SupplyChain Magazine September 2021 | Page 51

PROCUREMENT placing pressure on them to rise above the competition , suppliers now have options . Shortages and global disruption has up ended supply and demand- and only the best companies attract the best suppliers . This also applies to ESG . Global leaders such as Apple and IKEA are not infallible .
The companies that are the best at this are those that set the standards internally , Patel says . Global leaders such as Apple and IKEA are not infallible , but they are transparent and forward-thinking in their sustainability practices and initiatives . But what you see time and again is procurement being left out completely from this conversation . And then there are gaps in a company ’ s goals and objectives , and in how they actually do it .” More sustainable supply chains , greater equity for minority stakeholders and decades-long decarbonisation programmes do not happen in a vacuum .
Supplier collaboration piece . So when procurement has decided and , uh , decided to work with a certain supplier to , to improve , you know , the environmental aspect or the sustainable procurement aspect , um , what often happens is they ' ll , they ' ll put that supplier into a development programme , right ? Like here , Hey supplier , we need you to improve on these aspects and we will continue doing business with you for X , X amount , right ? So it could be around energy usage , right . It could be around water usage . Um , it could be around different aspects , but that ' s , that ' s what a lot of the leading , um , procurement organisations do is they ' ll , they ' ll actually develop programmes , not only to get suppliers , to give them more sustainably , innovative solutions , but also to help the suppliers improve their own , uh , processes and programmes around sustainability .
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