Article taken from Procurment Leaders website. To view the article, click here.
I recently had a chat with Shaun McCarthy, director of non-profit group Action Sustainability; in which he revealed some interesting insight into the importance of sustainability in the supply chain. Our chat got me thinking about the importance of sustainability not only as a morally and socially important issue for business but as a real business driver, improving efficiencies, driving savings, and the changing face of procurement.
McCarthy spoke about how business needs to fundamentally think of sustainability as a business requirement by making sustainability a fundamental arm of their supply chain in a way that is suitable for their specific businesses and in line with their business objectives.
For example; "I work with Transport for London," he said, "and at the moment a huge concern for them is air quality so improving upon this is one of their key objectives. This wouldn't be the case for other business. It is crucial therefore that the CPO understands the priorities of their business and they then work out what the sustainable objectives are for them."
It's true that many CPOs don't always understand what sustainability means and so it strikes me as crucial that there is more sustainability education, guidelines and understanding available amongst the procurement communities in order for them to use sustainability to benefit their business.
McCarthy left me with five tips which he believes are key to making a business impact through sustainable procurement. These are: be aware of issues; understand why you're doing sustainability (what benefits it will have for your business); understand the risks in your supply chain; understand your supply chain itself; and make a concise plan.
If CPOs aren't taking these points into consideration, they could be missing out on a wealth of business benefits.
Louisa Boyle is senior staff writer of Procurement Leaders. To find out more about the magazine, click here.