Distribution Situations Concerning Transportation and Environmental Impact;   Multiple Case Studies of Medical Manufacturers in China. : Transportation and Environmental Impact reduction

Abstract: Background: The environmental aspect of transportation has got a lot of attention over the past years. It has its origin in the growing awareness of environmental problems such as the global warming. In Europe the transportation industry is responsible for 21 per cent of the total emission. While studies of the subject show that an environmental friendly distribution and transportation is considered a success factor for many companies, there is a lack of interest from them to invest to obtain it. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to find the current distribution situations and the factors that influence the transportation and environmental impacts while maintaining the same customer service level, as well as how these factors will influence distribution situations in some Chinese medical instrument manufacturing companies. Method: To gather data the authors will conduct a qualitative multiple case studies in the form of interviews at couple of medical equipment manufacturing companies to create the deep understanding needed to comprehend a company’s distribution system. Results, conclusion: Initially, the current situation of distribution system in Chinese medical instrument manufacturing companies has been found according to the cases companies’ analysis. Second, the four factors which would influence transportation and the environmental impact while keeping the same customer service level have been identified. They are fill rate, consolidation, standardization and postponement. Furthermore, benefiting how these factors will influence distribution situation through efficiency in transportation has been given as the suggestion and recommendation to some Chinese medical instrument manufacturing companies.