significant challenge, representing a massive opportunity for efficiency gains and reduced environmental impact.

About Customer

Anheuser-Busch is a leading beverage company with more than 100 facilities in North America. The company moves approximately 800,000 shipments per year across 12,000 unique lanes. Anheuser-Busch uses a large private fleet and aims for a 50-50 balance between its own assets and purchased transportation. The company has set ambitious sustainability goals for 2025, including a 25% reduction in carbon emissions across its entire value chain. To achieve these goals, Anheuser-Busch is focusing on reducing indirect emissions in the supply chain from suppliers and transportation partners, known as Scope 3 emissions.

Solution

To address this challenge, Anheuser-Busch partnered with Convoy, a Seattle-based digital freight network, in 2016. Convoy's load batching capabilities offered Anheuser-Busch significant efficiency gains and helped reduce the company's environmental impact by reducing empty miles. With batching, carriers select round-trip routes, booking headhaul and backhaul loads at the same time to keep trucks rolling and asset utilization high. This solution was particularly beneficial during the coronavirus pandemic, when Anheuser-Busch's distribution was disrupted and the company needed to adjust its transportation strategy. Convoy's real-time insights into transportation market cost and capacity availability helped Anheuser-Busch make smarter purchasing decisions. Additionally, Convoy provided Anheuser-Busch with monthly facility reports based on carrier reviews, enabling the company to identify hot spots within its network, understand the cost of operating inefficiently, and rapidly implement changes.

Impact #1	The partnership with Convoy has enabled Anheuser-Busch to make significant strides towards its sustainability goals. The reduction in empty miles has not only led to a decrease in carbon emissions but also improved the efficiency of the company's supply chain. The real-time insights provided by Convoy have allowed Anheuser-Busch to make smarter purchasing decisions and adjust its transportation strategy in response to changing market conditions, such as the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Furthermore, the monthly facility reports from Convoy have enabled Anheuser-Busch to identify inefficiencies within its network and implement changes rapidly. This has resulted in a more efficient and sustainable transportation system that aligns with the company's ambitious sustainability goals.

Impact #1

The partnership with Convoy has enabled Anheuser-Busch to make significant strides towards its sustainability goals. The reduction in empty miles has not only led to a decrease in carbon emissions but also improved the efficiency of the company's supply chain. The real-time insights provided by Convoy have allowed Anheuser-Busch to make smarter purchasing decisions and adjust its transportation strategy in response to changing market conditions, such as the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Furthermore, the monthly facility reports from Convoy have enabled Anheuser-Busch to identify inefficiencies within its network and implement changes rapidly. This has resulted in a more efficient and sustainable transportation system that aligns with the company's ambitious sustainability goals.

Benefit #1	Reduced 20 million annual empty miles in the supply chain, leading to significant carbon emissions reduction
Benefit #2	Improved asset utilization through Convoy's load batching capabilities
Benefit #3	Enabled rapid implementation of changes through Convoy's monthly facility reports

Benefit #1

Reduced 20 million annual empty miles in the supply chain, leading to significant carbon emissions reduction

Benefit #2

Improved asset utilization through Convoy's load batching capabilities

Benefit #3

Enabled rapid implementation of changes through Convoy's monthly facility reports

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Overview

Anheuser-Busch's Sustainability Challenge: Reducing 20 Million Empty Miles with IoT

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit