Going the distance: how Europris is achieving operational excellence through a ground-breaking relationship with Maersk
The Norwegian retail giant is on a journey of growth. Enabled through digitalisation, sustainable ambitions, and the support of a culturally aligned global partner.
Europris and Maersk: All the way to zero
After enjoying a successful partnership spanning two decades, the two collaborators have set their sights on a shared objective—achieving carbon neutrality.
Listen to Pål-Christian Andersen, VP Supply Chain at Europris, as he discusses how Maersk is contributing to Europris' sustainability effort.
The background:
Europris is Norway’s largest discount retailer, with directly operated and franchised stores throughout the country, with a focus on high inventory turnover.
The retailer began working with Maersk over 20 years ago, and the relationship continues to evolve in reflection of Europris’ growing ambitions and Maersk’s expanding offering.
Initially partnering with Maersk on container storage services at major Norweigan ports meant that Europris was able to operate an efficient and agile supply chain. Fast forward 20 years, and Europris and Maersk are now connected across multiple levels of the supply chain.
Europris receives an increased scope of support from Maersk which improves cost efficiencies, reliability and global capability.
The challenge:
Due to the fast-moving nature of the discount retail space, Europris is a brand that strives for operational excellence at all levels.
To continue to progress and expand its reach, Europris was looking to partner with a brand that could match its ambitions – with a significant focus on a brand well suited to their highly valued sustainability ambitions.
Crucially, Europris has a clear agenda to be an industry-leader in sustainability, paving the way for others, and supporting the drive for a better future for all.
Maersk has ambitions to be net zero by 2040, ahead of most others in the industry, and so we are continually developing our product offer and looking for ways to decarbonise our infrastructure.
Reduction of our greenhouse gas emissions is an important strategic goal for our company. Cooperation with partners that seek modern solutions and opportunities are therefore imperative for achieving our ambitions.
To support market expansion, Europris needed to align multiple layers of its supply chain and looked for a single point of contact to reduce complexities and inefficiencies. Maersk’s Global Integrator Strategy, launched in 2016, propelled the transformation from ocean carrier to integrator, protector and simplifier of customers’ supply chains. This progression is one of many reflecting how our progressive offering supports Europris’ growing needs.
The solution:
Europris has expanded its involvement with Maersk and assigned 100% of their Maersk ocean inbound cargo to our ECO Delivery product – a first for Maersk and a landmark moment in the shipping industry.1
Maersk’s ECO Delivery service ensures a significant reduction of GHG emissions - substituting normal fuel with biofuel, ensuring low to very low' emissions.2
This huge reduction influences the transport costs, which Europris wanted to move forward with to help secure their decarbonisation aims and do their part to look after the planet.
Their sustainability advancements are backed up with data insights provided in Maersk’s Emissions Dashboard – Europris now has an overview of its carbon impact and can continue to measure performance and recognise any challenges or opportunities.
Datasharing and 360-view of all information coming from, and going to, our supplier base has given us genuine tools to improve our business. The transparency this is giving us will assist in improving important pieces of the company’s value chain.
A multi-year supply chain management contract has been established, covering Europris’ Asian and intra-European ocean activities – including less than container load (LCL) services which enable flexibility and dynamic responses to ever-changing market behaviours.
The retailer now receives container prioritisation and preferential rates to complete vendor and booking management across origins and destinations, with a streamlined supply chain made possible through Maersk’s global infrastructure.
Across Europris’ service, they have visibility over their supply chain so that they are better able to make timely decisions and deliver accurate monitoring and reporting. Maersk’s digitised supply chain management provides seamless integration of data management in one centralised dashboard, which gives Europris greater control, increasing or decreasing the speed of shipments based on urgency and demand.
The result:
One of the key ingredients to the success of Europris’ partnership with Maersk has been the trust shared between the two organisations.
Over 20+ years of collaboration, Maersk has demonstrated its best-in-class logistics capabilities, and now, as a global integrator, we’re supporting Europris to achieve ground-breaking sustainability goals and operational excellence.
Scandinavia is fairly advanced when it comes to sustainability, and Maersk understood the importance of supporting Europris to reduce its impact – for shareholders, investors and, most importantly, customers. Now, with access to high-quality data, the retailer can record progress and report on its emissions with confidence and transparency.
The success of this relationship relies on Maersk’s global footprint and own commitment to making waves in the fight for true sustainability in business.
Europris are able to achieve real progress in their decarbonisation agenda, add new origins to their procurement with seamless efficiency, and deliver the most innovative solutions to reduce costs, fuel growth and adapt to the retailer’s changing needs.
ECO Delivery
Responsible shipping choices can help you move closer to achieving your net zero ambitions. Maersk ECO Delivery is an innovative product that replaces fossil fuels with biofuel alternatives, giving you immediate CO2e savings.
- Maersk is aiming to reach net zero emissions by 2040 across the entire business with new technologies, new vessels, and green fuels.
- Low emissions refers to fuels with 65-80% life cycle GHG reductions compared to fossil fuels and very low emissions refers to fuels with 80-95% life cycle GHG reductions compared to fossil fuels.
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