Across many businesses, bottom-line gains from supply chain sustainability initiatives are giving greater prominence to the role of the chief supply chain officer. As the role is becoming increasingly strategic, it is becoming progressively important to have a greater understanding of consumer needs and expectations, a vision about the economic outlook and the introduction of sustainability into all aspects of the function’s role.
As more supply chain leaders move their thinking away from simply ensuring compliance and toward better performance, other considerations come into focus. One broad issue relates to a far wider view of product stewardship—ensuring a lower environmental and social impact of products, considering how to turn obsolete and discarded products into a valuable raw material and ultimately turning a typically one-way flow of products into a circular loop. The overall aim here is to unpick, rethink and transform the entire product lifecycle, in the pursuit of simplicity and efficiency.
Done properly, this can enhance brand equity and market position. On the flip side, a failure to do so may one day threaten the company, given rising pressures on resource scarcity.
Another key trend being driven both by regulation and consumers is the need for greater transparency across the supply chain. Delivering this transparency represents a huge challenge, and many companies are switching to more sophisticated technologies. This, in turn, is requiring both new skills and external training.