All of a sudden, product packaging has become one of the hottest areas of supply chain management.

Adopting sustainability as a goal now will help corporations develop business models that will leave competitors scrambling to catch up, according to a new report from the Harvard Business Review.

The report, “Why Sustainability is now the Key Driver of Innovation (PDF),” lays out five stages for successfully adopting corporate sustainability. Authors came to their conclusions by looking at best practices at companies such as HP, Wal-Mart, Clorox and others.

Stage 1 - Viewing compliance as opportunity.

The stick is sometimes more compelling than the carrot, but companies should not view sustainability in this light. Instead, develop the internal ability to anticipate and help shape regulations. This requires working with other companies, including rivals, to develop industry standards.

Stage 2 - Making value chains sustainable.

By learning how to address carbon management and life-cycle assessments, and designing operations to use less energy and water, companies can discover sustainable sources of raw materials, components and energy. By addressing waste throughout the supply chain, a company will reduce its costs.

Stage 3 - Designing sustainable products and services.

Companies should conduct a full product review to determine which ones are most harmful to the environment, then work to improve the product or phase it out. Effectively doing so helps a company be seen by the public as a true “green” company, and not one that is engaged in greenwashing. Developing compact and eco-friendly packaging is a good first step, but companies also should consider the notion of biomimicry in product design.

Stage 4 - Developing new business models.

By adopting more sustainable practices internally, a company begins to better understand what today’s eco-minded consumer wants to purchase. Opportunities include developing new delivery methods or technologies to save costs and creating monetization models that relate more to services than to products. Companies also are urged to develop business models that combine digital and physical infrastructures.

Stage 5 - Creating next-practice platforms.

By looking beyond its current core competencies with an eye toward sustainability, a company can begin to redefine itself as a next-generation operation that may even involve expansion into new and different industries. One of the key drivers in this stage is creating business platfroms that enable customers, suppliers and partners to manage energy in radically improved ways. Another opportunity is to develop products that require less or no water, as compared to similar products that are water-intensive.

Jaguar Land Rover has removed more than 13,000 tonnes of emissions from its supply and delivery chain's annual carbon footprint through efficency measures over the past five years – a reduction of about 6.5 per cent.

Early adopters of green supply chain management programs are already reaping the benefits says schools.

There has been a slight decrease in scrutiny over companies calling themselves “green,” according to a recent survey of supply chain professionals.

Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Johnson & Johnson, Intel and IBM are the top five leaders in Newsweek’s inaugural environmental rankings of America’s 500 largest corporations.

Seems like every sector of industry wants to prove it's working on saving the planet and positioning itself as a friend of "green" initiatives. Your supply chain partners are no different.

When Stonyfield Farm switched from plastic to foil lids six years ago, the organic yogurt company avoided 16 percent of the energy costs associated with producing its containers

With unprecedented energy price volatility and looming climate regulations, businesses face a new and complex energy paradigm that few are fully prepared to manage. While individual approaches will vary by sector and company, new research from the Pew Center on Global Climate Change shows a growing number of companies recognize that energy efficiency must form the backbone of any corporate strategy to address the new energy frontier.

The leadership of Apple Inc. took an encouraging step forward last Thursday in a bid for a higher green leadership profile in the IT industry by releasing an update of its recent environmental accomplishments. The centerpiece is a summary of a lifecycle assessment of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with all of its products.

WRI will create a new set of accounting tools to measure GHG impacts of a company's supply chain and of products that are sold to customers.

Comparing Scope 3 transportation and logistics partners on four environmental dimensions.

If you are thinking about ways to green your supply chain, you’re not alone. A Supply Chain Consortium survey showed that organizations of all sizes are implementing sustainability initiatives throughout the supply chain not only to achieve regulatory compliance, but also to improve brand image and customer satisfaction.

Tesco today revealed ambitious targets to cut the carbon footprint of its entire supply chain by 30% by 2020 as part of long-term plans to become a zero-carbon business.

It's possible to go green without going into the red, and supply chain management by definition is geared to do just that, according to a veteran supply chain expert and educator.

Solutions are becoming integral to manufacturers' efforts to comply with regulations, reduce carbon footprints.

Is the green movement one of the most fundamental business and lifestyle events in our history or is it just another passing fad?

The special Senate Committee on Cap and Trade will be wrapping up their meetings today (Oct 29, 2009) to prepare the Kerry-Boxer bill for markup. After a volley of heated comments from Democrats and Republicans concerning the bill, Senators on the committee listened to presentations from expert witnesses from across the country. The testimonies were both for and against climate change legislation, and witnesses were available to members of the Senate committee for cross-examination.

In the last decade there has been a significant increase in public awareness of the need to conserve energy, recycle waste, and make lifestyle choices that are environmentally friendly. Many companies have jumped onto the “green” bandwagon, adopting slogans or advertising campaigns that emphasize the company’s proactive involvement in the environmental movement.

The Institute of Supply Management has, for several years, taken a leadership role in supporting supply chain professionals in meeting the expectations associated with sustainability and social responsibility.  The 2^nd Annual ISM Sustainability and Social Responsibility Conference was a reinforcement of the group’s commitment.  The event supported a solid agenda with exceptional speakers, all of whom are dedicated to the principles and importance of sustainability and CSR.

For most companies, a green business is less about meeting consumer demand than building a sustainable business with a strategy to thrive. Greening your supply chain to decrease carbon emissions and increase fuel efficiency can contribute to that ability to thrive. Following are some key strategies.

Since 2005, Kraft has saved more than 50 million miles in its transportation and distribution processes globally.

Say what you will about Wal-Mart's tendency to crowd out mom-and-pop stores, it's hard to begrudge the company for its sustainability efforts. In the video below, we see that Wal-Mart's deli pizza boxes are part of a closed-loop cycle that uses retailer's boxes to make new ones, saving 40 million gallons of water and 8,600 tons of solid waste.

For 2009 Food Processing processor of the year, Nestle USA, it's all about creating long-term value for the bigger picture and serving customers and consumers needs.

WASHINGTON-With the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen coming up on December 9, the White House recently rolled out its U.S. emissions target, which, like House and Senate legislation introduced earlier this year, could have a pronounced impact on freight transportation and logistics operations and costs.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, freight movement accounts for 20 percent of all energy expended in the world, and our field’s diesel fuel demands are expected to increase 25 percent by 2012.

This is the second part in a three-part series exploring how to reduce your company's toxic footprint by reducing and eliminating the "worst of the worst" toxic chemicals and promoting use of "best of the best" green ones.

A new technology from Novomer promises to use carbon dioxide as a feedstock for producing packaging and coating applications. Novomer says the the process uses half as much energy as traditional plastics manufacturing, reports Plastics Today.

A survey released this week by software firm E2open finds that issues of inventory optimization and supply management are top priorities for supply chain executives heading into 2010.

Business leaders across sectors are becoming acutely aware of the impact of Copenhagen and the transition to a low carbon economy in the next 2 to 5 years on global supply chains. As evidence of this growing awareness—which for some is a concern and for others a new chance to open up areas of differentiation—it is telling that two of the highest profile CEOs at the UN Summit have been Paul Polman of Unilever and Muhtar Kent of Coca-cola. Two of the world’s biggest branded consumer goods companies with large, complex supply chains that depend heavily on fossil fuels to move products around the world. Not to mention two companies who rightly believe that the way they run their high performing supply chains brings them business advantage.

NASHVILLE, Ind. -- A new study questions the oft-cited notion that shifting freight to rail through government incentives will actually result in a 'greener' transport system.

By the end of 2009, more than 1 billion mobile phones will be shipped worldwide. Considering that 1 billion devices shipped has been and will be a yearly occurrence, and the world is now exceeding 4 billion mobile phone subscribers, the idea of mobile phone sustainability has been pushed to the forefront. Mobile phone manufacturers across the globe are increasing their efforts to reduce waste and power consumption. In addition, these suppliers are working closely with a broader mobile phone sustainability ecosystem and are seriously beginning to take on new recycling and remarketing efforts.

For catalogers and online retailers who ship products to consumers and businesses around the world, packaging is much more than just a box with a shipping label.

Dutch company launches project to develop tags that are both smart and green.

The increasing complexity of the global supply chain presents numerous cost and performance challenges. New reports highlight the importance of improving visibility along distribution lines to help meet the rapidly shifting landscape of supply chain management.

Even as IT tools have improved and companies' confidence in global supply chains' value has flourished, businesses still struggle with visibility into and collaboration with their supply chain partners.

Cutting emissions on the scale required to meet carbon targets means big changes in either how, or how much, we fly. Roger East sees an industry in need of radical innovation and asks, can it go fast – and far – enough? From Green Futures, part of the Guardian Environment Network

When it comes to the impact of electronics on the planet, we have to tread carefully. We love strong regulations behind e-waste and e-cycling, designs that focus on cradle-to-cradle, manufacturers making drastic improvements on efficiency of energy consumption, embodied energy, manufacturing waste and so on. But there's also this thing called business, and manufacturers like a market that is allowed to play itself out, trusting the consumers and the companies involved to do the sustainable thing. But can we do that? CEA seems to think so. To find out more about CEA's stance on the environment and to get their take on their lawsuit against the NYC electronics recycling law, and their feelings on the new California television efficiency regulations, I met with Parket Brugge, Vice President of Environmental Affairs and Industry Sustainability of the Consumer Electronics Association. Brugge was very generous with his time and sat with me to discuss these big topics.

The supply chain as we know it is under threat, and companies are taking significant steps to respond to the changing industry.

One of the major upgrades to Oracle’s latest release of its Transportation Management solution is its “Green Dashboard”, which will incorporate the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay emission factors for measuring and monitoring green metrics in the freight sector. For shippers, improving efficiency is the most important motivating factor for upgrading or purchasing supply chain IT/technology, according to a new report.

It is hard to imagine now, but “Supply Chain Management” was not a concept at all broadly understood even in 2000 – nowhere near what it is today. I was an industry analyst from 1998 to early 2000, and I had taken in that period many calls from clients asking for a basic explanation of what supply chain was all about. I remember one specifically from truck maker Navistar in what must have been 1999, with the caller, a director level manager, saying his CEO had read an article on supply chain management and decided Navistar needed to get some SCM religion right now – could I help get them started?

Will Scott Brown’s election to the Senate have any supply chain implications?

International information technology research firm has announced that information and communication technologies (ICT) can be used to curb almost 5,8-million tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions by 2020.

Nike has reduced its overall CO2 emissions across the company and its supply chain by 4 percent in fiscal year (FY) 2009, compared to FY08, representing a return to FY07 levels, according to the company’s 2007 to 2009 corporate responsibility report.

How can logistics carriers deal with the inevitable "empty miles" problem that robs them of fuel while polluting the environment?

Reporting environmental performance is quickly becoming a requirement for any corporation with a “green” initiative worth writing a press release about. According to consulting firm KPMG’s latest International Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting, 79 percent of the top 250 companies in the 2007 Fortune 500 issued sustainability reports.

Besides this deal, Walmart's new sourcing strategy involves the creation of Global Merchandising Centers, and a change in leadership and structure.

Suppliers need to demonstrate greenhouse gas emissions management, awareness and action or face being dropped by customers in future, according to AT Kearney’s second annual Carbon Disclosure Project Supply Chain Report, which summarises climate change information from 710 suppliers.

In a Wall Street Journal article by Ilan Brat and Anjali Cordiero published in September, supply chain initiatives were credited with helping General Mills raise its earnings forecast for its fiscal year and the company’s profit jumped 51 percent that quarter.  The biggest factor was lower commodity costs, but General Mills’ supply chain initiatives were clever.

It's becoming clearer that businesses can save money while going green, but sustainability may be more than just good business. According to Stephen Slade of Oracle, going green, particularly when it comes to energy efficiency, is a natural progression following other business trends in the previous decades.

While the effects of the recession have pushed many in the trucking industry to rein in spending on all but the essentials, it’s a testament to the financial viability of the growing ‘green’ movement that while virtually every frill has been left on the side of the road, green has survived.

FedEx Corp. is partnering with the World Resources Institute (WRI) to build on that bus lane by developing similar sustainable transportation projects in Mexico City and other cities in Mexico. For the transport and logistics giant, this project is among the first in an area it calls "environmental philanthropy."

Energy buyers look for ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions and energy costs.

J.P. Morgan has developed a best practices guide that shows treasury operations how to transition to a paperless environment, which will help companies meet their environmental goals while cutting costs and boosting efficiency. The financial services firm says it has already helped clients eliminate more than 100 million paper documents, save 3 million pounds of paper and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 million pounds since 2007.

NEW research from A.T. Kearney and the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) show carbon management schemes are becoming a key part of corporate supply chain strategy for major global companies.

All of Sprint’s future consumer handsets will be built to “green” design standards, and supply chain vendors must adhere to a set of environmental standards.

Walmart has become the first global retailer to set a target for its suppliers’ greenhouse gas reduction rather than for just its own operations, setting a goal of eliminating 20m tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions from its supply chain by the end of 2015.

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, has launched several recent environmental efforts, receiving both plaudits and skepticism.

Searching for sustainability value drivers along the Green Procurement Excellence Evolution Curve with BrainNet

The home improvement retailer with the big orange signs wants its stores to be more green.

Samsung's components arm is talking energy savings at the CeBIT show, pushing the green angle hard with a line-up of reduced-consumption storage, memory and monitors.

The plan, which Wal-Mart unveiled July 16, will involve more than 100,000 suppliers globally. The goal is to create a labeling system for customers that will provide transparency into the sustainability of each product.

We have covered supermarkets and the food-retailing business quite a lot lately. Whether it's Hannaford's brand-new LEED-Platinum facility in Maine, the $1 million saved by Food Lion through a green IT project, Stop & Shop's seafood sourcing policies, or any number of other stories, supermarkets are both a hot topic and a large target when you're looking at the greening of business.

In the past few years, as the economy has taken a dip and the supply chain has become more complicated, a host of blogs have popped up giving sage advice for businesspeople trying to increase profits and reduce risk.

Chief financial officers in organisations across the globe are shunning risk management in favor of cost cutting and are failing to treat supply chain dangers seriously enough, according to a recent study by purchase-to-pay solution provider Basware in conjunction with the Kelley School of Business in Indianapolis, US.

The Green Electronics Council on Monday went international with a registry that shows how computers and monitors measure up when it comes to being Earth-friendly.

Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) registry that gives green ratings to computer desktops, laptops, and monitors has been localized for 40 countries.

With budgets stretched thin and margins tight, environmental stewardship might have taken a backseat to other concerns. Sustainability, however, has never been more top of mind.

The U.S. manufacturing industry is in the midst of a long and sometimes difficult transition. As globalization leads to lower-cost production of mainstream products, American manufacturers must re-apply their world-class expertise in old-line processes to emerging technologies. This process is rapidly accelerating in the advanced energy supply chain, which promises to lessen U.S. dependence on unstable foreign energy markets while establishing a foundation for a thriving domestic clean-energy industry.

Pick up any national newspaper or surf your favorite website and you’re bound to find an article about sustainability, focused on the “greening” of something–frequently packaging. And as Kermit the Frog used to say, “It’s not easy being green.”

’ve been reflecting on the issue of whether companies are still focusing on going green (see my July 20, 2009 blog for more details), and have learned a few more interesting tidbits. According to a Capgemini study (http://www.2sustain.com/2008/10/capgemini-reports-on-trends-in-green-supply-chain-management.html), nearly 100 percent (98 percent to be exact) of companies surveyed agree that green supply chain initiatives are essential, but there is widespread uncertainty about how to make it a reality. Evidence has indicated that only 25 percent of companies are actually engaged in green projects—a huge difference between the 98 percent who think it is critical.

That being said…that was in 2008 and this is now. We all know that the playing field has changed. While I still have the question of whether companies continue to have green initiatives on the front burner, for now I have a few thoughts on little things all companies can do to make a big difference collectively. Although these may not be ideas for greening the supply chain and/or reducing your carbon footprint, per se, I still think that large corporations can and should make a significant impact, just by tackling some low-hanging fruit in an effort to “reduce, reuse and recycle.”

• Turn the lights out! If you’re in a building with lots of windows and sunlight, consider working with natural light for a certain number of hours per day. Even better, put your lights on a master timer to go on at 9 a.m. and off at 5 p.m. each day. Before and after those hours, only turn on those lights that are absolutely necessary.
• Replace high-energy items with more efficient alternatives. Change out as many light bulbs as possible with compact fluorescents, and check out your break room—are your dishwasher and refrigerator energy-efficient models?
• Take cars off the road. Give incentives to employees for carpooling or taking public transport to work (buy subway/train/bus passes for them).
• Eliminate things that aren’t necessary. Turn out the lights in your vending machines. Are they really necessary for picking out your afternoon snack?
• Encourage the use of conference calls for internal meetings. Use Skype or some other software for instant messaging, conference calls over the computer or chatting. By doing so, you can eliminate non-critical travel.
• Do things online. Encourage your employees to print as little as possible and save a few trees in the process.
• Take away unneeded equipment. Does every employee need his or her own printer? Probably not. Network all computers to a common printer for those things that must be printed.
• Order locally. For non-strategic items, buy as much as you can from local vendors to reduce the carbon footprint associated with shipping them. (For strategic items or large external spends, by all means employ a strategic sourcing process to reduce the number of vendors you are buying from and gain more purchasing leverage.)
• Offer more flexibility. Give your employees the option of working one or more days a week from their homes. You’ll not only take cars off the road and reduce the number of resources consumed at your office, but you’ll probably have happier employees for giving them a little flexibility as well!

Ok, I know that most of these things aren’t really related to supply chain initiatives, and many of them are pretty obvious, but how many of us actually put our money where our mouth is? Is your company doing any of these? And if not your company, what about your department? I encourage you to find out what your company is doing (and let me know too!) and take the lead on starting some new earth-friendly initiatives!

According to the 20th Annual SoL, business logistics costs fell to 9.4 percent of U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2008 after rising over 50 percent during the previous five years. This number is down from 10.1 percent of GDP in 2007.

It’s not an idle question if you’re one of the 100,000 suppliers to Wal-Mart. Last week, the retail giant announced a plan to have its suppliers calculate the full environmental costs of making their products. Wal-Mart will translate that info into a label that will appear along with the price of the product and other consumer information.

Andrew Winston's new book, Green Recovery, comes in a small, green package, but it packs a big, relevant punch. It is a must read for CEOs who still think going green will cost too much, and for mid-level and senior managers responsible for identifying strategic sustainability initiatives to focus on.Like his public speaking style, Winston's writing voice is personable, authentic and engaging. Building on his previous book Green to Gold and his sustainability consulting experience, he presents a clear, green recovery framework that outlines four key paths to a leaner, greener world:

It is easy to point a finger at certain substances and say they are bad and should be eliminated. Sometimes, however, even more difficult than eliminating a substance is finding a replacement for it. Care must be taken to avoid replacing a “bad” substance with another that causes even more problems than its predecessor.

The big news in the world of sustainability this week is that Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, will launch a labeling system to disclose the environmental impact of the products it sells and will be asking its more than 100,000 suppliers to start tracking things like the carbon emissions and water use of their goods. For companies that have developed carbon and energy management tools — from startups like Hara to huge software firms like SAP — Wal-Mart’s move is the equivalent of a massive crowbar wedging open the nascent carbon software market.

Leading retailers have established themselves as innovators in environmental sustainability and remain committed to incorporating green practices into their operations. That’s according to a Retail Systems Research (RSR) report, “Real-World Green: The Role of Environmental Savings in Retail,” recently released in partnership with the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA).

Leading retailers have established themselves as innovators in environmental sustainability and remain committed to incorporating green practices into their operations. That’s according to a Retail Systems Research (RSR) report, “Real-World Green: The Role of Environmental Savings in Retail,” recently released in partnership with the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA).

The Department for Transport (DfT) has launched its Low Carbon Supply Chain steering group to persuade freight transport operators to better record, report and reduce carbon emissions.

Following the example of his counterpart in China, Wal-Mart Brazil president Hector Nunez asks suppliers to respect principles of sustainability and humanitarianism.

Companies that rush into sustainable practices without fully researching them, or ones that know they haven’t quite got it but are pushing it anyway, are in danger of the repercussions of ‘green-washing.’

United Parcel Service Inc. aims to cut its airline fleet's greenhouse gas emissions 42 percent from 1990 levels during the next decade by using less fossil fuel in its jets.

New demand network solution integrates with existing supply network solution to help manufacturers turn networks of outsourced grading partners into globally integrated enterprises.

DHL Supply Chain’s Chief Executive Officer – Asia Pacific Paul Graham predicts the strongest Logistics service providers will survive and thrive by continuing to invest in their employees and their business, despite the economic situation.

Successful supply chains are the result of collaboration with supply chain real estate experts, who can provide in-depth, evidence-based analyses of current and future distribution strategy options.

In a new paper, Jones Lang LaSalle discusses the factors influencing the supply chain and presents effective real estate strategies for developing cost-efficient supply chain operations through network and location strategy.  

While the U.S. government is struggling with varied approaches to chemical regulatory reform and how to address the growing problem of electronic waste, the European Union is charging ahead with new and revised regulation impacting electronics manufacturers and industries that utilize electrical components.

IT professionals have become good environmental and privacy stewards during the past 10 years -- on paper. Corporate policy now generally reflects the fundamental tenets of good electronics stewardship, requiring verifiable data destruction and forbidding the use of landfills and export in lieu of responsible recycling. As anyone who receives RFPs for IT asset disposition can confirm, the market has spoken.

Whether Al Gore’s documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, struck a cord with you, or whether your pet hate is the abandoned paper at the printer, there is no question that South Africans and South African businesses are thinking more about ‘going green’ and, increasingly, about the 
environmental impacts of their supply chains.

In many organizations, the desire for sustainable supply chains is outweighed by the need to reduce costs, or at least prevent costs from increasing. When a project can deliver both results -- an environmentally friendly supply chain that is also cost-effective -- it is a sure-fire winner. Such is the case with the U.S. Postal Service's (USPS) recent "green" redesign of its expedited packaging supply chain.

Electronics made from recycled materials are beginning to hit the market slowly but surely, and with that may come new supply chains that could change the way manufacturers design and make new products destined for consumers and businesses.

The Bottom Line: Carbon can be a game changer—positively or negatively. Ignoring this issue is no longer an option. It’s time to develop holistic corporate and supply chain wide strategies that minimize business risk and maximize opportunities associated with carbon.