Including sustainability into business operations is a demanding process but every moment a company puts it off increases their liabilities. Because of today’s international market, many businesses are pushed to reevaluate and rebuild in order to keep up with their industry. For those that are still on the fence, it’s important to remember the alternative to sustainability: vulnerability. Being unsustainable with their supply chain leaves them open to disasters outside of their control. Whether it’s environmental, social or economic, these events can drive a business to failure.
Here are some of the efficient ways your business can develop a sustainable supply chain strategy:
If possible, eliminate as much travel distance of products as possible or take out the middle man. This is one of the best ways to make your supply chain more efficient but if this aggressive step is difficult to handle, there are other smaller steps that your business can take.
- Identify the smaller issues.
Success rarely happens overnight, and the same applies to incorporating sustainability into your supply chain and operations. One of the biggest culprits is sourcing and transportation. Take a complete inventory of your production costs because most of the time, there will be opportunities for your business to be better.
Taking a very close look at your business will bring up issues that you might have been too busy to attend to. It’s a common practice to then ask for the assistance of an outside consultant to complete this task because those unfamiliar with your business will find it easier to be critical about the problems that need addressing.
- Prioritize which parts of your business you need to focus on first.
As soon as you know what to correct, you’ll need to order them by priority. Focusing on two or three issues at a time is easier to handle compared to trying to fix everything at once.
- Assemble a team to implement your strategy.
No strategy will succeed without people to put them into practice. Identify the staff members from different departments of your company that are ready to take on a leadership role. These employees will be driving the project and maintaining the needed energy for a process like this. Connect with Shared CxO for management consulting solutions to address your supply chain needs.