Supply Chain Management Requirements For A Cleaner Environment

If your inbox is like mine and you really get time to read industry reports, you can't help but notice all of the supportability and green supply chain talk in the market. Everybody's talking green. Customers have moved from in-house strategies, shunning plastic bags and recycling to out-bound techniques that involve making purchasing decisions based totally on the greeness of products.

We aren't just talking about products that are environmentally friendly. We're talking about consumers patronizing corporations and stores that are green conscious, that contribute to a greener environment and leave a daintier footprint than they did before.

These preferences aren't lost on companies like Wal-Mart. When Wal-Mart initiates and succeeds, other outlets follow and that of course impacts suppliers.

Wal-Mart has been rolling out plans for what it calls a supportability index which is a measure of how green the products it sells really are. Not only are they asking questions about packaging but broad footprint type questions about greenhouse gas emissions, social responsibility, waste reduction initiatives and water use.

The word is Wal-Mart plans to do more with the index than simply using it to lead its own purchases from providers. This database could inform customers too.

If, for example, Wal-Mart's suppliers are mandated to form smaller packing, providers will be able to put more of those products in a shipping container, meaning they will can get more product on a van. And it lowers the amount of energy and fuel used to transport the product too. However , the chain reaction does not stop there. It also implies more products on store shelves and a higher probability of consumers finding the goods they seek and less man hours spent restocking shelves. This is a win-win for both parties and the planet.

So what's next? How far will suppliers need to dig into their supply chains to effectively make sustainability decisions, collect this info, and meet green supply chain wants report info and get some payback from it? Isn't that always the rub of supply chain mandates?

By: Lisa Steinhart

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