Supply Chain Sustainability Focus Grows

INSIGHT helps meet sustainability goals by optimizing supply chains for reduced carbon emissions, energy usage and waste

Manassas, Va.June 25, 2014INSIGHT, Inc., an international provider of planning solutions that power supply chain design for the world's companies, announced that the company is specially poised to help companies meet their supply chain sustainability goals. In a recent survey, conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the APICS Foundation, titled “Sustainable Supply Chains: Making Value the Priority,” it was found that 76 percent of operations professionals said their companies’ focus on creating a more sustainable supply chain may increase over the next three years. INSIGHT helps companies meet sustainability goals by optimizing their supply chain networks for reduced carbon emissions, less energy usage and reduced waste.

INSIGHT customers typically try to find the most efficient supply chain design, which often results in decreased energy consumption and carbon emissions,” said Dr. Jeff Karrenbauer, president and co-founder of INSIGHT, Inc.INSIGHT’s software enables our clients to identify the cost-, energy- or carbon-minimal supply chain strategies. Alternatively, they can choose to find the comprehensive supply chain strategy that maximizes profits, while simultaneously accounting for environmental restrictions, such as byproduct utilization or disposal, carbon emission targets and so on. And by incorporating the cost and demand impact of marketing initiatives with all of operations, including sustainability policies, they can identify the maximally profitable forecast that can actually be achieved.”

According to PwC and APICS, “When companies broaden their perspectives on sustainability and adopt clear strategies to tap ethical, economic, social—and environmental—levers across their extended supply chains, new sources of value can emerge. Companies are realizing the significance of sustainable supply chain initiatives.” Per the survey, 43 percent of respondents attributed cost reduction to supply chain sustainability initiatives and 35 percent reported improvements in their company’s environmental impact. A quarter of all respondents reported improved customer satisfaction as a result of programs tied to improving supply chain sustainability.

Strategic supply chain planning solutions from INSIGHT help customers to develop green initiatives by incorporating time, cost or energy constraints. SAILS from INSIGHT can model the impact of a company’s CO2 footprint, and determine whether any waste or byproducts can be made into commercially viable products. What-if analysis can be used to address questions like: What is the impact of my CO2 footprint if I outsource my manufacturing processes? How do I minimize the carbon footprint of my distribution network, while maintaining customer service objectives and profitability? What are the cost, service, energy and carbon impacts of a revised transportation strategy, especially new consolidation initiatives?

“Why should companies focus on supply chain sustainability? It was reported that, increasingly, companies don’t want to do business with supply chain partners that have poor environmental practices. In fact, the Carbon Disclosure Project reports that 40 percent of companies stop working with suppliers who fail to adopt sufficient carbon management practices,” added Karrenbauer. “Sustainability best practices lead to innovative products, improved product quality and increased revenues.”

Companies in this article
Latest