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Proceedings

Sustainability in the Supply Chain Super Session

Wednesday, June 25, 2007 9:30 am - 3:30 pm

Friday, June 27, 2008 8:15 am - 12:30 pm

Presented By:

Donald Ralph, SVP of Logistics,

Staples, Inc.

Dr. Omar Keith Helferich Ph.D.,

Central Michigan University

Dr. Steve Dunn Ph.D.,

University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh

Super Session Abstract

In today’s global marketplace, organizations are under increasing pressure to comply with a multitude of different performance guidelines and standards: quality management, product safety, occupational health, wellness and safety, import/export regulations, labor laws, environmental management and protection, and security. The pressure impacts those who must comply, and those who have a stake in the compliance of others, most notably the supply chain partners. The Sustainable Supply Chain concept provides a foundation to recognize three critical performance pillars- Value, Social Responsibility, and Environmental Stewardship to provide what is recently referred to as the Triple Bottom Line.

A number of organizations historically have been leaders in selected areas of the Triple Bottom Line model. However, recent events have heightened the level of urgency felt by most firms in terms of addressing these issues. Product quality disruptions, environmental incidents, energy issues, consumer awareness and community involvement, and political instabilities worldwide have made the triple bottom line a required strategic imperative. The importance of the three pillars is supported through recently completed security and brand protection research, review of catastrophic disruption events plus recent product recalls. These results plus the ever present Sarbanes-Oxley accountability highlight the need for continuing to advance proactive supply chain solutions.

There are two key dimensions of effective supply chain sustainability leadership. First, any initiative must actually result in improvements. Investors, consumers and the general public tend to view corporate declarations of environmental virtue with considerable skepticism. Announcements that have little substance behind them are quickly exposed as ‘green washing', and any potential benefit that might result will be overshadowed by questions about motive or sincerity. In this arena, a corporation must demonstrate a true commitment to sustainability in order to reap benefits in terms of public acceptance. In effect, you have to walk the talk.

Secondly, the payoff for leadership in the sustainability area eventually must come back to the corporation in terms of long term value or financial rewards. These benefits can be direct cost reductions resulting from improved energy efficiencies or waste minimization, or be available in the future in terms of strategic competitive advantage. Some benefits may seem intangible, such as goodwill and community respect. But ultimately responsible sustainable supply chain strategy must also have a positive impact on the bottom line. Government regulation and consumer market preferences help create the incentive for companies to ‘go green', but ultimately it boils down to profit. This too, however, involves a titanic change from short term profit taking to a long term viewpoint.

This Super Session overview presentation provides a Sustainable Supply Chain model starting with definitions of sustainability and the use of the three pillars that serve as the foundation for The Triple Bottom Line concept. The overview then attempts to answer-“Why Strive to Achieve a Sustainable Supply Chain and what is the status of current sustainability initiatives?” A business model is provided to illustrate the building of a sustainable supply chain through the foundation of metrics and a strategic approach to the three pillars of Value, Social Responsibility and Environmental Stewardship excellence. In summary, the overview session will provide a knowledge base for understanding how a firm can move towards Triple Bottom Line excellence, and will reference successful applications by introducing a subset of practical tools that are available to achieve this strategic shift.

The Super Session Industry Issues Panel will address questions from the participants plus a few pre-selected questions thought to be of general interest to the overall participant audience. The facilitator and panelists will provide a brief summary of key points at the conclusion of the panel session. The Super Session will utilize several pre selected sustainability issues that provide examples of practical application across the scope of the sustainable supply chain and will stimulate discussion. Each team will be assigned one pre selected issue and will be given a template to organize their discussion arising from the issue. The teams will be asked to develop an approach to the issue, generate recommendations for resolution, and finally to present their findings to the overall group during the Debrief session. Ideally, participants will leave with a better understanding of how to surface sustainable initiatives, conduct internal and external research to support these initiatives, and what potential tools may assist them as they target an improved Triple Bottom Line in their own firm.

Learning Objectives:

Participants will gain understanding of the following:

• Definition of supply chain sustainability through three business performance pillars; Value, Social Responsibility and Environmental Stewardship

• Definitions of the potential applications within each of the three performance pillars

• A relatively new business concept that links a metrics foundation with the pillars to enable combined performance referred to as “The Triple Bottom Line”

• Suggested performance categories and metrics that serve as the foundation for sustainable supply chain

• A subset of tools that is available to provide ongoing improvement for the pillars of Value, Social Responsibility and Environmental Stewardship.

• Application of selected tools through participation in issue work sessions with a focus on sustainable supply chain

• References of professional work completed and examples in process that highlight how to implement successful sustainable supply chain strategies

• Information on the status and tradeoffs of reported and ongoing industry examples of sustainable supply chain initiatives

Learning Outcomes:

Participants will receive information that should assist in the following:

• How to develop a basis of knowledge to encourage further investigation of a sustainable supply chain within their respective organizations

• How to contribute to an ongoing supply chain sustainable initiative

• How to initiate discussions and planning to start or expand ongoing initiatives in any one of the three pillars to a full Triple Bottom Line concept

• How to identify and prioritize applications in the two more recent pillars of a sustainable supply chain effort- environmental stewardship and social responsibility

• How to identify the information sources and tools available for ongoing improvement to achieve and maintain a sustainable supply chain

• How to take a triple bottom line supply chain concept to the core strategy of the firm

Sustainability in the Supply Chain: The Value of a Solution Toolkit Focus

•          Overview of Sustainability in the Supply Chain, Track Chairs: Dr. Omar Keith Helferich,Central    Michigan University and Dr. Steven Dunn, University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh

•          Industry Issues Panel: Best Practices in Supply Chain Sustainability

•          Issues Introduction (Lab Session included)

•          Issues Discussion & Analysis (Lab Session included)

•          Sustainability in the Supply Chain Issues Discussion & Debrief