Investigating the logistics associated with Oxfam’s …...1 Take-back mechanisms in the charity...
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1 Take-back mechanisms in the charity sector A case study investigating the reverse logistics associated with Oxfam’s operations in area W16 Sarah Maynard Adrian Hickford Andrew Crossland Tom Cherrett Transportation Research Group School of Civil Engineering and the Environment University of Southampton SO171BJ Tel: +44(0)23 80594657 Fax: +44(0)23 80593152 Email: [email protected]
Transcript of Investigating the logistics associated with Oxfam’s …...1 Take-back mechanisms in the charity...
1
Take-back mechanisms in the charity sector
A case study investigating the reverse logistics associated
with Oxfam’s operations in area W16
Sarah Maynard
Adrian Hickford
Andrew Crossland
Tom Cherrett
Transportation Research Group
School of Civil Engineering and the Environment
University of Southampton
SO171BJ
Tel: +44(0)23 80594657
Fax: +44(0)23 80593152
Email: [email protected]
2
Objectives ...................................................................................................................... 3 Background .................................................................................................................... 4
Oxfam Shops .......................................................................................................... 5 Oxfam Donation Banks.......................................................................................... 7
Key Findings ................................................................................................................ 13 Subcontractor 1 activity – Oxfam Shops ............................................................. 13 Subcontractor 1 activity – Oxfam Banks ............................................................. 15 ‘Man-with-a-van’ activity in W16 ....................................................................... 18
Current collection/delivery schedule ........................................................... 18
Alternative collection/delivery schedules .................................................... 23 Shop-adopted bank collections ............................................................................ 25
Recycling Contractor 1 collections ...................................................................... 26 Way forward – PhD research areas .............................................................................. 29 REFERENCES: ........................................................................................................... 32 Appendix A: Stock intake paths, handling methods and output paths observed from a
study of a ‘general’ shop. ............................................................................................. 33
Appendix B: Daily Scheduled and Optimised Routes for ‘Man-with-a-Van’
operations in W16. ....................................................................................................... 35
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Objectives
The main aim of this research has been to:
Investigate the 4 key transport layers (Wastesaver, recycling contractor 1, ‘man-
with-a-van’ and shop adopted bank collections) used to service Oxfam shops and
banks within area W16 (Figure 1).
Focus in detail on the ‘man-with-a-van’ activities to:
i) Quantify the current daily and weekly activity undertaken
ii) Identify ways in which operational savings could be made using routing and
scheduling optimisation
Develop ideas for further in-depth research, to be undertaken as part of the
Oxfam supported PhD over the period June 2010 to June 2013, following on from
the Green Logistics project.
Figure 1: Map highlighting the W16 area relative to the 33 Oxfam regions.
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Background
Work undertaken by the Transportation Research Group as part of the Green Logistics
project looking at freight impacts in urban centres, identified that charity shops can
receive significantly more weekly vehicle activity compared to other retail stores. A
study of businesses on Winchester High Street suggested that the typical charity shop
received 6.3 waste collections per week (Figure 2) due to the nature of the core goods
sold (donated second hand items). Charity shops receive deliveries of potential stock
from a variety of sources, the saleability of which cannot be gauged until the items are
inspected by staff. This process inevitably leads to waste generation as items donated
with good intention are deemed un-sellable due to their particular characteristics. As a
result, a variety of waste contractors, jobbers and other companies can be involved in
the collection of the residual waste and recyclate generated. An opportunity arose
with Oxfam to study these take-back routes in detail and better understand how take-
back works in this sector.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Cha
rity
shop
s
Clo
thin
g Ret
ail
Food/
drink
Footw
ear
Jewelle
rs
Mob
ile P
hones
Opt
icia
ns
Oth
er Ret
ail
Oth
er Ser
vice
s
Pub
lic h
ouse/
rest
aura
nt
Me
an
No
. o
f w
eek
ly w
aste
co
llec
tio
ns
Figure 2:- Mean number of weekly waste collections by business category
(Winchester High Street businesses)
As of Christmas 2009, Oxfam’s donation infrastructure in area W16 consisted of 71
material specific banks, collecting either textiles or books, and 26 shops.
5
Oxfam Shops
The 26 Oxfam shops in area W16 (Figure 1) can be sub-divided into 5 different
categories based on the types of products sold, which include books, books and music,
furniture, music, and general shops stocking a wide range of products. (The functions
of a ‘general shop’, showing the various stock in-take and processing routes is shown
in Appendix A). The transport infrastructure supporting these different outlets has
been structured to ensure a steady flow of appropriate stock to each store (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Summary of Oxfam’s donation infrastructure within area W16
NB: General shops stock a range of products, including clothing, shoes, toys, books
and home wares.
Oxfam’s Main
Donation
Infrastructure in area
W16
71 Donation banks
(9 had been adopted by
area W14)
26 Shops
32 Textile banks
(5 adopted by area W14)
14 General shops
5 Book shops
5 Book/music shops
39 Book banks
(4 adopted by area W14)
1 Furniture shop
1 Music shop
6
The flow of stock to shops essentially comes from 4 main sources (Figure 4), which
include:
i) Public donations made directly to the shop,
ii) Donations collected from textile/book banks which are delivered to shops either
by an Oxfam employed ‘man-with-a-van’ or by shop volunteers,
iii) Stock donated by a leading high street retailer and collected by a ‘man-with-a-
van’,
iv) Un-sold stock cascaded from other shops within the area by a ‘man-with-a-van’.
All stock delivered to shops (irrespective of its origin) is sorted and graded in
accordance with its quality and perceived saleability, both of which impact on
whether the stock remains in the store or whether it is eventually cascaded elsewhere.
There are 4 different flows of materials from shops, which include stock sold to
customers, donated textiles destined for Wastesaver in Huddersfield which are
deemed too poor in terms of quality to offer for sale and are collected by
Subcontractor 1, books/textiles which are cascaded to other shops by ‘man-with-a-
van’ if not sold within a certain time period (typically 3 weeks), or low quality books
that cannot be sold and recyclate which are collected by Recycling Contractor 1 for
recycling (Figure 4).
(* limited number of shops)
Figure 4: Summary of the transport layers responsible for the flow of
stock/materials to and from Oxfam shops in area W16
Donations from book &
textile banks
(via ‘Man-with-a-van’,
shop adopted banks*)
Textiles destined for
Wastesaver
(via Subcontractor 1)
Stock cascaded to other shops
(via ‘Man-with-a-van’)
Books/recyclate to be recycled
(via Recycling Contractor 1)
Flow of materials FROM shops Flow of stock TO shops
Stock cascaded from
other stores
(via ‘Man-with-a-van’)
Donations of stock from
high street retailer
(via ‘Man-with-a-van’)
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Oxfam Donation Banks
At the time of the research, there were 71 donation banks located within area W16,
although for operational reasons, 9 banks (4 book banks and 5 textile banks) had been
adopted and were subsequently serviced by neighbouring area W14. Of the 62 banks
managed by area W16, 55% were located in recycling centres (e.g. car parks and
designated community recycling areas) and 39% in supermarket car parks (e.g.
Sainsburys, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Waitrose). Other banks were located at other
retail sites (e.g. garden centres and DIY stores, museum and gallery car parks), Figure
5).
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Recycling centres Supermarkets Other retail Other
No. of banks
Textile banks Book banks
Figure 5: Location of 27 textile and 35 book banks in area W16
The flow of stock to the 62 banks (35 book banks and 27 textile banks) is solely
reliant on direct public donations. However, the destination of the stock differs
according to whether textiles or books are being collected.
The logistics behind bank collections differed between textile and book banks (Figure
6). Book banks were typically emptied by a man-with-a-van and the stock
subsequently delivered to shops. Due to operational and logistical reasons, 4 book
banks had been adopted by neighbouring shops who regularly sent volunteers to
collect the donations which were then taken back to the shop for sorting. A further 5
book banks were serviced by Subcontractor 1, with stock being transported back to
Guildford, or delivered to local shops.
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(* limited flow)
Figure 6: Summary of the transport layers responsible for the flow of stock to
and from textile and book banks in area W16
The majority of textile banks (81%) were primarily serviced by Subcontractor 1,
where stock was collected and transported to Guildford, then bulked to Wastesaver in
Huddersfield (Table 1). There were two main exceptions to this where banks located
in Petersfield received collections from both Subcontractor 1 (destined for Wastesaver)
and also a ‘man-with-a-van’, delivering to shops. Banks in Gosport were serviced
solely by a ‘man-with-a-van’.
Flow of materials FROM banks Flow of stock TO banks
Public donate all stock
directly to the banks
Textiles destined for
Wastesaver
(via Subcontractor 1)
Textiles destined for shops
(via ‘Man-with-a-van’*)
Books destined for shops
(via ‘Man-with-a-van’, shop
adopted collections*,
Subcontractor 1*)
Textiles/books destined for
shops located in area W14
(possibly via ‘Man-with-a-
van’)
Books destined for
Wastesaver
(via Subcontractor 1)
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Bank code Textile bank Book bank
E2474 Subcontractor 1 Man-with-a-van
E2513 Man-with-a-van Man-with-a-van
E2479 Subcontractor 1 Man-with-a-van
E1873 Adopted by W14 Man-with-a-van
E1874 Adopted by W14 Man-with-a-van
E1926 Adopted by W14 Man-with-a-van
E1877 Subcontractor 1 Subcontractor 1
E1878 Subcontractor 1 Subcontractor 1
E1918 Adopted by W14 Adopted by W14
E2478 Subcontractor 1 Shop adopted
E1974 Adopted by W14 Adopted by W14
E1961 Subcontractor 1 Man-with-a-van
E3565 Subcontractor 1 Shop adopted
E1875 Subcontractor 1 Man-with-a-van
E1951 Subcontractor 1 Man-with-a-van
E2015 Subcontractor 1 Man-with-a-van
Table 1: Locations in W16 that have both textile and book banks
The logistic costs associated with serving Oxfam’s stores equates to approximately
8.4% of total revenue with donated stock collections being responsible for 83% of the
total logistics spend (Figure 7).
Figure 7. Oxfam’s % spend on Logistics (Source:- Accenture 2009)
0
7.2
14.4
21.6
28.8
35.9
43.1
50.5
57.5
Wastesaver New Product Local Area Spend Online Hubs Bookbarn Bank Placement Spend Areas
Transport Labour Overhead
Pro
po
rtio
n o
f sp
en
d %
10
Across Oxfam’s UK network there are 6 different logistical platforms servicing its
stores, banks and sorting facilities.
1. Regional stock collections and movements are managed ‘independently’ within
the 33 local areas by area managers (Figure 1). The area manager has the
responsibility of organising stock movements which include the cascading of
stock between stores (if stock is not sold within approximately 2 weeks it is
rotated to other stores), ad-hoc collections e.g. house clearances, and collections
from shop-adopted banks which are typically conducted by a ‘man-with-a-van’,
employed by Oxfam. There is currently limited liaison and integration between
the regional logistics operations overseen by the area managers and the
transportation of materials to Wastesaver in Huddersfield. Local area managers
are restricted in how they can dispose of low grade stock according to Oxfam’s
ethical policy.
Regional differences in total spend on transport have been identified which are largely
due to differences in the managers approach (Figure 8). A number of regional
inefficiencies have been identified which include:-
a. Duplication of rounds e.g. separate textile and book collection rounds servicing
the same stores (Huddersfield area)
b. High transportation costs/per tonne of material collected due to the remote
location of sites e.g. West Wales, Gateshead, Scotland
(Low cost areas keep transport costs down by using shop volunteers, the area
manager or by using subcontractors rather than employing a full time ‘man-with-
a-van’ driver. High cost areas typically employ one or more full time drivers and
additional subcontractors where required.) Transport Spend as % of Expenses
0.0%
1.0%
2.0%
3.0%
4.0%
5.0%
6.0%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33
Area FY08/09
Figure 8. Oxfam’s spend on Logistics (as a % of expenses) across all 33 regional
areas for year 2008/09 (Source:- Accenture, 2009)
2. Collection and transportation of stock from UK stores/banks to Oxfam’s
sortation facility in Huddersfield which is organised centrally by Wastesaver.
Black bag collections are conducted by Wastesaver (red area in Figure 9) and 8
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regional subcontractors (blue areas in Figure 9). All stock is consolidated at a
central point within the region (e.g. sub-contractors trailer park) where it is loaded
onto trailers and trunked to Huddersfield. More than 1 trailer may be available at
the consolidation point enabling stock to be separated into different grades of
material (e.g. bank or ex-shop stock). Although the operation of Wastesaver
generates significant profit, the collection and transportation of stock accounts for
52% of the total logistics expenditure. Low grade textiles sorted at Huddersfield
are sold to the local textile recycling market to be turned into rags which are
supplied to a wide range of industries. The facility is manned by 45 paid staff and
is operational 36 hours/5 days per week.
The review of operations has highlighted that donated stock can undergo up to 3
stages of sorting. Stock is initially sorted by volunteers in store where sellable
items are separated; the remaining low-grade stock is re-bagged and sent to
Wastesaver to be re-sorted for onward recycling. As a result, lower grade textiles
are being transported through the system when it could be more cost effective to
remove them from the chain at the shop level. The high cost of transporting and
repeatedly sorting lower grade recyclate is a drain on Oxfam’s profitability.
Figure 9. Wastesaver trunking operation.
3. Supply of new products and shop supplies to all UK stores from Oxfam’s
distribution centre in Bicester (organised centrally). 3PLs are used to deliver
stock to stores, accounting for 17% of logistics expenditure.
4. Third party deliveries and collections including regular/scheduled recycling
collections from Recycling Contractor 1 (collections of paper, plastic, electrical
and electronic waste and books) and Recycling Contractor 2 (textiles). Other
* - London Bank stock is consolidated at the Guildford Trailer - London Shop stock is consolidated at the London Trailer
Regional Transport Costs Spend (£) Tonnes (T) £ / T
London Trailers (incl. Northampton) £297,208 2,008 £148
Norfolk Trailer £45,904 273 £168
Carluke Trailer £149,943 846 £177
Gloucester Trailer £220,878 1,123 £197
Guildford Trailers £678,069 3,041 £223
Kent Trailer £121,231 542 £224
Wastesaver Collection Costs £548,050 2,261 £242
Birmingham Trailer £164,009 563 £291
Gateshead Trailer £90,923 281 £323
Dundee Trailer £44,050 122 £362
Total £2,360,267 11,059 £213
Dundee is 145% more costly than London 20%
3%
8%
1%
1% 8%
11%*
5%
10%
5%
= WS (Books & Textiles) = WS (Textiles Only)
27%*
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regular collections and deliveries include residual waste collections, marketing
deliveries and Royal Mail online sales collections.
5. Online retail hubs located at Portishead and Welwyn Garden City source stock
through locally organised collections and Wastesaver deliveries on-route to
Huddersfield.
6. Bookbarn located in Huddersfield which is a sorting facility where books are
graded to be i) sold on-line, ii) stored for new shop openings and iii) recycled if
resale value is low. Collections are currently limited to Northern England where a
combination of contractors and internal Wastesaver drivers are used. Collections
of books are kept separate to textile collections and as all book banks are adopted
by shops, no collections are required.
Of key interest to Oxfam was to understand the role played by the ‘man-with-a-van’
in the local logistics, particularly relative to the ‘cascading’ operation where good
quality, unsold stock from one shop would be moved to other shops in the area who
might be able to sell it.
The role played by the four logistics layers serving W16 is shown in Figure 10.
Figure 10: Summary of Oxfam’s logistics operations serving area W16
Oxfam Logistics
Recycling
Contractor 1
Subcontractor 1
(Wastesaver)
Man-with-van
Shop adopted
bank collections
Collects recyclate from 24 shops
Collects from 26 textile banks
Collects textiles from 15 shops
Collects from 5 book banks
Delivers & cascades stock to 21 shops
Collects from 24 book & 2 textile banks
5 shop collections from 7 banks
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Key Findings
Subcontractor 1 activity – Oxfam Shops
The data suggested that between February 2008 and January 2009, Subcontractor 1
made a total of 1062 collections from the 15 Oxfam shops in area W16, collecting
31,173 bags of textiles and shoes. Assuming the average weight per bag is 7.5kg, this
equates to 232.5 tonnes per year, (Table 2, Figure 11). On average 27.3 bags of
textiles (ranging from 11.9 to 52.4 bags) compared to 2.7 bags of shoes (ranging from
0 to 3.9 bags) were collected from each shop per collection.
Shop code
No. of textile
collections
(bags) per year
Min
No. bags
per
collection
Max
No. bags
per
collection
Average No.
of textile
bags
per
collection
Total
No. textile &
shoe bags
collected per
year
Tonnes
textiles &
shoes
collected per
year
(F4037) 52 (2335) 18 71 44.9 2509 18.7
(F4007) 52 (809) 6 32 15.6 851 6.4
(F4009) 52 (1336) 10 41 25.7 1501 11.2
(F4226) 151 (7912) 6 111 52.4 8478 63.2
(F4024) 52 (1908) 8 88 36.7 2020 15.1
(F4045) 89 (1062) 1 50 11.9 1163 8.7
(F4016) 52 (1092) 2 32 21.0 1118 8.4
(F4070) 14 (74) 2 9 5.3 80 0.6
(F4077) 45 (966) 8 49 21.5 966 7.2
(F4100) 52 (1685) 8 63 32.4 1776 13.3
(F4032) 99 (2176) 11 41 22.0 2484 18.4
(F4038) 52 (974) 4 34 18.7 1064 8
(F4101) 146 (2783) 1 72 19.1 2975 22.3
(F4023) 52 (1484) 8 61 28.5 1594 11.9
(F4106) 102 (2381) 3 44 23.3 2594 19.3
TOTAL 1062 (28977) 31173 232.7
AVERAGE 70.8 6.4 53.2 2078.2 15.5
Table 2: Annual Subcontractor 1 textile and shoe collections from Oxfam shops
in area W16
The results suggested that certain stores (notably F4101, F4032, F4106 and F4045)
received over 100 collections per year but generated under 23 tonnes of textiles and
shoes, perhaps indicating that the vehicle activity could be reduced relative to the
volumes moved.
A one-way analysis of variance test showed that there were significant differences
between the shops in terms of the mean number of black textile sacks produced over
the 12 month period (F(13,153) = 128.8, P<0.001, Mse = 2085), Table 3. A Scheffe
multiple range test suggested that F4226 consistently generated significantly more
textiles (659 bags per month) than all the other shops with F4007 producing the least
(67 bags per month). Data obtained from for the January to March period 2010
suggested that the pattern of textile generation was the same by shop.
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Shop code
No. of
months
Total black
sacks collected
Mean no. of black
sacks per month Variance Scheffe1
F4226 12 7912 659.3 14196.4 a
F4101 12 2783 231.9 3651.7 b
F4106 12 2381 198.4 1176.3 bc
F4037 12 2335 194.6 1093.4 bc
F4032 12 2176 181.3 659.7 bc
F4024 12 1908 159.0 3659.3 bcd
F4100 12 1685 140.4 1016.3 cde
F4023 12 1484 123.7 696.6 cde
F4009 12 1336 111.3 190.8 cde
F4016 12 1092 91.0 534.5 de
F4045 12 1062 88.5 1397.2 de
F4077 11 966 87.8 324.8 de
F4038 12 974 81.2 189.4 de
F4007 12 809 67.4 252.8 e
Table 3: Annual Subcontractor 1 textile collections from Oxfam shops in area
W16 sorted by store by volume. (1Mean no. of black sacks per month sharing the
same letter are not significantly different (p=0.05) using Scheffe’s multiple range
test.)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
F4226
F4101
F4106
F4037
F4032
F4024
F4100
F4023
F4009
F4045
F4016
F4038
F4077
F4007
F4070
Shop ID.
Tota
l N
o.
colle
ctions/y
ear
(textile
s a
nd s
hoes)
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
Tota
l tinnage c
olle
cte
d/y
ear
Total No. of collections
Total tonnage
Figure 11: Total annual Subcontractor 1 collections (textiles and shoes) from
Oxfam shops in area W16, and the tonnage generated.
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Subcontractor 1 activity – Oxfam Banks
Over the same period (February 2008 to January 2009), 1220 Subcontractor 1
collections (average of 53 collections per bank) were made from 23 textile banks
collecting a total of 31,250 bags of textiles. (It should be noted that data were only
available for 23 of the 26 banks). Assuming an average weight per bag of 7.5kg
(value derived by Accenture), this equates to approximately 234 tonnes per annum
(Table 4). On average, 25.6 bags of textiles (ranging from 10.1 to 54.3 bags) were
collected per bank per collection. Considerable variability was observed between
banks in terms of the number of collections made per year relative to the weight of
textiles recorded (Figure 12).
Bank
Code
No of collections
(bags)
per year
Min no.
bags per
collection
Max no. bags
per collection
Average no. bags
collected
per collection
Tonnes
collected
per year
(E-2473) 52 (1642) 6 84 31.6 12.3
(E-2474) 48 (1238) 6 60 25.8 9.3
(E-2018) 50 (1932) 12 72 38.6 14.5
(E-2019) 52 (1806) 6 276 34.7 13.5
(E-0748) 102 (2321) 6 108 22.8 17.4
(E-2016) 51 (1530) 6 228 30.0 11.5
(E-2479) 48 (1810) 6 96 37.7 13.6
(E-2472) 44 (1112) 0 48 25.3 8.3
(E-1877) 52 (2826) 6 84 54.3 21.2
(E-1878) 49 (1332) 6 60 27.2 10.0
(E-2476) 48 (2154) 6 96 44.9 16.2
(E-2478) 50 (786) 6 48 15.7 5.9
(E-0043) 104 (1782) 6 96 17.1 13.4
(E-0751) 52 (1368) 6 72 26.3 10.3
(E-2299) 45 (684) 0 78 15.2 5.1
(E-2301) 45 (541) 0.5 48 12.0 4.1
(E-2392) 41 (414) 6 48 10.1 3.1
(E-2493) 41 (420) 6 36 10.2 3.2
(E-2281) 50 (690) 6 48 13.8 5.2
(E-1875) 49 (618) 6 72 12.6 4.6
(E-1951) 49 (672) 6 48 13.7 5.0
(E-2015) 52 (2268) 12 78 43.6 17.0
(E-1921) 46 (1304) 0 72 28.3 9.8
TOTAL 1220 (31250) 0 276 234.4
AVERAGE 10.2
Min 41 (414) 10.1 3.1
Max 104 (2826) 54.3 21.2
Table 4: Summary of annual Subcontractor 1 collections from Oxfam’s textile
banks in area W16
16
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
E-1
877-A
E-2
476-A
E-2
015-C
E-2
018
E-2
479-A
E-2
019-A
E-2
473-A
E-2
016-A
E-1
921-A
E-1
878-A
E-0
751-A
E-2
474-A
E-0
748-A
E-0
043-A
E-2
478-A
E-2
299-A
E-2
281-A
E-1
951-A
E-1
875-A
E-2
301-A
E-2
493-A
E-2
392-A
Bank ID no.
No.
colle
ctions/y
ear
0
5
10
15
20
25
Tota
l to
nnes c
olle
cte
d/y
ear
No. collections/year
Total tonnes collected/year
Figure 12. Subcontractor 1 collections from W16 textile banks (February 2008 to
January 2009)
The results suggested that the bank E-1877-A yielded the greatest volumes of material
relative to the number of collections made, with banks E-2493-A and E-2392-A
yielding the lowest weights. Of interest for further research is the quality of the
material collected and whether the most profitable banks in terms of sellable product
can be identified and targeted for ‘priority’ logistics.
It was estimated that each week, Subcontractor 1 makes 48 trips to 23 textile banks
and 15 shops, collecting on average 1288 bags of textiles/shoes (671 smaller bags
from banks and 617 refuse size bags from shops). 45% of all collections are made on
Wednesdays (collecting 580 bags) and 24% on Fridays (collecting 301 bags) with
only 4% being made on Thursdays (47 bags), all of which were from banks.
Subcontractor 1 travels approximately 1264 kilometres each week (an average of 253
km per day) collecting textiles from 38 different Oxfam facilities (Table 5). It should
be noted that collections from the 5 book banks have not been included within these
calculations. The detailed round structures of Subcontractor 1 vehicles were not
obtained and it is not known what other charities are serviced as part of the current
rounds.
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Day No. of bank
collections
(no. of bags)
No. of shop
collections
(no. of bags)
Total no. of
collections
(no. of bags)
Distance
travelled
per round
(km)
CO2
emissions
per round
(kg)
Monday 2 (40) 4 (123) 6 (163) 260.2 62.4
Tuesday 4 (134) 2 (60) 6 (194) 185.8 44.6
Wednesday 12 (310) 9 (270) 21 (580) 315.1 75.6
Thursday 0 (0) 2 (47) 2 (47) 246.2 59.1
Friday 9 (187) 4 (117) 13 (304) 257.1 61.7
TOTAL 27 (671) 21 (617) 48 (1288) 1264.4 303.4
Average 5.4 (134) 4.2 (122) 9.6 (256) 252.9 60.7
Min 0 (0) 2 (47) 2 (47) 185.8 44.6
Max 12 (310) 9 (270) 21 (580) 315.1 75.6
Table 5: Summary of daily Subcontractor 1 collections from Oxfam
These journeys would result in CO2 emissions averaging approximately 60kg per day
(303kg per week in total), at an operating cost of around £910 per week. This equates
to transportation costs of just over 70p per bag (and 235g CO2 emissions per bag) to
take this stock to Guildford. (N.B. These operating costs assume an overall cost of
72p per km, as detailed below)
It should be noted that for the Wednesday and Friday schedules, the typical volumes
to be collected exceeded the maximum capacity of the vehicle used by Subcontractor
1 (Mercedes LWB Sprinter, around 1500kg), so the vehicle would have to unload
somewhere en-route, or return to the depot. According to the results, the travel time
associated with Wednesday’s collection is already over 5 hours, so it seems likely that
more than one vehicle would be used on that day. In reality, it is likely that a number
of Subcontractor 1’s vehicles are operating in the area, collecting not only from
Oxfam shops and banks, but from other retailers and businesses. In order to accurately
quantify the transport impacts associated with the Subcontractor 1 collections, the
following additional information would need to be collected:
Postcodes for all other businesses visited within the W16 area as part of the
Oxfam collection rounds operated by Subcontractor 1.
How the rounds are typically configured (e.g. is any routing and scheduling
software used).
The type of vehicle used to service the banks and shops (e.g. including
capacity).
The number of vehicles used to service the shops and banks in area W16.
Current spare capacity on the collection vehicles and the rounds.
Identify where the vehicle unloads if its maximum capacity is reached during
the collection round (e.g. does it have to return to Guildford or are there local
facilities which could be used to unload and store stock?)
18
‘Man-with-a-van’ activity in W16
Discussions between the local area manager and the man-with-a-van driver produced
the ‘typical’ scheduled and ad-hoc (un-scheduled) transactions that would be
undertaken each week (Table 6).
Responsibility Transaction
Fixed scheduled
transactions
Collect stock from book banks and a smaller number of textile
banks
Deliver bank stock to Oxfam shops
Transfer stock between stores (cascading)
Ad-hoc
transactions
Collections of stock from a high street retailer (delivered to
shops)
Collections of stock from Portsmouth University (end of term)
Collection of stock/fittings from shops for Lymington
Deliveries of books to the Ryde shop (Isle of Wight)
Deliveries of stock to Petersfield
Occasional house clearances
Special requests for stock/ fittings/ collections from shops
Table 6: Summary of ‘man-with-a-van’ scheduled and ad-hoc transactions
Scheduled transactions include all the collections and deliveries that are fixed on a
regular weekly basis and include collections from banks, deliveries to shops and
‘cascading’ (transfer of stock between shops).
Ad-hoc transactions are fairly infrequent and can involve collections of stock from a
leading high street retailer (and subsequent transfer to shops), deliveries of stock to
those shops experiencing poor donations, additional shop collections (during peak
periods), clearances from houses and University accommodation. Since specific
details of these ad-hoc transactions were not available, the associated trips have not
been included in the analyses. Future research would benefit from a detailed
‘journey/activity diary’ approach where the daily van activity could be recorded along
with the levels of stock moved. All ‘man-with-a-van’ collections are conducted,
Monday to Friday as part of a contracted 36 hour week.
Current collection/delivery schedule
The data suggested that 58 stops are scheduled each week to service banks (primarily
book banks) and shops, with an average of 11.6 stops being made each day (Tables 7
& 8). All 26 banks (24 book banks and 2 textile banks) are emptied weekly unless
they are overflowing with donations in which case additional collections will be
scheduled. For the purpose of this analysis, it was assumed that each book bank would
yield the equivalent of 10 bags of books (75kg), and each textile bank, 25 bags (188
kg) each collection.
The ‘man-with-a-van’ services 22 of the shops within area W16, the majority of
which receive weekly visits except for 3 shops located in Southampton
19
(F4101/F4111/F4110) receiving between 4 and 5 deliveries per week. The number of
bags collected or delivered to each shop was determined from a survey of shop
managers. Table 7 lists the order of the transactions expected to take place within a
typical week (data provided by the area manager), although it should be noted that
there is likely to be some variability between weeks and days, particularly where ad-
hoc collections are required.
Transaction Site type
Collect
only
Deliver
only
Deliver &
collect
(cascade)
Bank Shop Code Post Sector
MONDAY
* * F4110 SO15
* * F4111 SO14
* * E1961 SO30
* * E2021 PO15
* * E2034 PO16
* * E2035 PO14
* *×2 E2513 PO14
* * F4024 PO12
* * E1860 SO32
* * E0737 SO23
* * E1864 SO22
TUESDAY
* * F4110 SO15
* * F4111 SO14
* * F4101 SO16
* * E2036 PO6
* * E2479 PO8
* * E2477 GU30
* * E2476 GU32
* * F4100 GU32
* * F4016 PO13
* * E2032 SO31
* * F4082 SO14
* * F4038 SO51
* * F4313 SO51
WEDNESDAY
* * F4110 SO15
* * F4111 SO14
* * F4101 SO16
* * F4034 SO23
* * F4106 SO23
* * F4009 PO16
* * F4007 PO6
* * F4023 PO5
* *×2 F4045 SO45
* * E2011 SO45
* * E2012 SO45
20
Transaction Site type
Collect
only
Deliver
only
Deliver &
collect
(cascade)
Bank Shop Code Post Sector
* * E2015 SO40
THURSDAY
* * F4110 SO15
* * E0736 SO22
* * F4101 SO16
* * E0746 SO43
* * E1873 SO41
* * E1926 SO41
* * F4070 SO41
* * F4053 BH25
* * E1875 SO41
* * E1951 BH25
FRIDAY
* * E1950 SO31
* * F4110 SO15
* * F4111 SO14
* * F4101 SO16
* * E2030 SP10
* * F4226 GU9
* * F4301 GU9
* * F4037 GU34
* * E2474 GU34
* * F4008 SO50
*Assumed from other information
- Ringwood not known Table 7: ‘Man-with-a-van’ weekly driver’s schedule for area W16 (schedule
provided by the area manager)
Day No. of bank
collections
No. of shop
deliveries
No. of shop
deliveries/stock
transfers
Total no. of
banks/shops
visited
Distance
travelled
(km)
CO2
emissions
(kg)
Mon 9 3 0 12 152.9 43.2
Tue 5 3 5 13 216.8 60.9
Wed 3 2 8 13 206.0 61.4
Thu 6 0 4 10 146.7 41.8
Fri 3 0 7 10 195.1 55.0
TOTAL 26 8 24 58 917.5 262.3
Ave 5.2 1.6 4.8 11.6 183.5 52.4
Min 3 0 0 10 146.7 41.8
Max 9 3 8 13 216.8 61.4
Table 8: Summary of weekly bank and shop collections completed by ‘man-with-
a-van’ in area W16
21
Comparing the information from the area manager regarding the delivery and
collection schedule with data gathered from a shop manager’s survey suggested that
there were some discrepancies regarding scheduled arrival days. Twelve of the twenty
two shops (55%) concurred with the area manager’s schedule while 7 of the
remaining shops claimed visits were made on other days. The three shops that were
scheduled to receive multiple visits each week all suggested that the ‘man-with-a-van’
actually visited on fewer days than the schedule suggested. The following analyses,
optimising the delivery and collection schedules are based on the round details given
by the area manager.
Using the driver’s schedule, the distances travelled each day to service shops and
banks have been calculated using Microsoft MapPoint. Estimates of CO2 emissions
and fuel costs associated with these trips have also been estimated. Within these
calculations, the following basic assumptions have been made:-
The round always starts and finishes in Netley (SO31 5FX) where the vehicle
is stored overnight;
The daily schedules are fixed (therefore the same places are always visited on
a given day);
The driver uses the quickest route option, suggested by the route planner
within MapPoint;
The vehicle used is a diesel LGV, and has a fuel consumption of 24mpg in
urban areas, and 39 mpg on motorways, with a load capacity of 6400 litres
(6.4m3) and a maximum payload of 1000kg (Ford 2010; Yahoo.com 2010);
CO2 emissions are given as 278.3g/km on urban roads, 245.4g/km on rural
roads and 326.5g/km on motorways (National Atmospheric Emissions
Inventory [NAEI] 2010); for the purposes of these calculations, an average
value of 265g/km is used for non-motorway roads;
Vehicle operating costs (not including driver salary) are 28.5 pence per
kilometre (Freight Transport Association 2010);
Vehicle operating costs (including driver salary of £21,000 per annum) are 72
pence per kilometre;
The distances calculated represent the minimum distance travelled as the
driver will often be required to include additional ad-hoc collections/deliveries
to his existing schedule at short notice;
Stock is present on the vehicle when it starts/finishes its rounds.
The vehicle operating costs are derived from figures supplied by the Freight Transport
Association (2010) for a 3.5 tonne diesel van travelling an average 30,000 miles per
annum, as follows:
22
Standing costs
pence
per km
VED 0.39
Insurance 2.09
Depreciation 7.29
9.77
Running costs
Fuel 10.92
Tyres 0.54
Maintenance 4.78
16.24
Total vehicle cost 26.02
Overheads
Transport 2.47
TOTAL COST 28.49
The daily route characteristics are summarised in Table 9, and Figure 13. Further
details of each of these daily routes are given in Appendix B. The total weekly
distance for the man-with-a-van round was estimated to be 918 km, an average daily
distance of 184 km (of which 121 km was on urban or suburban roads, and 62 km on
the motorway network). This equates to a total of 14 hours and 45 minute of travel
time per week (an average of 3 hours per day), resulting in 262kg of CO2 emissions.
Using the FTA 2010 operating costs, the route schedule would cost £660.60 per week.
Day Total route
distance (km)
Distance on
motorway
(km)
Travel time
(mins)
CO2 emissions
(kg)
Operating
costs (£)
Mon 152.9 44.1 173 43.2 110.09
Tue 216.8 56.6 206 60.9 156.10
Wed 206.0 110.0 192 61.4 148.32
Thu 146.7 47.6 146 41.8 105.62
Fri 195.1 53.6 168 55.0 140.47
TOTAL 917.5 311.9 885 262.3 660.60
Ave 183.5 62.4 177 52.4 132.12
Table 9: Daily route summary for ‘man-with-a-van’ (current schedule)
As part of the shop managers’ survey, the typical number of bags collected and
delivered by the ‘man-with-a-van’ was determined. The results suggested that each
week, the ‘man-with-a-van’ would collect around 110 bags of goods (825kg) which
had failed to sell within a certain time period, or which would be more suitable for
sale in other shops, and subsequently cascaded. A similar number of bags would be
delivered into shops. Given operating costs of £660 per week, this equates to around
£6.00 per bag which is transferred between shops (2.4kg of CO2 per bag).
According to the schedule described by the area manager, the ‘man-with-a-van’ was
due to collect further goods from book and textile banks, which are not accounted for
in these delivery figures. Assuming each book bank yields 10 bags, and each textile
23
bank 25 bags, this would result in a further 290 bags (2175kg) being collected by the
‘man-with-a-van’ which do not then get transferred to shops.
It is possible that the yield from these book and textile banks is lower than those
serviced by Subcontractor 1 (which yielded an average of 25 bags per textile bank
collection), or that some of the stock being taken away from shops is treated as waste
and replaced by bank-derived stock, but this discrepancy merits further investigation.
Without a detailed breakdown of the exact transfer of stock taking place during a
weekly schedule of deliveries and collections (including ad-hoc collections), the
reasons behind this cannot be determined. If these extra bags are included in the
transfer of stock, the cost is reduced to £1.65 per bag (650g CO2 per bag).
Alternative collection/delivery schedules
The schedule currently used by the ‘man-with-a-van’ (Table 10) may be limited by
certain restrictions, for instance particular shops may have to be visited on certain
days. The data gathered did not suggest that this was a particular issue. DPS
International’s LogiX optimisation software was used to derive a more optimal route
for each of the current daily delivery and collection schedules, assuming the same
shops and banks have to be visited on each day (Table 10).
Day Total route
distance (km)
Distance on
motorway
(km)
Travel time
(mins)
CO2 emissions
(kg)
Operating
costs (£)
Mon 131.1 33.2 149 36.8 94.39
Tue 186.0 58.7 168 52.9 113.90
Wed 163.9 75.2 159 48.1 118.01
Thu 134.8 43.8 134 38.4 97.06
Fri 193.0 52.6 166 54.4 138.96
TOTAL 808.8 263.5 776 230.5 582.31
Ave 161.8 52.7 155 46.1 116.46
Table 10: Daily route summary for the optimised ‘man-with-a-van’ schedule
(where the same daily collections and deliveries are fixed but the schedule order
is optimised)
Comparing these figures with those given in Table 9, the within-day optimisation
represents an overall distance saving of 12% (109km for the week, or an average of
22 km per day). This equates to 12% less time on the road (a saving of 109 minutes
per week), as well as 12% reduction in operating costs and CO2 emissions (down
from 262kg per week to 230kg).
It was also possible to create an optimised schedule for the whole working week.
Given the overnight stop at Netley, and that a number of shops in Southampton have
to be visited on a certain number of days to ensure stock deliveries, LogiX produced
an alternative collection and delivery schedule which minimised the overall weekly
distance travelled. The resulting distance savings (Table 11) are an indication of how
the current schedule could be changed to reduce the overall transport impact, whilst
still visiting every required location.
24
In the optimised weekly schedule, (Figure 13) the shops in Southampton are visited in
the morning, as previously, with only 10 out of the scheduled 30 shop visits being on
different days. Further details of these optimised daily routes are given in Appendix B.
Utilising the route suggested by LogiX would result in both time and distance savings
compared with the current schedule followed by the ‘man-with-a-van’. In terms of
distance, the alternative route is 35% shorter than the original schedule, a saving of
64km per day on average (119km compared with 184km), with 65% less distance
travelling on motorways. The shorter route also represents a time saving of 47
minutes per day on average (2 hours 10 minutes per day, compared with nearly 3
hours previously), which is 27% less than time spent driving for the current schedule.
Day Total route
distance (km)
Distance on
motorway
(km)
Travel time
(mins)
CO2 emissions
(kg)
Operating
costs (£)
Mon 77.1 6.6 109 20.8 55.51
Tue 168.8 40.4 166 47.2 121.54
Wed 143.7 8.8 149 38.6 103.46
Thu 104.9 19.1 109 29.0 75.53
Fri 101.0 35.3 116 28.9 72.73
TOTAL 595.5 110.2 649 164.6 428.77
Ave 119.1 22.0 130 32.9 85.75
Table 11: Daily route summary for ‘man-with-a-van’. LogiX suggested schedule
The reduction in route distance leads to theoretical operating cost and emissions
savings with over £230 per week (£11,960 annually) saved in operating costs alone
and emissions (CO2) reduced by 37% (from 262kg/week to 165kg/week).
A comparison of the current, optimised daily, and optimised weekly schedules is
given in Table 12.
Schedule
Total route
distance
(km)
Distance on
motorway
(km)
Travel time
(mins)
CO2
emissions
(kg)
Operating
costs (£)
Original 917.5 183.5 885 262.3 660.60
LogiX daily
optimised 808.8 161.8 776 230.5 582.31
LogiX weekly
optimised 595.5 110.2 649 164.6 428.77
Percentage savings compared with original schedule
LogiX daily
optimised 11.8% 15.5% 12.3% 12.1% 11.9%
LogiX weekly
optimised 35.1% 64.7% 26.7% 37.2% 35.1%
Table 12: Comparison of current, optimised daily, and optimised weekly ‘man-
with-a-van’ collection and delivery schedules
25
Figure 13: Weekly route traversed by the ‘man-with-a-van’ using the current
schedule (left) and revised LogiX suggested route (right)
These figures indicate that the current schedule used by the ‘man-with-a-van’ could
be significantly improved, particularly if there is flexibility in the order that shops and
banks are visited. However, if there are restrictions that particular shops must be
visited at certain times and in a particular sequence (to allow cascading of stock from
certain banks to certain shops, for example, or to ensure that the capacity of the van is
not exceeded during a particular round), there would be an obvious impact on these
distance and time savings. It is also likely that other ad-hoc deliveries or collections
have to be incorporated into a weekly schedule at relatively short notice. However,
the revised weekly schedule is similar to the original in terms of the numbers of shops
and banks visited per day, and has substantial travel time savings, which might allow
extra visits to be made during the week.
Shop-adopted bank collections
The majority of textile and book banks within W16 are serviced by Subcontractor 1
and the Oxfam ‘man-with-a-van’. However, 6 book banks have been adopted by local
shops to ensure that they have a more guaranteed flow of stock. Using Microsoft
MapPoint, it was estimated that approximately 45 kilometres were travelled each
week by shop volunteers (using their own vehicles) within the W16 area servicing the
12 shop adopted bank visits (an average of 3.7km travelled per individual round trip
collection), Table 13. On average, collections are made twice a week and assuming
diesel-fuelled cars are used, this equates to 9.2kg of CO2 emissions per week (and a
fuel cost of around £6 per week). Assuming these book banks yield 10 bags per
collection, this would result in approximately 120 bags/week being transferred to
these shops (70g CO2 per bag). Discussions with the shops listed in Table 13
highlighted that the collection schedule was flexible, allowing more frequent
collections by staff to be made at peak times.
26
Oxfam
Banks
Shop
adopted
No. collections
per week
Distance travelled per
week (round trip, km)
(E1958) (F4009) 3 17.1
(E2476) (F4100) 1 1.4
(E2478) (F4100) 1 1.7
(E1948) (F4038) 3 7.5
(E2405) (F4038) 3 2.7
(E3565) (F4101) 1 14.5
Total 12 44.9
Table 13: Summary of shop-adopted bank collections
Recycling Contractor 1 collections
Recycling Contractor 1 provides a recycling service collecting four different waste
streams from Oxfam shops including books/magazines, paper, electrical and plastics.
Shops are required to separate the different material streams into four different
coloured sacks obtained from Recycling Contractor 1 prior to collection. An interview
with the director was conducted in order to understand how the collection system
works.
All shops within area W16 are serviced by vehicles originating from Reading. This
depot has 16 drivers who service approximately 80 routes (Monday to Friday), of
which 15 routes are within the Hampshire area. Drivers typically make between 5 and
15 individual collections per round using a fleet of vehicles ranging from a sprinter
van to 18 tonne trucks. Vehicle size, vehicle availability and also the volume of
recyclate to be collected from individual businesses are all factors influencing the
number of individual collections scheduled per round. Typically, the Pre-cycle
collection vehicles operate at an 80% fill rate so theoretically, there is spare capacity
on the vehicle at the end of the day.
Overall, 33 collections were made each week (Monday to Friday) from the 24 shops
within the W16 area (excluding shops on the Isle of Wight which receive collections
from Island Waste) with each shop receiving an average of 1.27 collections per week
(minimum 1 and maximum 3/week), Table 14.
Shop ID
Collections
per week
Scheduled
collection day/s
(F4037) 1 Wed
(F4007) 1 Wed
(F4008) 1 Fri
(F4009) 1 Wed
(F4226) 3 Tue, Thu, Sat
(F4301) 3 Mon, Wed, Fri
(F4024) 1 Mon
(F4045) 1 Thu
(F9200) 1 Tues
(F4016) 1 Wed
(F4070) 1 Fri
(F4053) 1 Fri
(F4077) 0 ISLAND WASTE
(F4100) 1 Wed
27
Shop ID
Collections
per week
Scheduled
collection day/s
(F4032) 1 Mon
(F4313) 2 Tue & Fri
(F4038) 1 Wed
(F4081) 0 ISLAND WASTE
(F4061) 1 Fri
(F4101) 1 Thu
(F4082) 1 Mon
(F4110) 2 Tue & Fri
(F4111) 2 Tue & Fri
(F4023) 1 Mon
(F4034) 2 Mon & Fri
(F4106) 2 Tue & Fri
Total 33
Table 14: Summary of Recycling Contractor 1 collection schedules for Oxfam
shops in the W16 area
Pre-cycle collect from 6 Oxfam shops on average each weekday (excluding the
Saturday collections recorded from Farnham), with more collections being made on
Fridays (10 shops) than Thursdays (3 shops). As Recycling Contractor 1 collections
are complex, with up to 15 individual routes operating within the Hampshire area
from the Reading depot, it is unlikely that the daily collections (Table 14, Figure 14)
would be serviced by 1 vehicle. As a result, the daily mileage has not been calculated
for this transport layer.
28
Figure 14: Summary of weekly Recycling contractor 1 shop visits by day within
area W16
29
Way forward – PhD research areas Initial work by Accenture (2009) has shown a number of areas where Oxfam might be
able to make efficiency savings in both its stock management and take-back logistics
practices (Figure 15). Eight operating scenarios have been put forward for further
research of which this report contributes to number 4:
1. All Shops pre-sort donated stock into three categories (culled stock, recycling
grade, export saleable clothing) and additional Wastesaver capacity is utilised:
2. Indentify best practice processes and roll out across local areas
3. Improve the integration of online hubs into the logistics network
4. Undertake a regional collection cost review
5. Increase bank adoption by individual Oxfam shops
6. Combine book collections with textiles
7. Undertake ‘ideal’ network modelling to look at potential new distribution sites
and treatment facilities
8. Partnering with retailer companies and other charities to share reverse logistics
operations
Figure 14: Potential options for increasing revenue growth whilst reducing
operating costs (Adapted from Accenture, 2009)
Increase Trading
Profitability Ethically
Facilitate Revenue Growth
Reduce Operating
Costs
Review site portfolio & roles
Combine collection &
New Prod. Deliv.
Identify UK retailer partner for reverse
Collect from other charities’ banks
Collect culled stock from other charities
Maximise sorting throughput of WS
Increase quality of supply to OOS Hub
Pre-sort @ stores
Create new donation routes
Increase WS & BB collaboration
Combine book and clothing collections
Reduce unprofitable transport of stock
• Currently stock arrives at WS and leaves unsorted – potentially losing revenue
• Large expenditure on limited sales
• Sorted clothes are jumbled up and effort wasted
• Level of store donation is dropping (In Progress)
• Site locations & roles have evolved
• Disjointed flow of New Product
• Huge transport expense for goods of limited value
Regional Review • Expensive to collect from certain areas
• More spent transporting stock than value received
• Lack of visibility of actual costs
• Routes are being duplicated
• Vans often partially full/ multiple visits to same store
• Combine collections
• Many vans doing similar work
• Low value for charities & not always ethically sold
30
The current work has provided some understanding of Oxfam operations and the
associated logistics at a local area level. The PhD provides Oxfam with an opportunity
to expand on this work and explore the potential for:
Collaborating with other charity organisations (e.g. British Heart Foundation,
Cancer Research UK) on stock cascading between stores and take-back logistics
to shared disposal/treatment centres;
Changing the operating structure in terms of the logistics methods and providers
used, relative to the treatment and disposal outlets. This would consider the
potential of local treatment/disposal options which could be used to reduce
Oxfam’s overall UK transport footprint;
Utilising the logistics networks of high street retailers for back-loading material
to treatment facilities.
The PhD research would have the opportunity to use existing, and develop new
optimisation techniques to model the transport and environmental benefits that could
be realised through the various new collaborative operating scenarios proposed.
In order to progress the research, some key issues need to be addressed and possible
activities undertaken to collect specific data:
1. Quantify the ‘man-with-a-van’ activity in more detail
Using journey diaries to record collection/delivery schedule and volumes of
stock handled. (This could be achieved by using a remote collection/delivery
data collection system recently procured by Oxfam)
Record this activity in several regions (not only W16)
Look at differences in activity between regions (cascading, stock transfers from
the high street retailer, bank management etc)
2. Quantify the potential for Subcontractor 1 and Recycling contractor 1 to
undertake more work for Oxfam
Collect detailed round data (collection/delivery locations, volumes of product
carried by type) for these two carriers to understand their collection activities in
the survey area
3. Understand the linkage between bank stock, cascading and disposal rates
Determine which banks yield the best quality stock across the network
Investigate methods to quickly identify quality stock so that it can be progressed
into the system
Identify whether the concept of ‘shop adopted banks’ should be more widely
adopted
Determine in what ways the current logistics layers could be optimised around
the most ‘profitable’ banks
31
4. Identify options for collaborating with other charities
Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation could be interested in
collaborative working
The PhD could potentially evaluate the impact if Oxfam were to adopt the
operating models used by other charities on the Oxfam network (e.g. local rag
merchants for each local area as opposed to centralised collection to
Huddersfield)
5. Identify options for back-loading collaboration with major logistics
providers
If Oxfam maintains its centralised take-back system through Wastesaver at
Huddersfield, their could be scope for collaboration with certain major retailers
to utilise their back-loading capability to move textiles back, if the routing could
be co-ordinated
32
REFERENCES:
Accenture (2009) Oxfam. Supply Chain Performance Assessment. Produced by Jon
Satinet, July 31st
Ford. (2010). "Ford Transit Technical Specifications." Retrieved 02/03/10, from
http://www.fordtransitdirect.co.uk/newsales/newvans/transit/technicalspec.asp
x.
Freight Transport Association (2010). Vehicle Operating Costs, FTA Cost
Information Service.
National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory [NAEI] (2010). UK Emissions Factor
Database.
Yahoo.com. (2010). "Ford Transit 2.4 TDCI review." Retrieved 17/01/2010, from
http://uk.cars.yahoo.com/car-reviews/car-and-driving/ford-transit-2.4-tdci-
van-range-1004831.html.
33
Appendix A: Stock intake paths, handling methods and
output paths observed from a study of a ‘general’ shop.
34
Cascaded stock from other shops
Textile bank donations
Delivery from local driver ( Tuesday , Wednesday , Friday )
Over the counter donations
Donations at back door
Storage in back of shop
Place bags on sorting table , stock
separated
Clothing sorted Music , DVDs , videos sorted
Sorted by type , labelled with week number , priced and stored ready for sale
Put on sale
Unsold stock taken off sale
Suitable for sale
Suitable for Wastesaver
Sorted by type , labelled with week number , priced and
stored ready for sale
Put on sale
Unsold stock taken off sale
Suitable for sale
Not suitable for sale
Books sorted
Sorted by type , labelled with week number , priced and stored ready for sale
Put on sale
Unsold stock taken off sale
Suitable for sale
Recyclable
Books to book sorting area
Music , videos , DVDs to sorting
area
Ironed if necessary
Culled clothing has old price tag removed
White , reinforced bags ( Paper waste )
Yellow , reinforced bags ( Plastic waste )
- Recycling Contractor1 collections ( Tuesday )
Wastesaver collections ( Monday , Wednesday ,
Friday )
Other donations sorted
Recyclable clothing collected in black sacks for
Wastesaver
General in store waste stream
Stock is unsuitable for Wastesaver
or sale ( e . g . Wet )
Blue , reinforced bags
( Electrical waste )
Plastic waste
Sorted by type , labelled with week number , priced and stored ready for sale
Put on sale
Unsold stock taken off sale
Suitable for sale
Not suitable for sale
Electrical goods
Waste categorised
Red , reinforced bags
( Electrical waste )
Metals
Other waste ( not recyclable )
Input Storage Process
Transport layer Waste
Recyclable stock
New “Oxfam Trading” stock
Posted to stores
Book bank donations
35
Appendix B: Daily Scheduled and Optimised Routes for ‘Man-with-a-Van’ operations in W16.
(Refer to separate document. ‘Oxfam Appendix-B 4-5-10.doc)
