Logistics News

SCLAA wins lucrative sustainability grant

Australia’s Supply Chain and Logistics Association receives $743.310 to develop and deliver sustainability support and training

June 26, 2013

Australia’s Supply Chain and Logistics Association (SCLAA) has received $743.310 to develop and deliver sustainability support and training to smaller transport and logistics companies.

Approved this week
by the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism, the funding
is part of the federal government’s Energy Efficiency Information Grants Program.

Working with not for profit organisation ClimateWorks Australia, the grant will enable the SCLAA to run training workshops for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The Energy Efficiency Solutions for Australian transport and logistics program will aim to target significant opportunities for improving energy efficiency and reducing energy costs such as electricity, all types of fuels and refrigerants.

The project will also look at optimising transport, loads, materials handling, cold chain logistics, scheduling and improving supply chain efficiencies.

“The supply chain, transport and logistics sector is a high energy consumer,” says SCLAA Chairman David Rogers.

“Meanwhile, SMEs, defined as 200 employees or less, in the supply chain and logistics industry face time and competitive pressures and lack the targeted skills and resources to identify and improve their energy use which would benefit their business productivity.

“This project aims to address this need, by delivering a comprehensive closed loop program for SCLAA members and other SMEs in the supply chain and logistics sector.”

SCLAA National Director Mark Skipper, instrumental in the development and implementation
of the initiative, says the program will offer tools, resources and training.

It will be tailored specifically to assist SMEs across Australia who warehouse, distribute and/or transport goods to improve their energy efficiency.

“This not only includes the SCLAA’s substantial membership, but also contacts and the 409,756 other SMEs across the Australian landscape.

The program, comprising seven stages will be delivered face to face at 30 locations in every State and Territory across Australia and all components will be available online.

“Stage one will involve research and stakeholder consultation,” Skipper says.

“Stage two involves the creation of a web-based ‘Energy Efficiency Assessment tool’ to assist SMEs to benchmark their energy performance against industry best practice.

“This will help them understand where key opportunities to improve energy efficiency exist within their business,” Skipper says.

Each SME will receive a tailored assessment action plan, providing recommendations to cost-effectively reduce energy use. This web portal will also enable the ongoing monitoring of energy performance across the sector over time, assisting the SCLAA to evaluate the effectiveness of the program.

Based on the outcomes of Stage 1, Stage 3 will involve the development of
comprehensive workshop packs and resources to assist time and resource-poor SMEs to take action on energy efficiency.

“In Stage 4, we’ll work to promote the project to build awareness across the sector about the project and how companies can benefit environmentally and financially by participating,” Skipper says.

Delivery of
half and full day workshops in all eight state and Territory Capital Cities, plus 22 regional locations will be Stage 5 of the project.

“Workshops will be run through existing SCLAA State Divisions,” Skipper says.

“We will also deliver 10 interactive webinars, where participants can also ask questions in real time and learn from other similar businesses.

“This approach will allow us to reach SMEs constrained from attending a workshop by remoteness or time pressures, as well as reducing travel time and costs for participants and the project,” he says.

The final two stages of the project will entail making workshop content and recordings available online and following up with participants after three and six months to ensure benchmarks are rising and each SME has a strategy to reduce energy consumption.

Stages 1–6 will be completed by July, 2014 and stage 7 by December, 2014.

All content will be available on the SCLAA website at least until the end of 2021.

Registration for SME training can be performed on right hand side of
the SCLAA
HOME PAGE or by phoning the SCLAA Secretariat on
1300 364 160
or
07 3102 4093

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