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Green Supply Chain Management: The Drunk Who Lost his Keys?

The more I hear about GSCM the less I am convinced this is about taking a strong and courageous stand about tomorrow’s environment. It’s good business that just happens to be less damaging to the environment. At a recent event presenting the state of Canadian GSCM survey, all of the case studies and best practices outlined were common sense and good business practices that were also energy efficient.

So why, I asked, did we not do all these intelligent things before?

The technology is not really new, nor dramatically more cost effective. The price of energy is no longer uncommonly high, although the recent spike was probably a wake-up call. But we are beginning to measure new things like carbon footprints. Some may think this is just greenwashing. I have had my suspicions…

Here is what I am concluding – just like the drunk in the old joke who was looking for his keys under the lamp post where there was light, the sustainability movement has lit a new street light – and we are seeing things we did not see before. That street lamp is measurement, like carbon footprint measurement. It puts the packaging baseline reporting initiative for consumer goods in a whole new light. The more companies that report, the more power the light will have, and the brighter it will illuminate opportunities to boost returns while reducing our environmental footprint on our children’s future.

So once again, kudos to the big retailer that is driving an aggressive timeline on baseline packaging reporting as the first step in reporting a sustainability index.

The 15 question sustainability survey that will be completed by their 100,000 global suppliers will no doubt present its challenges. A UK consumer goods manufacturer recently reported that the carbon footprint measurement of one SKU had cost over $40,000! They estimated the others would cost $10,000-$25,000 each – a significant investment, and an invitation to cut corners that may reduce the usefulness of the reporting. So it’s even more important to avoid redundant and diverging reporting mandates.

The Canadian GSCM report also lays the foundation for a robust capability maturity model (CMM) for companies to assess where they are with respect to their peers, whether they are retailers, carriers or manufacturers.

What’s your take on Green Supply Chain Management?

- Blog Editor, Nicholas Seiersen

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2. SUPPLY CHAIN CONSULTANTS CO-SPONSORS ABERDEEN STUDY ON INVENTORY MANAGEMENT
3. Study Finds Retailers Embracing Green Practices
4. Lakeside Logistics is Honoured with Greening of the Supply Chain Award
5. CSX Green Certification Announcement