Sustainability: business, life, environment

Increasingly, businesses around the world are beginning to recognize the value of sustainable supply chain management, often citing cost and risk reduction opportunities.  Companies such as IBM and Wal-Mart are tapping into the value of redesign.  In addition, start-up organizations and newly formed supply chains also realize that working the front end design can have an even greater impact.

With a majority of cost typically locked up in initial design, up to 90% in some extreme cases, the ability to engage the supply based early in the design process becomes critical to the long-term sustainability.  Early supplier involvement is becoming an even more important business sustainability discussion.  In working with procurement organizations in our sustainability consulting, we often ask: who better than your supplier to identify:

•    What is the range of options?
•    How could it be sourced?
•    What will be the environmental and social impacts of design choices?
•    What processes will be used to develop one option versus another?
•    What will be the ultimate energy requirements and waste?
 
Pursuing business sustainability, by definition, requires organizations to be aware of the dynamic relationship with their stakeholders.  Whether designing an entirely new supply chain or simply making a sustainable process change to a single material stream, the ability to effectively engage the external world in the process becomes critical to success.

Our professional consulting works with clients to build a long term business sustainability plan that adds value by identifying critical relationships and taking proactive steps to engage those stakeholders in the process.  Through collaborative stakeholder engagement, organizations can create visibility, promote engagement, create alignment, and ensure the most effective results.