Sustainability is about addressing and balancing the economic, environmental and social aspects of businesses, their operations and outputs. Many businesses consider sustainability as one of their core strategic values but find it hard to implement in their existing business setting.

Sustainable management of businesses is the roadmap to achieving the present needs of society without compromising the opportunities of future generations (Bruntland, 1987).

A Green Sustainable Supply Chain can be defined as “the process of using environmentally friendly inputs and transforming these inputs through change agents – whose byproducts can improve or be recycled within the existing environment. This process develops outputs that can be reclaimed and re-used at the end of their life-cycle thus, creating a sustainable supply chain.”

YIKES!!!

The whole idea of a sustainable supply chain is to reduce costs while helping the environment.

1. Integrate material handling and warehouse management systems to move and touch products fewer times and reduce forklift usage.

2. Streamline warehouse processes for higher levels of cross docking and minimize inventory and increase product turns. More flow-through means smaller distribution centers.

3. Create a more efficient transportation network to reduce empty hauls and dead ends in the movement of goods.

4. Best-of-breed planning, forecasting and replenishment will drive more efficiency in manufacturing and distribution.

5. Using cartonization in warehouse management systems will let you allocate the right units to pick and then select the correct size and rigidity of the container to use, significantly reducing the use of cardboard.

6. RFID and voice-based technologies improve warehouse efficiency and reduce paper consumption.

President Obama has taken a lead role in sustainable processes not only in government operations but also within the private sector. The guiding document is Executive Order 13423 which can be found at: http://www.ofee.gov/eo/eo13423_main.asp

Every business has a supply chain.  Simply stated; Input  –>  Transformation –> Output.

A sustainable supply chain is friendly as possible to the environment as it attempts to uses materials and processes that reduce waste.

All supply chains cost money; raw materials, energy, material handling, transportation, etc.  The movement towards a sustainable green supply chain will lead businesses to discovering new opportunities to decrease costs.

There generally are two methods to “greening” a supply chain;

• Move existing processes towards a green supply chain model
• Design and implement new processes under that model

Goals of a Green Sustainable Supply Chain

• Reduce Costs and Help the Environment
• Lower Energy Consumption
• Use less Natural Resources Consumption
• Less Environmentally Unfriendly Chemicals

Some excellent resources on this subject are Green Supply Chain Network and  Greenprofs.

A WCS utilizes very innovative technologies within the warehouse or distribution center that reduces the floor space needed and uses less human and/or natural resources.

One technology that is used is Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (ASRS) such as horizontal or vertical carousels.

Below is a presentation from Remstar on Sustainable High Performance Storage & Retrieval Systems:

Companies must focus on three core areas when greening the supply chain: organization, process, and technology.

However, most companies do not have an organizational structure, or have processes in place that enable an “end-to-end” view of their carbon footprint or environmental impact of their supply chain.

Technology follows the organizational and procedural changes put in place. Taking on any technology investments without first understanding the alignment of the overall strategies is obviously not a good idea.