How do we get a grip on the logistics of our projects? Can we easily visualise the CO2 and nitrogen emission levels related to the transport of building materials?
These and other questions prompted Heijmans to implement and extend ICT Logistics Supply Chain Portal. Nikki Pije, senior advisor construction logistics at Heijmans, talks about the journey the company took to get here.
From 1 July 2024, all large, listed companies must comply with CSRD, the new European legislation that imposes reporting requirements in the domains of people, environment and climate. This means that the emission levels related to construction logistics must also be made transparent. Heijmans uses ICT Logistics Supply Chain Portal in order to meet this requirement. Pije: “We had several reasons for choosing ICT Logistics Supply Chain Portal. Naturally, its functionality was of prime importance, but our choice was also based on the fact that ICT Logistics has a great deal of affinity with logistics processes, especially within industries other than construction. We can draw inspiration from this.”
The Supply Chain Portal acts as a control tower. It contains a huge variety of functionalities, ranging from ordering and arranging the just-in-time supply of on-call building materials to scheduling deliveries and handling receipts efficiently. The portal is used by both Heijmans and subcontractors, suppliers and transporters in order to communicate with each other on everything related to construction logistics.
New functionality was added in 2023, partly in view of the CSRD. This included a tool to monitor emission levels related to transport. Its development was a collaboration between Heijmans, Top Sector Logistics and ICT Incore, says Pije. “We jointly set up what the reporting should look like. Among other things, we use the shipping and f inal location to calculate the CO2 emission levels of the transport movements. As a result, users don’t need to enter extra data.”
Pije has great expectations related to emission reporting. “The CSRD is of course new, it takes all parties involved to get used to reporting on emissions. The Supply Chain Portal has allowed us to make this as easy as possible. We have better insight and can target the activities responsible for the highest emission levels. In addition, we can make more targeted choices about where to opt for electric transport and where not to.” ICT Incore’s experience in construction is also being applied in other industries, says ICT Incore’s Madeleine Kroeze.
“Heijmans is a pioneer in the field of sustainable logistics. Other companies with large numbers of transport movements can learn from Heijmans when it comes to emission monitoring and reduction. It’s great that ICT Incore has the opportunity to share those lessons with other industries and thus expand the services of our portal for our customers.”