How Integrating Sustainability Can Strengthen Your Supply Chain
Did you know that more than 80% of a typical consumer company’s greenhouse gas emissions originate in its supply chain?
If that’s not reason enough for companies to start investing in sustainability practices, take a look at the many other ways that integrating sustainability in your supply chain can benefit your business overall.
Reducing Costs
Let’s start with the biggest and most misconstrued factor of all: Yes, reducing the environmental impact of your business may initially cost more in restructuring or setting up a sustainable supply chain. But, in the long run, it can lead to big savings. By reducing waste and increasing energy efficiency along your entire supply chain, you quickly see a substantial return on your investment - while at the same time improving the quality of your product.
Following Compliance Regulations and Accreditation
By complying with regulations and standards of not just your own country of business, but your suppliers’, such as ISO 14001, thereby proving your “green credentials”, you also improve customer relations and satisfaction. With official accreditation that proves your efforts in integrating sustainability in your supply chain, you show potential customers that you’re actively working to reduce your negative impact in the world.
Enhancing Your Brand
You can also use your green credentials actively in your marketing efforts. Consumers are loyal to brands that share their ethical values and no longer make buying decisions based solely on a product’s functionality and price. Brand commitment to sustainability is a growing factor in people’s decision to buy your or your competitor’s product. Proving you’re an active participant in the sustainability movement can give you that pivotal competitive edge.
Developing New Partnerships
If your supply chain is sustainable, your business also becomes an attractive prospect for companies looking for partners. Your “green cred” is likely to align with other brands’ values, opening up partnership opportunities. And not just for doing business together, but possibly also in supporting other businesses in their efforts to become more sustainable, by banding together and creating new industry standards or benchmarks.
Furthering Innovation
Manufacturers are coming up with new ways to manage and track sustainable practices in their supply chains, with customers becoming increasingly active in supporting these measures. Combining sustainable products with innovative ideas is a great way to draw in new customers.
Bomler’s innovative BOMBOs Software, for example, let’s customers check a product’s supply chain with a simple scan of a QR code attached to the item in question. Check out our video on supply chain transparency and how customers can easily access all information on a product’s sustainability here.
Improving Supply Continuity
You don’t want to believe it can happen to you, but the truth is that sometimes (not necessarily through any fault of their own) suppliers become unable to fulfill a service or product. That’s why you should always diversify your supply chain and avoid over-reliance on a single link in your chain - or it could leave you unable to do business for a substantial period of time.
Multiple sustainable suppliers from different parts of the world will improve the continuity of your wares and prevent costly downtime and reputation damage. Speaking of which…
Protecting Your Brand Reputation
Integrating sustainability in your supply chain not only enhances your brand but protects it from garnering a bad reputation. In this day and age of easy access to information and even easier dissemination of said information, one claim of non-compliant practice in any part of your supply chain could mean the death sentence for your company, or at least a substantial cut in profits.
Of course, ensuring that your sustainability measures are actually being put into practice isn’t easy; especially in these times of lockdown all over the world, when travel isn’t possible.
That’s why the innovative platform is a huge help while you work remotely from your home office. Bomler offers a compliance portal on a consolidated platform, connecting sustainable suppliers to eco-friendly brands.
Sign up here for the platform and check out our sustainable suppliers in our compliance portal for yourself. Let us support you in reviewing your supply chain and making the necessary changes towards more sustainability, leading to big savings and better margins for your business, while also reducing the damage we’re doing to our planet.