2Sustain

A full 77% of supply chain execs regard environmental issues as “very important” or “important” to their company’s overall strategy, according to results of a new survey released by eyefortransport .

The study, Supply Chain Carbon & Sustainability Report –North America 2009, was designed to offer insights into the greening of North American supply chains, while highlighting the environmental programs that are benefiting companies most.

The survey was conducted in July and August 2009, and more than 130 supply chain professionals were polled. The largest portion of respondents were from transportation/logistics service providers (38%), followed by retail and consumer packaged goods (9%), food (6%), hi-tech and electronics (5%), automotive (4%), chemicals (2%), defense/aerospace (1%), and health care/pharmaceutical (1%).

Here are a few key findings from the study:

• 77% of those polled regard environmental issues as “very important” (41%) or “important” (36%) to their company’s overall strategy.

• Likewise, 77% said environmental issues are “very important” (33%) or “important” (44%) to their company’s supply chain strategy.

• 70% of survey respondents believe that environmental issues will become increasingly important to supply chain processes over the next three years. In fact, 8% expect environmental issues will become their top priority. 20% said the level of importance will stay the same. 2% predict environmental issues will have less importance on supply chain processes over the next three years.

• 75% of those polled are engaged in initiatives designed to improve energy efficiency. The next most notable environmental initiatives included: emissions measuring and/or reductions (53%), a corporate green team (51%), vehicle rerouting to reduce mileage (47%), using more eco-friendly logistics providers (45%), design for the environment (44%), and strategic warehouse and distribution center placement (44%).

• When asked about key drivers for greening the supply chain, respondents cited: increasing supply chain efficiency, improving customer relations, being part of a larger corporate agenda, improving public relations, decreasing fuel bills, government compliance, financial ROI, and decreasing risk.

• The survey also looked at barriers to adopting green supply chain initiatives. Those polled worried that customers would not pay a premium to have ‘green’ added as a USP, that the payback period would be too long, that the costs are too high, that there wasn’t enough customer demand to justify the effort, and that there aren’t enough people driving the process internally.

• Why are companies beginning to measure their supply chain carbon footprints? Respondents cited enhancement of reputation for social responsibility (41%), improving supply chain efficiency (39%), cutting costs (39%), and customer requests for information (36%) as the top reasons.

You can download a copy of the survey results by visiting http://events.eyefortransport.com/SSC/report.shtml (registration required).