Sustainable Supply Chain | Data Innovation

Sustainable supply chain are an integral part of a rapidly growing trend that is transforming businesses around the world. Supply chains are critical links that connect an organization’s inputs to its outputs. The increasing environmental costs of these networks and growing consumer pressure for Eco-friendly products has led many organizations to look at supply chain sustainability as a new measure of profitable logistics management.

Approximately 70 percent of all surveyed top executives consider sustainability efforts essential to long-term profitability. For firms' purchasing strategies, purchasing heads rank environmental efforts as most important among sustainability initiatives.

In response to overwhelming demand, educational facilities like the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University are building green supply chains into their curriculum.

The level of an organizations involvement can be categorized into one of three general groups sometimes referred to as the three tiers of sustainability.

Tier 1) The Basics: This is the base level where companies employ simple measures such as switching lights and PCs off when left idle, recycling paper, and using greener forms of travel with the purpose of reducing the day-to-day carbon footprint. Some companies also employ self-service technologies such as centralized procurement and teleconferencing.

Tier 2) Thinking Sustainably: This is the second level, where companies begin to realize the need to embed sustainability into supply chain operations. Companies tend to achieve this level when they assess their impact across a local range of operations. This could involve supplier management, product design, manufacturing rationalization, and distribution optimization.

Tier 3) The Science of Sustainability: The third tier uses detailed auditing and benchmarks to provide a framework for governing sustainable operations. This clarifies the environmental impact of adjustments to supply chain agility, flexibility, and cost in the network. Moving towards this level means being driven by the current climate as well as pushing emerging regulations and standards at both an industry and governmental level. For more information - http://www.bellwether-institute.net