Supply Chain Carbon Footprints not managed sufficiently

The High Performance Supply Chain study by Accenture, a global management company helping clients become high-performance businesses and governments, surveyed 245 supply chain executives responsible for their organisations' logistics, warehousing and transportation capabilities.

Findings revealed that supply chain masters - organisations that have achieved top-quartile performance in both cost effectiveness and customer service - are more than twice as likely as non-masters to actively model their supply chain carbon footprints and implement sustainability initiatives.

"Supply chain masters are making great strides in linking cost effectiveness, customer service and sustainable supply chain practices. Despite today's reduced energy costs, there continues to be a business case for greening the supply chain, resulting in lower costs as well as environmentally responsible processes," said Jonathan Wright, Senior Executive in Accenture's Supply Chain Management practice.

The study also found that 37 percent of supply chain executives have no awareness of the level of supply chain emissions in their supply chain network.

However, 86 percent of respondents have undertaken at least one green initiative in their warehouses, while 38 percent said they have undertaken at least one green initiative in their transport fleet.

"The study findings demonstrate that the vast majority of organisations are taking steps to reduce carbon emissions. However, most are implementing carbon-reduction solutions without understanding their carbon footprint and are therefore unable to measure real impact those solutions are having on their emissions," added Wright.

Source: http://newsroom.accenture.com

Edited by: Chris Farnell