SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainable
supply chains are in SAP ’ s DNA
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bill of materials . A bill of materials is a list of parts , items , assemblies , subassemblies , documents and drawings required to create a product .
Design sustainability into products “ A business might need to make a change to a product ’ s bill of material ,” says Barkman . “ We can help them make that change at the design stage , and then translate this into a bill of material for the various manufacturing steps .”
He adds : If a business can do this digitally on an ongoing basis then that ’ s going to drive both productivity and sustainability to a whole new level .”
When it comes to embedding sustainability into companywide processes surely there are challenges ? Changing regulations from country to country , for example .
SAP customers generate
87 % of total global commerce
“ Of course , we want to ensure our customers have the right tools , processes and systems to be in compliance with regulations ,” says Barkman . “ But in some ways , it ’ s gone way beyond regulations . The journey into sustainability kind of began with that base level of regulations , and these don ’ t really change .”
Now , he says , the real challenge is more about keeping up with customers ’ evermore ambitious sustainability goals .
“ The United Nations has set some pretty top-level sustainability goals , and many of the businesses we meet have rigorous aspirations and goals for how they want to operate , and how they want to help lead us towards a more sustainable world . I ’ d say that the real challenge is how we lead these companies towards those noble , but highlevel , goals .
100 October 2023