|By Jeff Zoroya | Director, Supply Chain Design | Chainalytics |
Having worked with numerous organizations across all industries, my experience supports the perception that a high degree of interest exists among senior leadership and organizational members charged with advocating for sustainability. As well, large numbers of consumers indicate a company or product’s perceived sustainability initiatives are a component of their product decision and loyalty. However, our experience also reveals that many leaders responsible for developing and executing supply chain policy are typically more interested in service and operations efficiency than sustainability.
This demonstrates a fair amount of irony due to the fact supply chain leaders are often in the best position to help companies quantify and manage their policies surrounding sustainability, particularly with respect to network design. Sustainability and operational efficiency related to network design should not exist as separate policies, for the two are often congruent and should work in conjunction with one another. Furthermore, vendors of supply chain software have made incorporating carbon information into a network design project relatively easy.
Data models of supply chain design software providers such as Llamasoft and JDA both support the inclusion of the carbon impact of transportation, distribution, and product transformation/conversion activities. With these tools available, network modelers and organization leaders have the ability to assess and incorporate sustainability initiatives throughout the network design process. This allows organizations to take a proactive approach to their sustainability efforts while still allowing for operational efficiency and service level improvements.
With sustainability initiatives influencing consumer choices, implementing carbon footprint management supports remaining competitive in today’s market. To help improve your organization’s sustainability initiatives, consider implementing carbon measurement as part of your supply chain design activities, whether managed through an internal team or an external consultant. Moreover, if someone who has less direct access to supply chain information is already evaluating your carbon footprint, rolling this into you supply chain design activities could eliminate this redundancy and improve accuracy.
Jeff Zoroya is a Director in Chainalytics’ Supply Chain Design practice where he focuses on helping organizations optimize their supply chain network strategy.
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