Today I attended an excellent workshop on Sustainable Supply Chains. It was presented by Stephen Taiwo, who was the sustainable policy adviser and architect of the Government Office for London and Defra’s Sustainable Food Procurement project. He now works for Supply London – an LDA and European funded initiative, provides advice and support. http://www.supplylondon.com/
Here are my notes from the workshop:
Definition of sustainability – Bruntland 1987 – “Meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brundtland_Commission
- Resources consumed in line with nature’s patterns
- Consider long term impact
- Minimise risk and cost
- Not just about environmental impacts, includes social and economic.
Current practice
Figures from One World – currently consume the equivalent of 1.3 planets to provide the resource we use and absorb our waste.
At current trends UN predicts 2030 will require equivalent of 2 earths.
Supply Chain
A linked set of resources and processes that begins with the sourcing of raw materials and extends through to delivery of end items to the consumer.
Cradle to grave for products.
Development – identification & buying – manufacturing – sale & dist – consumption – end of life & disposal
Sustainability Issues
- impact on air quality
- water consumption & pollution
- loss of biodiversity e.g. land clearance – mono-crops
- impact on limited resources – is it resource intensive
- impact on greenhouse gases – climate
- waste production
- health & safety
- quality of life – wages for producers
Examples of cotton production in India with negative impact on the soil and water supply. Intensive tomato production in southern Portugal.
Why a sustainable Supply Chain
- reduce costs and improve productivity
- reduce risk – includes brand damage resulting from negative press
- reduce absenteeism through better staff welfare
- creates healthier environments
- to be a market leader – public sector suppliers now ask questions related to sustainability
Drawbacks to Sustainable Supply Chains (less true than in the past)
- no motivation other than complying with the law.
- Consumers often go for cheapest option rather than sustainable products.
- Short term focus of government, business and consumers – relates to 12 month business budgeting – government departments have individual targets which weren’t linked up.
Help from:
Soil association – http://www.soilassociation.org/
Sustain – http://www.sustain.co.uk/
Ten Ten Campaign – http://www.1010uk.org/
Greenworks – http://www.green-works.co.uk/
How to implement a sustainable supply chain
- Analyse your internal process & impacts
- Identify your supply chain and at which point you sit. Also the suppliers of your suppliers.
- Make sustainability part of your organisational strategy – must have top level buy-in – need to develop KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) – develop an action plan for delivery.
- Implement practical measures suited to your organisation – SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, timely).
- Written policies
- Communication materials
- Evaluate suppliers.
- Purchasing guidelines
- Supplier partnerships
- Get all internal and external stakeholders involved
- Driven from the top, but must involve everyone.
- Supplier engagement
- Use relationships with customer.
Support from Supply London
– ISO 9001 help and support which can save consultants fees.
The workshop ended first with the quote below from Mahatma Gandhi, and then a screening of the Story of Stuff (a 20-minute animation of the consumerist society, narrated by Anne Leonard).
“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed” Mahatma Gandhi