Transportation Impacts and Process Loss Rates
Transportation and Process Loss Rates are shown in the Additional Process Options section of the Higg MSI. Both are part of the dynamic calculations required to assess a material in the Higg MSI.
Process Loss Rates are used to determine upstream material demand, measuring how efficient each process is. The higher the loss rate is, the more input material is required to create a kilogram of final material. Process Loss Rates are not customizable fields, butare provided for context into what is driving the material impacts. The loss rate for each process is set based on available efficiency information (such as Textile Exchange’s Fiber Conversion Methodology), provided as part of datasets or MSI Contributor submissions, or based on system defaults from expert guidance. More information on the Process Loss Rates can be read in the Higg MSI Methodology Document.
Transportation Impacts are calculated based on the amount of incoming material for each Production Stage (using Process Loss Rates) as well as on the inbound transportation distance and transportation mode. Both inbound transportation distance and transportation mode are customizable fields.
The default inbound transportation distance between each Production Stage is 200 kilometers. The first Production Stage (Raw Material Source) does not have an inbound transportation stage since all inputs are included as part of the process model (including any applicable inbound transportation of mass inputs).
When customizing the inbound transportation distance, it is possible to select either kilometers or miles as the unit of distance. The distance should be measured between the facility supplying the previous intermediate material and the receiving facility. The distance calculation should be as accurate as possible, although point-to-point distances are still preferred over the default distance. Given the relatively small contribution of transportation impacts to the overall material footprint, using the default transportation distances will generally not lead to large differences. For processes happening in the same facility, the transportation distance can be set to 1 kilometer.
There are four different transportation modes available:
- Freight Truck, Large is the default selection and should be chosen when the transportation is primarily done by an on-the-road network (based on distance travelled).
- Ocean should be selected when the inbound transportation distance has been customized and the inbound freight is primarily transported by ocean freight (based on distance travelled).
- Rail should be selected when the inbound transportation distance has been customized and the inbound freight is primarily transported by rail freight (based on distance travelled).
- Air should be selected when the inbound transportation distance has been customized and the inbound freight is primarily transported by air freight (based on distance travelled).