Comments on: Companies Mostly Giving Lip Service on Greening their Supply Chains

By: Dave Meyer

Dave Meyer — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:52:26 +0000

There is substantial documentation that proactive procurement focused on green, whole-chain optimization typically results in 10%-20% cost savings and a substantially greater increase in profits. In addition effective collaboration with suppliers can cut time to market by 25%. To me, this means that a company is more efficient and competitive.
This short term view of sustainable chain undermines the intrinsic value of sustainable supply chain in the long-term marketplace.
Also, sustainable supply chain is SO much more than managing a company’s carbon footprint. Traditional methods such as Design for Environment and life cycle assessment capture chemical use, energy consumption, materials inputs, and waste outputs etc….all critical elements of an effective sustainable i.e. green supply chain.
Please supply chain professionals, don’t cut your own value short…you are the gatekeepers to a company’s creativity and innovativeness in lean economic times.

By: Tim Albinson

Tim Albinson — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:45:48 +0000

The vast majority of a company’s carbon footprint is embedded in its supply chain, so any business that’s serious about sustainability needs to begin focusing its efforts there. A comprehensive sustainability platform must address the environmental impact of products upstream and downstream, throughout the entire value chain.

By: Nick Aster

Nick Aster — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 21:56:38 +0000

Supply chains can be mindblowingly complex. Not the least of the problems is this – many companies share suppliers, therefore sharing data across your supply chain is sharing data with your competition. That’s something most companies are terrified of. I wonder if a better approach is international agreement where all companies in a supply chain are treated separately and identically in terms of reporting. Wouldn’t that take the pressure off the companies at the top of the chain?