The Sustainable Value Chain

Executive Overview

In a recent keynote address, Rich Beck, the Sr. Vice President of Global Operations at PepsiCo, commented that the company's supply chain goals included "digitizing the value chain" and "sustainability."

ARC has been covering supply chain management for twenty years. Our supply chain analysts hear many, many supply chain speeches. None can ever remember hearing a top supply chain executive saying sustainability was one of their top goals. In fact, sustainability is rarely mentioned.

And yet, according to the Governance and Accountability Institute, 72 percent of the companies included in The S&P 500 Index publish sustainability reports, up from just under 20 percent in 2011. There appears to be some difference between what companies are proclaiming publicly and what supply chain practitioners are witnessing in day-to-day operations.

This ARC Advisory Group report looks at sustainability from a business perspective. How far have sustainability projects that impact the supply chain organization advanced? What do supply chain executives need to know about sustainability and when do they need to know it?

Here are a few key conclusions.

• Most supply chain executives are currently minimally impacted by sustainability initiatives.
• Sustainability is a rising tide. In particular, once organizations have committed to sustainability initiatives, their commitments tend to grow over time. And, an important customer that expands its commitments can force its suppliers to embrace sustainability or lose their business. An increasing number of large companies are doing just that.
• Supply chain executives would be well advised to start familiarizing themselves with a few key concepts. Among the most important is the tiered, "Scope" concept.

Table of Contents

• Executive Overview
• Sustainability: Key Concepts
• Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions
• Sustainable Procurement
• Sustainable Products
• Recommendations
• Appendix

ARC Advisory Group clients can view the complete report at this Link.

If you would like to buy this report or obtain information about how to become a client, please Request ARC Info

Keywords: Digitizing the Value Chain, Sustainability, Supply Chain,, ARC Advisory Group.