Work closely with your suppliers How can supply chain sustainability risks impact your business? The next thing to focus on, once you’ve identified areas for improvement, is how to know which way is up. Connect audits and assessments to suppliers. If your business does not yet hold this accreditation, it is an important certification to move towards; having this policy and commitment in place can increase trust in your business from consumers and fellow businesses alike. The endeavour should be one of continuous improvement, as best practices, technology and renewable resources are constantly evolving. Developing a sustainable supply chain is not something you do overnight. Develop some form of a sustainability plan for your business. 3. environment, Of course, the main obstacle to implementing these changes is the associated cost. Schulich’s new George Weston Ltd Centre for Sustainable Supply Chains to develop next generation of supply chain leaders TORONTO, Oct. 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Schulich School of Business at York University is pleased to announce the creation of the George Weston Ltd Centre for Sustainable Supply Chain s , made possible by significant support from George Weston Ltd. You may have mapped your supply chain before, but this time you will need to do so with sustainability in mind. In fact, over 70% of CPOs plan to invest in further technology in the upcoming year, but only 40% of companies have a clear digital strategy. To understand how you can improve your... 2. While traditional supply chain focused mainly upon value for money considerations; sustainable supply chain acts as a game changer by integrating environmental and social considerations into the supply chain process. This is where sustainability benchmarking can really help you home in on where improvement is most needed. Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. However, if your company has dozens, or even hundreds, of first-tier suppliers, collecting information can prove to be a gigantic undertaking. End-to-end supply chain transparency is critical; sustainability initiatives must extend from raw materials sourcing, to last-mile logistics, and even to product returns and recycling processes. After conducting interviews with 70 companies, the report authors categorized companies’ approaches to building sustainable supply chain into five groups: basic, improving, established, mature and leading. Measurement and Reporting Framework. A sustainable supply chain is one that fully integrates ethical and environmentally responsible practices into a competitive and successful model. Required fields are marked *. Being sustainable should be an essential consideration and aim for any business and your supply chain should be no different. What are your goals and objectives, and how do you want to go about them? Led by multinational corporations, the trend … hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(4003208, '734ce1ec-9e22-4c7e-b3ec-ca3ec6d3bab5', {}); Tags: There are numerous ways to overcome distribution efficiency problems. You can also subscribe without commenting. The effects reach industry leaders in the business world who are in a position to build a more sustainable supply chain by searching for new, innovative solutions. Some, pointing to the falling costs of wind and solar energy, are demanding that their energy provider supply clean, renewably-sourced electricity. So how to develop a sustainability strategy for your supply chain? • There is a strong business case for developing sustainable ways of … Tackling certain aspects alone is nearly impossible and … Research shows the business case for supply chain sustainability is growing. Another way to quickly cut down on distribution distance and reduce your business’s carbon footprint is to source materials closer to your manufacturing location. Supply Chain Mapping. If you want your business to have long-term success, you have to create sustainable supply chains. Sustainability performance should be one of the most pressing considerations in any supply chain. How can you cut costs, whilst utilising the best suppliers at the procurement stage? Use Technology to Identify Problems and Opportunities. But without taking into account any specific characteristics of your company, the following actions, taken in sequence, should get you on the right path. Countless reasons to adopt a more sustainable supply chain exist, from taking advantage of government benefits to committing to a mission that speaks to your customers. It can be tempting to send out your stock in a half-full truckload if your order is smaller than usual, but such practices can soon have an impact on your sustainability over time. Sustainability should not be considered as a “nice-to-have” for any company that plans to be around for a while. Best Regards, Rob O’Byrne Email: [email protected] Phone: +61 417 417 307, Your email address will not be published. If you're required to provide proof of a commitment to a greener tomorrow by a customer, or want to evaluate your own supplier, then Resource Management Associates can help. By managing and improving environmental, social and economic performance throughout supply chains, companies can conserve resources, optimize processes, uncover product innovations, save costs, increase productivity and promote corporate values. To ensure sustainability and quality, check that your supplier is ISO14001 (International Organization for Standardization) accredited; this accreditation is a signal that a supplier holds an environmental commitment and follows the most sustainable practices. Every supply chain is unique, so it’s hard to prescribe exactly how sustainability should be tackled. Each was headed by an MNC considered to be a “sustainability leader”—one in the automotive industry, one in electronics, and one in pharmaceuticals and consumer products. Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on October 06, 2020, under the title “6 Steps to Sustainable Supply Chain Reality” on Benchmarking Success’s website. Introducing sustainable methods means understanding what you need, both in terms of the quality and the volume of materials. By working closely with your suppliers and outlining your specifications, you should be able to ensure that products arrive to you right, the first time round. From invoices and memos to printing emails and spreadsheets, it’s important to carefully consider what you actually need to be printing. Organizational leaders understand the unique challenges of supply chain management, and the specific ways they can make improvements to it. A recent UN Global Compact report noted that 84% of the 1,000 global CEOs surveyed agreed that businesses “should lead efforts to define and deliver new goals on global priority issues”, with only one third saying that their “business is doing enough to address global sustainability challenges”. To understand the situation and develop ideas for tackling it, we conducted a study of three supply networks. Sustainable practice is the only way to guarantee your business will succeed long into the future. Various programmes allow you to: Led by multinational corporations, the trend by big companies in recent years has been to work only with suppliers that maintain high social and environmental standards. Waste must be reduced and, in most cases, it must be reduced significantly. Paper still makes up a significant portion of landfill waste, even though it’s one of the easiest products to recycle and reuse. The knowledge gained from benchmarking is essential for your company to graduate towards best-in-class performance. US and China getting on board with sustainability commitments, 50% of company waste comes from paper alone, 70% of CPOs plan to invest in further technology, own practices in place where they manage their own waste, outsourcing to a print management company, Reevaluating your business’s printing habits, 3 Key Benefits of a Print Audit and Why You Need One Now, 6 Benefits of Print Management and How You Can Achieve Them, 7 Proven Print Audit Checklist Benefits That Will Improve Your Business, A Guide to In-House Printing vs Outsourced Printing, 5 Cost Control Techniques to Help Your Procurement Strategy, 7 Reasons to Outsource Your Print Management, How Supply Chain Management Can Reduce Risks in Procurement. But, this is not always a quick-fix answer. The waste management industry is set to grow to $560 billion dollars (£400 billion) by 2020, powered by smart waste technologies. For any business to achieve long-term success, the creation of sustainable supply chains is mandatory. Opting for a less expensive supplier may run the risk of receiving quantities of low quality stock, which end up wasted, ultimately tarnishing your business’s environmental goals. For Patara, a new Here are some ways you can make the supply chain in your organisation more sustainable. Figure 1 provides a framework to measure and report supply chain sustainability. Managing Waste. Customers are also becoming increasingly active in supporting these measures. With all of this in mind, it’s easy to understand how these figures can soon start to add up and hinder the sustainability goals of your business. Increasing Distribution Efficiency. Email: [email protected]Phone: 04 1741 7307. By making positive changes such as these to the structure of your distribution, your business can help significantly improve the efficiency and sustainability of its distribution. Since print services is one of the easiest ways to make your businesses more sustainable each year – with measurable impact – it should be one of the practices that is considered carefully within your overall environmental strategy. Furthermore, the people who keep your supply chain moving are the ones with visibility of the detail. Find out by downloading our guide. Include your supply chain in your considerations of how sustainable you are. Oct 27, 2020 | Articles, Supply Chain, Sustainability - Environment, Training & Education | 0 comments. 4 Ways to Create a Sustainable Supply Chain in Your Business 1. A simple solution is to go digital. Building a sustainable supply chain will provide new selling opportunities within your business. It will also reduce costs and improve efficiencies, creating a better workplace for your employees and a more sustainable environment for the world. Always look ahead. If you're a company that does have printing needs, then it's time to identify the volume of printed material your business requires, in order to better lower the volume of wasted print. But as well as being a responsibility, sustainability improvement carries benefits which should serve as positive motivation, given that today’s markets are not only sensitive to resource depletion, but are also increasingly competitive. But is your water consumption really an issue? Since sustainability often involves consuming less and achieving greater efficiency, environmental performance improvements can often lead to cost savings and a more streamlined operation. The above points are just potential solutions and components to address to help achieve a more sustainable supply chain for your company. Ideally, they will base their goals on scientists’ recommendations for bringing various types of sustainability impact under thresholds that will maintain or improve human well-being. Occasionally you may even need to go back to the drawing board. Better still, invest in mapping software that will allow you to get a very detailed picture of every aspect of your supply chain. Whether in your own company or with your suppliers, it’s important to ensure that your business practices are sustainable for the long term. New approaches are needed. Developing sustainable supply chains involves complex issues and intricate, sometimes fragile, connections. Then highlight any points where you see potential for improved sustainability. Recycling is arguably the surest way to enhance supply chain sustainability. Prioritising sustainability can boost your branding efforts, protect against reputational damage and ultimately lead to more sales and increased revenue. Integrating sustainability into the supply chain, through circularity, transparency, and innovation, is a critical first step. If you are in the initial stages of sourcing suppliers, it’s important to remember that a low cost doesn’t always equal a high-quality supplier. Having established improvement priorities and engaged your managers, workforce and partners, it’s time to execute steps to meet the most pressing sustainability goals. This provides more accurate information in regards to stock and removes the level of guesswork, so you can reduce the volume of redundant, unnecessary stock your business is ordering. Strong supply chain communities: Ensuring a strong community and location is not only critical for an individual facility, but also provides big wins for an entire business and value chain. As with any transformation, the first step to a more sustainable supply chain is to gain an... 2. Take for instance 10 suppliers, and let them make 1 sustainable change in their supply chain, and ask them to do the same with 10 of their suppliers. Please send me your fortnightly Email Bulletin. How to Create a More Sustainable Supply Chain Realistically project customer demand. By reducing prices, GSK hopes to have a first mover advantage in developing markets, gaining significant revenue and market share. This practice goes some way towards ensuring sustainability from the very start of the supply chain. It is important for companies to anticipate these upcoming changes by starting to develop a sustainable supplier engagement strategy and reap the benefits of a green supply chain. Reevaluating your business’s printing habits can help when trying to cut down on your paper footprint. The risk management process as well as code of conduct surveys can be automated, while a supply chain information management system will allow suppliers to be screened for risk. Since 50% of company waste comes from paper alone, it’s often the place to start. By all means, dust off your old swim-lane diagrams if they are not too outdated, but be sure to review them all with a focus on resource consumption, waste, and efficiency. The concept of sustainable development can be attributed to the 1987 Brundtland Report, which described it as ‘‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs’’. • Building resilience into supply chains is necessary to ensure a company's long-term survival. The world’s resources really are under pressure and supply chains in particular can often be singled out for their environmental impact, with good reason. When they know what to look for, they can add granularity to your search for environmental performance excellence. Honestly evaluate your company’s current and projected social impact. If your company is serious about developing a sustainable supply chain, the six steps described here will need to become a continuous cycle. (For the specific selection criteria, see the “About the Research” sidebar.) Find out by downloading our guide, The Four Stages of Procurement Savings. If you are currently dependent for over 30% of your income from one major source, this could be a time when you need to rapidly reinvent yourself. Having an effective waste management plan in place includes cutting down on unnecessary collateral and redundant stock, as well as introducing more efficient practices. Your suppliers may handle delivery needs for you, but it’s important to ask your suppliers about their sustainability practices. It’s also important to recognise that a “responsible” supply chain isn’t necessarily the same thing as a “sustainable” supply chain. Supply Chain Sustainability starts with effective Training and Development Sustainable supply chain is arguably one of the major requirements currently facing organizations. By making sure your supply chain is sustainable and ethical, and by minimising the negative impact your business has on the environment and society, you’ll unlock a range of business benefits. Since then, at an exponential rate, companies have been focusing on ways to reduce harmful emissions, minimise waste, and make their facilities more energy-efficient. We at 4C Associates employ the following six-step process to help our clients develop their sustainability strategy Map your supply chain – As the first step towards sustainability, it is important to map your product, information and cash flow across the full spectrum of your suppliers and customers. hot-topics. Building a sustainable supply chain. But cost efficiency and sustainability aren’t mutually exclusive. Due to global concerns about climate change, sustainable supply chain practices should be a way of life for all businesses, in order to manage resources now and into the future. Another innovation is the circular supply chain, which involves recycling and reusing products once they have fulfilled their purpose. Social and environmental variables are the basis of sustainability and, not surprisingly, the basis of strategic, lasting site selection decisions. Although it is often identified as being one of the most difficult aspects of a business to make sustainable, it is one of the … Link supply-chain sustainability goals to the global sustainability agenda Once companies know where their supply-chain issues are, they can set goals for lessening the resulting impact. Digital procurement, electronic data interfaces, and electronic payment can all help your business significantly cut down on paper waste (not to mention wasted time) with regards to invoices. Benchmarks move, goals will need extending, metrics require adjustment, training will need to be updated occasionally, and fresh opportunities will appear as your people improve in vigilance and understanding of the issues. How much water do your facilities use when compared with similar organizations with warehouses of similar size and throughput? Manufacturers need to create new ways to manage and track their practices in the supply chain, manufacturing process, and in sales and marketing. When it comes to managing wasted stock, intelligent stock analysis software can monitor existing stock accurately and offer solutions. You will need to balance distance with cost when it comes to sourcing your suppliers – you may find a supplier who can offer a more competitive cost, but who is much further afield, increasing the miles (and length of time) your stock has to travel. Your email address will not be published. As you begin to see results, you will need to evaluate them against your chosen metrics. It’s necessary in today’s world, where climate change, environmental disruptions and human rights issues are real risks to smooth (and ethical) supply chain management. COMPETITION: Win a Tree Named After You or Your Company! Having an effective waste management plan in place includes cutting down on unnecessary collateral... 2. This process of growth will surely benefit from the understanding and buy-in of all your company’s key employees, and those of your supply chain partners. Changes in business development processes will challenge our industry to understand how we can take advantage of these and promote ourselves to our customers. Such technology, for example, can help organisations identify the fastest, cheapest, and most sustainable shipping routes. Furthermore, as many as 52% of businesses have no idea how much they are spending on printing, routinely overspending on their budgets by £10,000 per year. Being sustainable is no longer a case of being cutting edge; sustainability is now a given, so if you haven’t considered sustainability in your business and your supply chain, you may be vastly behind your competitors. The following steps can help you build a sustainable supply chain. How can you cut costs, whilst utilising the best suppliers at the procurement stage? About the Author Renée Yardley is senior vice president of sales and marketing for Sustana Group , the leader in sustainable, recycled fibers and paper products. In a recent MIT SMR article, I argued that a sustainable supply chain “must operate within the thresholds imposed by nature and society.” Unfortunately, references to these thresholds are rare. 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