My post from last week regarding green procurement (be sure to check the links in the comments as well) and where to start got me digging a little deeper into the realities of green procurement and the how’s and why’s of sustainability issues. While the research available tells only parts of the story; most distinctly indicate where the trends are going.
Industry Week recently ran a piece on the subject authored by Chris Ferrell, Associate Director of the Supply Chain Consortium (who also provided the data for the analysis) and the findings quite neatly match those published in the Global Supply Chain Trends 2008-2010 report which we highlighted a few days ago.
One of the findings was that even though environmental sustainability is considered to be a key factor in future globalization strategies regulatory compliance and customer requirements are ranked higher than more cost driven factors such as differentiation and optimized logistics/processes.
That said; regulations and requirements vary by industry, with electronics and consumer goods more likely to face these requirements than other industries. The approaches to complying with these requirements vary as well, but it’s clear that involving the partners and suppliers in your supply chain is the path that most companies follow; in addition to looking for traditional supply chain efficiencies which carry environmental benefits (such as packaging and transportations).
From my point of view, environmental sustainability is an issue that affects us all which in it self justifies that collaboration is the key to greening your procurement.
