Tag Archives: sustainable supply chains

Future Value Chain Trends 2020

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Revised on: 2011-03-10

The twelve future trends that will shape value chains and supply chain management during this decade. Are you ready for what is coming? If you need an inspiring break in your daily routine, this is the report for you, and I haven’t had this much fun when reading a report for a long time. Although printed on glossy paper and richly illustrated, most company reports or whitepapers are usually not an overly exciting read. This one is. Whoever decided the layout and graphics for this report must have had a great time doing so. There simply is no better way to get the message across and to show  the 12 global root trends that address change in society, shopper behavior, environment and technology. Above all, sustainability is the new buzzword. And lest not forget, supply chain risk and business continuity are part of the picture…implicitly.

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Sustainable supply chains

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Revised on: 2015-09-10

Sustainability has become a huge buzzword, both in today’s business world and within the broader facets of society. So say Craig R Carter and P Liane Easton in their 2011 article Sustainable supply chain management: evolution and future directions. Here they conduct a systematic review of the sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) literature in the principal logistics and supply chain management journals, across a 20-year time frame. They discover that SSCM has evolved from a perspective and investigation of standalone research in social and environmental areas, through a corporate social responsibility perspective, and towards a convergence of perspectives of sustainability as the triple bottom line. What I found interesting is how supply chain risk management and contingency planning links up with sustainable supply chains.

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Less cost and less disruptions?

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Revised on: 2015-11-07

One of the regular readers of my blog alerted me to an article in the NY Times titled Slow Trip Across Sea Aids Profit and Environment. As it turns out the Danish shipping giant Maersk has halved its top cruising speed over the last two years, thus cutting fuel costs, cutting emissions and perhaps cutting disruptions costs, too? After all, if you know that your shipment will arrive late, you are perhaps less concerned with not being just in time?

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Fragility and sustainability: emerging research areas?

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Revised on: 2015-09-12

Should short-term loss-minimization and short-term profit maximization really be the driving force behind supply chain risk management? In their 2009 article Weak links in the supply chain: measuring fragility and sustainability, Peter Stonebraker, Joel Goldhar and George Nassos point at a emerging area of supply chain research: fragility and sustainability, and they develop a framework for understanding and measuring it. Conceptually intriguing, the paper weaves together corporate responsibility, supply chain disruptions and long-term supply chain sustainability in a holistic picture going far beyond much of the loss-oriented supply chain risk literature of  recent years.

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Sustainable Manufacturing Summit Europe

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Revised on: 2011-03-17

Soaring fuel prices combined with increasing awareness of the need to adapt for a low-carbon future has brought sustainability to the forefront of every manufacturer’s agenda. How can regulators and manufacturers  integrate sustainability in to industrial policy and practice? Following up my previous post on sustainable supply chains, I’d like to promote the Sustainable Manufacturing Summit Europe, taking place in Brussels, Belgium, 19-20 November 2008.

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Sustainability means less vulnerability?

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Revised on: 2015-10-24

Does sustainability improve a a company’s resilience towards supply chain vulnerabilities? Recently, in my research on supply chain vulnerability, I’ve come across the term sustainable supply chains. Curious as I am, and easily distracted by related topics, I decided to do some more digging, and this is what I came up with.

What are sustainable supply chains?

There are numerous definitions of the terms ‘Sustainable’ and ‘Supply Chain’, but in essence, this is a supply chain where the responsible manufacturer and retailer takes precedence over the green consumer. It is a supply chain, where resources are not just consumed but also replenished, and where business decisions consider long-term overall environmental and societal impacts. It’s not the opposite of just about business, but it is also not just about environment. It’s about

  • Profitability
    Yes, we need to make money, but we should do so in a responsible way.
  • Accountability
    Whatever we do, we will be held accountable for doing so.
  • Community
    How can our business benefit the community (more than just providing jobs and tax money)?
  • Environment
    Does our business harm the environment in any way?
  • Sustainability
    Do we simply consume, or do we also replenish?

Conclusion

A sustainable supply chain is not primarily seeking to maximize profits.

It may not necessarily be less susceptible to disruption, but nonetheless,  a disruption in a sustainable supply chain may be less likely to wreck widespread havoc, since a sustainable supply chain is not streamlined for profit, but is streamlined for resilience.

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