Supply Chain Management for Environmental Improvement
Case Studies
Categories:
- Supplier Evaluation, Certification and Outreach
- Environmentally Preferrable Purchasing
- Environmentally Conscious Design and Manufacturing
- Supplier Managed Inventories and Services
- Links to Additional Case Studies
Supplier Evaluation, Certification and Outreach
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Company(s)
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Case Study Title
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Subject Summary
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| General Motors |
General Motors Sets New Level of Environmental Performance for Suppliers; and GM Teams with Suppliers to Further Resource Conservation, Prevent Pollution |
Requires supplier performance standards. Offers education and assistance, including packaging reduction and other pollution prevention opportunities. |
| adidas-Salomon | Supply-Chain Management | Monitors issues and performance of suppliers on social responsibility issues such as working hours, freedom of association, discrimination and child labor. |
| Occidental Chemical Corporation | OXYCHEM Contractor HES Program (see pg. 47) | Evaluates health, environmental and safety performance to ensure suppliers meet the same standards that Oxychem sets for themselves. |
| Andersen Corporation | Enhancing Supply Chain Performance with Environmental Cost Information |
Evaluates supplier EH&S performance. Uses environmental managerial accounting in supply chain decisions. Implements pollution prevention with help from suppliers. |
| Nike | Eco-Efficiency Through Supply Chain Metrics | In conjunction with CH2MHill, Nike assists suppliers in meeting environmental and business standards, including waste reduction and minimizing consumption of resources. |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb | Supply Chain Management | Monitors performance of key suppliers, through a range of tools including surveys, reference checks, publicly available information, and site visits. Requires suppliers to meet certain quality standards, have environmental management systems in place, and meet their "EHS Codes of Practice". |
| Intel Corporation |
Supplier Hub: Environmental Health, and Safety (EH&S); and Supplier Hub: Supplier Quality Programs |
Offers EH&S awards programs, EH&S requirements, contractual safety guidelines, and other supplier and contractor outreach efforts and information. Offers awards in quality and continuous quality improvement to top suppliers. |
| SC Johnson Wax | SC Johnson Wax Develops Supplier Partnership | Requires certain performance standards, and offers education and assistance. |
| Ashland Specialty Chemical Company | Evaluation Protocols for Critical Suppliers (see pg. 41) |
Reviews EH&S performance of third-party services. Maintains a database of approved vendors who meet their environmental and business standards. |
| Hewlett Packard |
Supply Chain Social and Environmental Responsibility; and (Excerpt from Greenbiz.com's) "How Supply Chain Management Practices Are Greening Procurement" |
Expects suppliers to formally include health, safety, labor and human rights practices in their performance standards. Implemented polices on "Supply Chain Social and Environmental Policy" and "Supplier Code of Conduct" Requires supplier contract and purchasing agreements to reflect our environmental and social expectations. Communicates their compliance monitoring process. Requires supplier performance reporting and corrective actions for non-compliance. Assisted in developing a standard environmental questionnaire for use within the computer industry, to screen and evaluate suppliers. |
| Herman Miller | (Excerpt from Greenbiz.com's) "How Supply Chain Management Practices Are Greening Procurement" | Conducts initial (and annual follow-up) tours of suppliers' facilities to confirm environmental policies and performance. |
| Roche Vitamins | Roche Vitamins Fortifies Its Environmental Commitment |
Offers education and assistance. Published voluntary performance requirements for suppliers. |
| Halliburton Company | Safety Management for a Service Provider (see pg.17) | Screens suppliers for safety performance and OSHA compliance. |
| Compaq Computers | (Excerpt from Greenbiz.com's) "How Supply Chain Management Practices Are Greening Procurement" | Notifies and screens suppliers with preselection criteria for environmental performance. |
Environmentally Preferable Purchasing
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Company(s)
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Case Study Title
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Subject Summary
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| Commonwealth of Massachusetts | Spotlight on Government Massachusetts Advises Environmental Purchasers | Requires suppliers to offer environmentally preferable products. |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb | EHS Workshops for Procurement Staff (see pg.34) | Educates internal procurers, on considering environmental costs of products rather than just the product cost. |
| Daimler Chrysler | Environmental Rating of Material Content (see pg.32) | Requires suppliers to disclose material content, then uses this information to rate suppliers for purchasing decisions. |
| Home Depot (& supplier Collinswood) | Customer Focus | Educated themselves and suppliers about forestry issues and became the first major U.S. home improvement retailer to offer certified sustainable wood products. See Certified Forest Products Council for information on certified forests and products, and certification systems. |
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The Gap, McDonald's, and Kinko's |
Sustainable Forestry – Getting Down to Business | Requires suppliers to use certified sustainable wood. |
| Herman Miller | Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing and Procurement (ECM&P) (see pg. 32) | Offers semiannual conferences for employees and all suppliers on its ECM&P policies. |
| Ford, GM and other automakers | The Automobile Manufacturing Industry Requires ISO 14000 | Offers awareness training and certification assistance to suppliers in meeting ISO standards. |
Environmentally Conscious Design and Manufacturing
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Company(s)
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Case Study Title
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Subject Summary
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| Commonwealth Edison | Enhancing Supply Chain Performance with Environmental Cost Information | Uses life cycle management to improve supply chain management and other business processes. |
| Eastman Kodak |
Obtaining Supplier Information to Test an Eco-Efficiency Indicator (see pg.24) Kodak's Effectively Focused Supplier Surveys (see pg.50) |
Evaluates life cycle impacts of components and raw materials from suppliers. |
| Quantum Corporation | Lessons from Leaders in the Electronics Industry |
Partnered in the development of a software tools to understand and reduce the flow of environmentally restricted materials starting at the design stage. Evaluates supplier product and material designs. |
| Xerox Corporation | Lessons from Leaders in the Electronics Industry | Due to their remanufacured products lines, Xerox works closely and communicates frequently with suppliers in the design of products incuding recyclable and recycled products and parts. |
| Applied Materials | Lessons from Leaders in the Electronics Industry | Educate customers on their successes in redesigned processes to reduce waste and conserve resources. |
| Volvo | Volvo Product's Environmental Information Provided to Customers (see pg. 9, 10, 16) |
Provides customers with environmental information on products. Requires suppliers to certify they do not use any substances on Volvo's list of banned substances, in products or in manufacturing. |
| Patagonia | Outerwear with Minimal Environmental Impact | Works closely with suppliers to minimize all environmental impacts, including growing grown organically. |
| Clorox | Clorox Efforts Trigger Comprehensive Savings | Works with suppliers on new process developments to reduce wastes and inefficiencies. |
| Eli Lilly and Company | Fine-Tuning Purchasing Specifications to Reduce Waste Treatment Costs (see pg. 33) | Worked with a supplier to determine source of lead in sludge and found a non-lead bearing alternative. |
| Collins & Aikman | Reducing VOCs in Carpet Products (see pg. 32) | Worked with supplier to reduce VOCs through reformulation of raw materials. |
| Ashland Specialty Chemical Company | Life Cycle Management as Business Opportunity (see pg. 28) | Works with customers on product reformulation. |
| Ben & Jerry's | Ben & Jerry's ECO-Pint Packaging (see pg.33) | Worked with suppliers to make chlorine-free packaging and reduce the amount of berry packaging. |
| Maytag | Making Time To Find Less Waste | Worked with a supplier on packaging reductions. |
| Royal Crest Dairy | Royal Crest Dairy Moves To a Waste-Reducing Supplier | Worked with supplier on methods to recycle packaging. |
| NACHI Technology | Though Small, NACHI Technology Achieves Big Results | Encouraged and worked with customer to reduce packaging. |
Supplier Managed Services and Inventories
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Company(s)
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Case Study Title
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Subject Summary
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| General Motors | Chemicals Management for GM (see pg. 56) | Supplier manages and tracks on-site chemical inventory. |
| Johnson Controls, Inc. | Johnson Controls Energy and Waste Management Outsourcing Solutions (see pg. 58) | Offers energy management and other environmental services to customers. |
| Eli Lilly and Company | Strategic Sourcing Saves $1M, Reduces Accidents; Compressed Gas Cylinders for Research Laboratories (see pg. 10) | Supplier manages certain inventories, including compressed gas cylinders. |
| Intel Corporation | Excellent IT Infrastructure Makes Intel the Link that Defines the Strength of the PC industry's Supply Chain | Supplier offers just-in-time inventory management, aided by a web-based extranet system. |
| Ashland Specialty Chemical Company | Life Cycle Management as Business Opportunity (see pg. 28) | Manages chemical inventories for customers, from purchase through production, and disposal. |
| Motorola, Inc. | Motorola's Collaboration with Ashland Specialty Chemical Company (see pg. 55) | Ashland Chemical manages chemical inventory for Motorola and offers alternative selection, optimized containers, and efficient logistics. |
| Garden.com | While Other e-Commerce Strategies Wilt, Garden.com is Cultivating a Whole New Business Model | Most inventory is managed and stored by suppliers via a web-based tracking and ordering system. |
| Saturn | Saturn's Supply Chain Innovation: High-Value in After-Sales Service by Morris A. Cohen, Carl Cull, Hau L. Lee & Don Willen | Supplier manages the inventory and shares inventory risks. |
| Public Service Electric & Gas Company (PSE&G) and Perrigo | Supplier Manages Chemical Inventory (see pg.32) | Supplier manages and tracks on-site chemical inventory. |
| Anheuser-Busch | Reducing Packaging Waste for Inbound Materials (see pg.18) | Supplier manages onsite storage/recycling of plastic banding. Anheuser also encourages suppliers to use reusable packaging. |
Links to Additional Case Studies
"Going Green Upstream: The Promise of Supply Chain Environmental Management. National Evironmental Education and Training Foundation. (See Chapter 4 for case studies).
Case Studies from the Chemical Strategies Partnership, on supplier chemical management systems.
Case Studies from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
Supply Chain Anatomy: The Incredible Journey. Follow a bottle of Listerine on its trip from the eucalyptus fields of Australia to a medicine cabinet for a look at the supply chains.
