The Heroism of Greening the Supply Chain

Japan’s tsunami is a terrible tragedy. As my friend Siejira Oshima, an engineer/designer living in Nagano, said, “Japan is in serious confusion by the huge earthquake and tsunami, and also the further accident of the nuclear power plant. I think that the recovery cost will be enormous, and a long time will be needed so that Japanese manufacturing industry is restored.”

So, what I’m about to say is in no way intended to make light of the pain, suffering, and tragic circumstances of the Japanese people affected by the tsunami or to imply that they did anything to deserve it.

It seems that every once in a while, when we earthlings get a little big for our britches, Mother Nature does something that reminds us of who is boss. We are here by the grace of God and nature—not the other way around.

As “The Science Guy,” Bill Nye, said in a column last Earth Day, “Saving the Earth might be a reasonable pursuit. But the Earth is going to be fine. It’s been here 4.5 billion years. What … Earth Day reminds us of is to save the Earth for us… so that most of us can keep living here.”

The Earth Day Network is organizing a campaign for this year’s Earth Day (April 22) called A Billion Acts of Green®. The campaign intends to “demonstrate the kind of environmental impact that can be made when millions of people, corporations, and organizations make commitments, both small and large, to better their environment.”

Happily, a growing mountain of evidence indicates that manufacturers are doing their parts—or billions of parts—to preserve and protect the planet for human occupation. That’s 6.8 billion of us, up from 3 billion in 1965.

Green Supply Channels

Survey after survey indicate that most manufacturers currently are part of a green supply network or expect to be in the near future. Most striking to me is that in every case, the most compelling reason manufacturers state for being in a green supply chain is that they consider it a social responsibility.

IFS North America, Itasca, Ill., recently published a supply chain report* showing that more than two-thirds of manufacturers say they are in a green supply chain. “Close to 70 percent say they make purchasing and sourcing decisions based on environ­mental impact, carbon footprint … or that they are part of a green supply chain where at least one of their customers require information on the chemical makeup of their products and their company’s environmental impact,” the report says.

Ingersoll Rand’s recently released report* based on a survey with senior executives in global corporations showed that they recognize the importance of energy-efficiency initiatives: “Half of the respondents said that their organization’s energy-efficiency initiatives are important to their customers, indicating that the significance of integrating energy-efficiency initiatives will only increase in the future.”

Moving Products Without Moving Heaven and Earth

Jim Ryan, CEO of MRO giant W.W. Grainger, said at a recent customer event, “More of our customers are asking us to help them figure out how they can improve energy efficiency—and, particularly, how they can run their businesses in a much more environmentally friendly way.”

Several heavyweights in the trucking industry are part of a collective of energy-efficiency-minded manufacturers tasked (and funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the U.S. DOE) to develop “SuperTrucks” that will be 50 percent more energy efficient and will curb noxious gases. (Read “6 alternatives to diesel for freight transport.”)

Moving products within plants and distribution centers has changed, too.

The Material Handling Industry of America’s (MHIA) recent report, “Sustainability in Warehousing, Distribution & Manufacturing,”* shows that “48 percent of respondents currently have a sustainability initiative underway, and 88 percent say that sustainability will be of even greater importance over the next 18 to 14 months.”

“Cherry-picking conveyor components to optimize energy efficiency,” relays which components you can choose to conserve conveyor energy consumption.

The Nature of Waste

Many of our manufacturer readers are pursuing zero waste initiatives. Several will be attending the Green Manufacturer Network’s next “Take on the Zero-Waste-to-Landfill Challenge” workshop on May 18. Zero-landfill trendsetter Subaru of Indiana will co-host the event, which includes a tour of the plant and a presentation by fellow zero-landfill crusader Burt’s Bees. (Read “Waste do’s and don’ts at ’Bu’s and Bees.”)

Waste Management’s recently issued bellwether sustainability report may be the most telling of all. Its cover reads, “Today, we’re reinventing our business model & re-envisioning the nature of waste itself.”

Earth may still be revolving for 4.5 billion more years, but no doubt, how we inhabit it could use some reinvention and re-envisioning.