Sustainable warehouse operations focus on eco-friendly practices, renewable energy, and efficient waste management. A well-coordinated supply chain and transport system are critical to reducing excess stock and streamlining shipments, ensuring efficient movement of items while minimizing delays and enhancing overall operations. By embedding structured planning and forecasting practices into its operations, the ICRC continues to strengthen its capacity to deliver essential humanitarian aid efficiently, while reducing waste and environmental impact.

Check out this interview with a storekeeper team leader at the Logistics Support Center in Satigny, Switzerland to learn how the ICRC makes the HQ warehouse more sustainable.

Green warehouse (medical and nutritional food) in Niamey, Niger

In Niamey, Niger, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has constructed two eco-friendly warehouses as part of its commitment to sustainable operations. These green warehouses are designed to minimize environmental impact through energy-efficient features, sustainable materials, all of them from the local market, and innovative technologies. By implementing such infrastructure, the ICRC not only reduces its carbon footprint but also sets a benchmark for sustainable practices in humanitarian logistics. To know more, watch this video.

Optimizing the pick and pack process

Since 2022, the warehouse team reorganized the picking and packaging process, shifting from treating orders by arrival to a pre-set schedule. Specific countries are prioritized during the four weeks of each month, enabling the supply chain to maximize dispatch volumes. This approach allows transport teams to consolidate shipments into larger, regular containers for key destinations without increasing lead times. It has also reduced the workload for field impex/transport teams by minimizing the number of greenlights and shipments they must manage.

Dimensions and weight scanning (DWS)

DWS technology has been implemented at the Satigny Logistics Support Centre to accurately measure the dimensions and weight of packages, enabling precise calculations of volume and dimensional weight. Data support the team to better understand the volumes of the orders received or that need to be picked and packed and this allows better organization of resources and coordination with transport needs.

Looking ahead, we will continue implementing the system of electronic pre-packing lists, and leveraging DWS data to estimate weight and volume before goods are physically picked and packed at the warehouse. This should allow earlier transport planning, anticipating importation formalities, that will reduce lead times, and give more flexibility to switch to sea transport, further enhancing sustainability and operational efficiency.