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Saturday, October 29, 2011

Video: Future Supply Chain 2016

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Environmental Regulations Shaping Today's Sustainable Supply Chains

On Wednesday, August 31, 2011, Environmental Leader aired a webinar that included an update on RoHS2, REACH, Conflict Minerals, and other key issues driving sustainable sourcing and supply chain initiatives.

The summer of 2011 brought a wave of regulations. The REACH Committee composed of member state representatives kicked off June with a draft Commission Regulation to amend Annex XVII of REACH. In July, an amended RoHS Directive (or “RoHS2”) followed with its long-anticipated overhaul and new restrictions for electrical and electronic equipment (“EEE”). And July 21, 2011 marked the first anniversary of Dodd-Frank legislation and its controversial Conflict Minerals regulations.

RoHS/RoHS2, REACH, and conflict minerals are just a few of the key issues intensifying demands for product compliance and material disclosures. Meanwhile, conflict minerals joins a rising number of human rights concerns that transcend product lifecycles, sourcing and the supply chain. Passing the mid-point of 2011, The webinar explored what these and other issues such as take-back and waste laws have in store for producers, importers, and other stakeholders throughout electronics value chains.

The webinar covered:

The regulations including timelines, scope, marking requirements and exemptions, reporting, record-keeping, informational obligations, registration, compliance, enforcement, sourcing, product lifecycle, tracking and material disclosures.

Speakers included Rick Goss, VP of Environment and Sustainability at the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), Paul Hagen, Principle at Beveridge & Diamond, and Scott Wilson, Sr. Content Strategist at IHS Inc.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Case Study Illustrates the Profitability of Sustainable Supply Chains
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Sustainable Supply Chains and New Environmental Laws

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Video: Future Supply Chain 2016

Video: Ten Steps To A Greener Supply Chain

Video: Green Supply Chain

Friday, October 21, 2011

Sustainable Supply Chain Integration

An integrated sustainable supply chain, involves life-cycle management. That means considering all the steps of a manufacturing process, and all the links in the supply chain and value chain to the end of a product’s life and beyond (ie how it is disposed of).

Large corporations are realizing the importance accountability, transparency, ethical conduct, and respect for stakeholders’ interests, human rights, rule of law, and international norms of behavior in managing internal and external stakeholder expectations.

Sustainble supply chain integration is not only for large corporations it is also for SMEs. These same principles can be applied holistically throughout the entire supply/value chain.

Every product has a hidden human health, environmental and social impact along the entire supply chain. The challenge is to bring sustainable procurement into a central decision making role in line with organizational business goals.

A smart way to integrate involves testing innovative technologies as a way to reduce the product environmental footprint. Most importantly, integration involves promoting social responsibility throughout the entire supply chain; and stimulating demand for socially responsible goods and services.

Here are five basic points that contribute to sustainable supply chain integration:

In procurement and purchasing decisions, use criteria that select ethically and socially responsible products and companies;
Examine your value chain/supply chain and be sure that you are paying enough to enable your suppliers to fulfill their own responsibilities;
Promote broader adoption of social responsibility through networks of manufacturing associations and business sector colleagues;
Seek business to business and peer network support to collaboratively develop best methods and approaches, leverage resources and document benefits;
Treat suppliers and customers/consumers fairly and equitably.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Sustainable Procurement Guidelines and Procedures

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

The Three Tiers of Sustainability and Supply Chains

In 2008, The Future Laboratory produced a ranking system for the different levels of sustainability being achieved by organisations. This was called the Three Tiers of Sustainability:

Tier 1: The Basics of Sustainability

This is the firs 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 centralised 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. In terms of the supply chain, this could involve supplier management, product design, manufacturing rationalization, and distribution optimization.

Tier 3: The Science of Sustainability

The third tier involves balancing environmental, social, ethical and economic factors within a procurement and supply chain strategy. It uses auditing and benchmarks to provide a framework for governing sustainable supply chain operations. It considers agility, flexibility, and cost in the supply chain 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.

Time and quality based competition eliminates of waste in the form of time, effort, defective units, and inventory in manufacturing distribution systems.

Two capabilities that are useful in a time and quality based competitive environment are agility and flexibility. With faster product innovations, decrease product life cycles, and rapid imitative competition, only firms that are agile and flexible will survive.

Agility is the agility to respond quickly to changes in the marketing environment. Agile firms are able to successfully market low-cost, high-quality products with short lead times in varying volumes that provide enhance value to customers through customize.

Flexibility is defined as the capability of changing from one task to another rapidly when changing conditions are defined ahead of time.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Case Study Illustrates the Profitability of Sustainable Supply Chains

Research published in Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, shows that sustainable supply chains can be profitable. By focusing on personal relationships built on trust, a collaborative supplier network can outperform a buyer-centric “mission control” supply chain. According to this research, such a network results in a steady supply as well as financial benefits to suppliers and quality assurance.

A Cranfield School of Management case study by Alvarez, Pilbeam and Wilding, consulting used historical documents and conducting employee interviews. The profitability of a sustainable supply chain was illustrated by Nespresso, a division of Nestlé. In the 1990s the company was struggling to meet growing demand for high-quality coffee. It needed a sourcing strategy that improved conditions for subsistence farmers while ensuring a reliable supply of high-quality product over the long term.

In 2003, Nespresso created the AAA Sustainable Quality Program with just three initial partners: two coffee suppliers and an NGO. By 2007, the network had grown to include 14 partners in five countries, and Nespresso sales had reached 1.7 billion CHF (Swiss Francs) – compared to 445 million CHF in 2003.

Here are five keys to Nespresso’s supply chain success:

1. Dive In. Nespresso opted not to do extensive planning or budgeting in advance of the program launch. Instead, they experimented as they went and allocated resources from existing departments to the project.

2. Pick a Few Strategic Partners. Nespresso started with only three initial partners. One of those partners was an NGO, Rainforest Alliance, which possessed subject-matter expertise and conferred credibility on Nespresso’s activities.

3. Focus on Quality. Nespresso focused on generating premium coffee, not letting their sustainability efforts overshadow the need for high-quality product. Nespresso also paid a premium to their coffee growers.

4. Communicate Often. The supplier network partners interacted frequently – by phone, video conference, email and even face-to-face meetings in coffee producers’ countries.

5. Introduce Policies as You Grow. Initially, they relied on trust and personal relationships to keep the program moving. As its supplier network grew, Nespresso introduced formal governance mechanisms such as objective-setting sessions, contracts, guidelines, project reports, stakeholder forums and annual review meetings with suppliers.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

Related Posts
The Rise of Sustainable Supply Chains
Environmental Regulations Shaping Today's Sustainable Supply Chains
Sustainable Supply Chains and New Environmental Laws
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Introduction to (Sustainable) Supply Chain Management
The Three Tiers of Sustainability and Supply Chains
Sustainable Supply Chains are Profitable
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PUMA's Comprehensive Sustainable Strategy Now Includes Environmental Accounting
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Nike and H&M Bow to Greenpeace and Green their Supply Chains
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IT Sector Should Leverage Their Supply Chains
Video: Future Supply Chain 2016
Video: Ten Steps To A Greener Supply Chain
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Sustainable Supply Chains are Profitable

Sustainable supply chains frequently translate to profitable supply chains. There is growing interest in sustainable supply chains that serve environmental and economic objectives. Growing consumer pressure for eco-friendly products are driving sustainable supply chains with smaller footprints. Sustainable supply chains also reduce costs through improvements in efficiency.

Sustainable supply chains involve procurement that maximizes net benefits for companies and the wider world. These companies incorporate extrinsic cost considerations into decisions alongside the conventional procurement criteria of price and quality. These environmental, economic and social consideration are also known as the “triple baseline”.

Dave Meyer, Sustainable Economic and Environmental Development Solutions (SEEDS) Global Alliance (Northwest Operations) and SVP of Greenbridge International, LLC., told a gathering of logistics and supply chain professionals that there is a bottom line angle to towing the green line.

Environmental, risk, and waste costs make supply chain sustainability a profitability issue.Sustainability in the supply chain is increasingly seen among high-level executives as essential to delivering long-term profitability and has replaced monetary cost, value, and speed as the dominant topic of discussion among purchasing and supply professionals.

Organizations are looking at supply chain sustainability as a new measure of profitable logistics management. One powerful tool to increase efficiency comes from integrating functional activities through information technology that reduce associated costs.

Green procurement is not only a tool with which to address climate change, but it offers the broader capacity to mitigate over-exploitation of any and all scarce resources.

Better methods of defining supply chain sustainability and benchmarking are making it easier to implement sustainable action plans. Companies increasingly recognize significant cost savings through green operations that include a more sustainable supply chain.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

Related Posts
The Rise of Sustainable Supply Chains
Environmental Regulations Shaping Today's Sustainable Supply Chains
Sustainable Supply Chains and New Environmental Laws
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The Three Tiers of Sustainability and Supply Chains
Case Study Illustrates the Profitability of Sustainable Supply Chains
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Sustainable Procurement Guidelines and Procedures
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Puma's Sustainable Supply Chain
PUMA's Comprehensive Sustainable Strategy Now Includes Environmental Accounting
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Monday, October 17, 2011

Introduction to (Sustainable) Supply Chain Management

Supply Chain Management (SCM) is the systemic, strategic coordination of functions that seeks to improve long-term performance. A supply chain consists of all parties involved, directly or indirectly in fulfilling a customer request. The supply chain not only includes the manufacturer and the supplier but also transporters, warehouses, retailers, and customers themselves. Within each organization the supply chain includes all the functions involved in receiving and filling a customer request.

The objective of every supply chain is to maximize the overall value generated. The value a supply chain generates is the difference between what the final product is worth to the customer and the cost of supply chain incurs in filling the customer's request. For most commercial supply chains, value will be strongly correlated with supply chain profitability i.e. the difference between the revenue generated from the customer and the overall cost across the supply chain.

Supply Chain process: Cycle View and Push/Pull view.

1. Cycle View

The processes in a supply chain are divided into a series of cycle, each performed at the interface between two successive stages of a supply chain. Cycle view of Supply chain process includes: Customer order cycle - Replenishment cycle - Manufacturing cycle - Procurement cycle.

2. Push/ Pull view

The processes in a supply chain are divided into two categories depending on whether they are executed in response to a customer order or in anticipation of customer orders. Pull process are initiated by a customer order, whereas push process are initiated and performed in anticipation of customer orders.

Companies are enhancing their competitiveness with improvement initiatives, such as implementation of Just-in-Time (JIT) and Quick Responses (QR) inventory management policies, business reengineering, and supply chain management.

Supply chain management involves developing efficient and effective information systems that can inform strategic decisions. The supply chain information systems rely on either EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) or the Internet to transmit information within the supply chain. Information systems are essential to managing a supply chain.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

Related Posts
The Rise of Sustainable Supply Chains
Environmental Regulations Shaping Today's Sustainable Supply Chains
Sustainable Supply Chains and New Environmental Laws
Sustainable Supply Chain Integration
The Three Tiers of Sustainability and Supply Chains
Sustainable Supply Chains are Profitable
Case Study Illustrates the Profitability of Sustainable Supply Chains
Collaboration in Sustainable Supply Chains
Sustainable Procurement Guidelines and Procedures
Sustainable Supply Chains
Puma's Sustainable Supply Chain
PUMA's Comprehensive Sustainable Strategy Now Includes Environmental Accounting
The Sustainable Supply Chain Efforts of Interface Inc
Nike and H&M Bow to Greenpeace and Green their Supply Chains
Walmart and HP's Sustainable Supply Chains
Arizona State University and Green Supply Chains
IT Sector Should Leverage Their Supply Chains
Video: Future Supply Chain 2016
Video: Ten Steps To A Greener Supply Chain
Video: Green Supply Chain

Friday, June 24, 2011

The Cycle of Climate Change Acceptance

Like all major socio-economic revolutions the acceptance of climate change takes time. Although reluctance to fully engage the battle against climate change may seem painfully slow, it is consistent with the theoretical stages in what is known as the cycle of acceptance.

The popular attitude towards climate change, must go through various stages before the bitter truth can be inculcated into the public psyche.

Organizations and individuals who are confronted with facts about global warming have been thrown into a cycle of acceptance. The stages in the process of acceptance are part of a well known process first introduced by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in her 1969 book, On Death and Dying. The Kübler-Ross Model is commonly known as The Five Stages of Grief, it is also referred to as the Cycle of Acceptance. In essence it involves 5 steps:

1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Depression
4. Bargaining
5. Acceptance

Denial, although a waste of valuable time, is the first step on the road to acceptance. Over the last couple of years we have seen a lot of denial and anger surrounding the issue of climate change, but there are indications that we may be moving towards acceptance.

People are at different stages when it comes to climate change. While some are still stuck in the denial phase, there are others who feel hopeless and depressed due to the slow acceptance of climate change in North America. While many polls indicate that American support for climate change declined in 2009 and 2010 there may be a positive trend beginning to develop in 2011.

Popular support for the issue of combating global warming has languished over the last couple of years, however, according to a May 2011 Yale Survey titled Public Support for Climate and Energy Policies, an increasing number of Americans now believe that tackling climate change should be a national priority.

We are currently experiencing an upswing in a cycle that will entrench environmental issues into the popular psyche.

The Pembina Institute provides policy research leadership and education on climate change and energy issues. Clare Demerse, acting director for climate change at the Pembina Institute’s Ottawa offices, believes it’s only a matter of time before we are all talking about global warming.

“All issues go through a cycle where they are at top and then fall off and that’s where we are now. It will be back up there again.”

However, the amount of time it takes a person or an organization to complete the cycle of acceptance is critical. The longer they take to come to the stage of acceptance, the less likely they are to ever fully complete the cycle, and the less likely they are to make the difficult decisions to deal with the problem wisely.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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