BETWEEN THE LINES
From Start to Finish
HOW TO TAKE A TRULY HOLISTIC APPROACH TO SUSTAINABILITY
BY ALBERT GUFFANTI
Almost all major consumer goods (CG) companies are now focusing on long-term sustainability initiatives. This month, Michael Forhez, director of Business
Solutions, Consumer Markets, TCS ( www.tcs.com), shares best practices for logistics, product lifecycle management and IT that will undoubtedly contribute to
a more environmentally-friendly business model.
How is the sustainability landscape changing among CG companies?
FORHEZ: Slowly but steadily, our industry is going beyond core manufacturing,
taking a more holistic view that encompasses the entire enterprise. Some of
this is a result of pressure from stakeholders who are increasingly playing a role
in driving companies to adopt more environment-friendly business models.
However, there are those who still have the impression that many sustainability initiatives lead to higher costs. This limited view often comes from a lack of
information on best practices. CG companies that have moved to advanced
logistics modeling and product lifecycle management (PLM) are seeing results
that others might want to study and possibly emulate.
Why are PLM and logistics vital to a company’s sustainability effort?
FORHEZ: First, the outputs to the environment at each stage in the product lifecycle continue to increase. We over-package consumer goods, with costs impacting the environment and the bottom line. As a result, CG companies are looking
for a greener supply chain built on the design, manufacture and distribution of
eco-friendly goods, beginning from product conception and ending not just at
the point of sale, but with final disposal. Some of this will happen through recycling. In other cases, we need to re-think how much packaging is really required.
For logistics, successful sustainability includes network optimization, updated
procurement procedures and warehouse layout optimization. Separately,
MICHAEL
FORHEZ,
Director of
Business
Solutions,
Consumer
Markets, TCS
each area has a positive impact on the environment with financial and other savings. The values only increase with coordinated efforts.
Lastly, with CPFR now an industry recognized
process, it is possible to build a sustainable supply chain, which can be actively measured and
managed with higher forecast accuracy and
improved production schedules.
“IT has always
played a key
role in most
strategic
initiatives,
and the
sustainability
movement is
no different.”
What about IT as a lever in going green?
FORHEZ: IT has always played a key role in most
strategic initiatives, and the sustainability movement is no different. For example, working with
IT, transportation managers can mitigate the
effects of unexpected and causal events with analytical upstream and downstream models that
smooth and streamline the transportation and
planning process. Meanwhile, mobility solutions
can enable dynamic scheduling of transportation
tasks, while providing real-time asset tracking.
To read this article
in its entirety, visit:
www.consumer
goods.com/BTL
July10
Where do we go from here?
FORHEZ: Our industry is moving from the lofty
goal of a “sustainable” business, balancing opportunity and risk, to a more forthright and worthy
consideration of what it will take to conserve
resources while being less egregious to the environment. With the information, technology and
expertise readily available, the time is now to
move forward aggressively and decisively.
