Nike and supply chain software designer LLamasoft have partnered to make international supply chains more environmentally friendly and efficient.
Nike, which has been a customer of Michigan-based LLamasoft for two years and has a minority investment in the company, says it will use Llamasoft’s software platform to make its supply chain more efficient and reduce the associated carbon footprint.
LLamasoft says the partnership with Nike will allow it to develop new technology more quickly.
The companies say they will co-develop these systems for international supply chain efficiency, and that they will offer “real-time logistics benefits,” but didn’t provide further details.
Supply chain design is vital for companies with a global footprint that want to balance cost, service and environmental impact, Nike says, and the company has taken several steps to make its own supply chain more sustainable.
In July, Nike and other members of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition including Walmart and Levi’s launched an index for measuring the environmental impact of apparel products across the supply chain.
A month earlier Nike partnered with Random Hacks of Kindness in the Open Challenge for Sustainable Materials, an initiative that asks apparel designers and developers to use sustainable materials listed on the Nike Sustainable Materials Index.
Last year the company committed to zero discharge of hazardous chemicals throughout its supply chain by 2020, after pressure from Greenpeace.
Nike is the best corporate citizen in the consumer items industry, according to Corporate Responsibility Magazine’s Top 10 Best Corporate Citizens list, and the Ceres Roadmap for Sustainability says the company ahead of the pack in its track record on reducing environmental impact.