Going green can drive environmental and bottom-line benefits at the same time, but it takes an organizational culture change and a long-term perspective
Solutions for the Green Supply Chain
The research, consulting and solution provider communities have responded to the rising interest in green supply chain by rolling out a number of offerings over the past year. Last year, for example, AMR Research (www.amrresearch.com) launched its biweekly Green Alert publication, presenting case studies on businesses that have realized economic gains through the adoption of green technology. More recently, Australia's Supply Chain Consulting (www.supplychain-consulting.com), with U.S. headquarters in Richardson, Texas, debuted a five-step process for implementing an enterprise-wide carbon management strategy, along with a technology platform dubbed CarbonView to support each phase. Also, consulting firm Global4PL (www.global-4pl.com) is positioning itself as a green supply chain company promoting "100 percent carbon neutral transportation" as a solution to global warming.
On the solution provider side, spend management specialist Ariba (www.ariba.com) has worked to highlight green procurement with a "top 10 list" of green sourcing tips (available at www.SDCExec.com/9826). Elsewhere, Tim Minahan, senior vice of marketing at Procuri (www.procuri.com), has been a consistent advocate for sustainable supply management, including on his blog, Supply Excellence (supplyexcellence.com).
And in September Aravo Solutions (www.aravo.com) launched Aravo Sustain, a new module in its Supplier Information Management (SIM) platform. Sustain is specifically aimed at helping global buying organizations more proactively obtain, analyze and manage crucial sustainability data, such as supplier and factory regulatory compliance, toxic substances monitoring, carbon footprinting and labor practices. Aravo's interest in green supply chain is no accident. Company founder and CEO Tim Albinson previously was president of a professional services firm focused on issues of sustainability, and in the early 1990s he helped formulate sustainability strategies for companies such as Eddie Bauer and Timberland. Albinson writes the blog "2sustain" covering the world of sustainable supply chain management (www.2sustain.com).
