Driving sustainability into the supply chain

Published on: Oct 28, 2009

SweatshopThe challenges of responsible sourcing were debated at a recent roundtable event hosted by Two Tomorrows in San Francisco.

Sustainability and procurement professionals from Marathon Oil, McKesson, Cisco, Symantec and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission met at the confidential and informal knowledge-sharing event, the latest in a series of roundtables run by Two Tomorrows.

Discussions were led by Todd Cort, CEO of Two Tomorrows (North America), and Mark Line, executive chairman of Two Tomorrows Group. They centred on how to drive responsible practice into the supply chain.

Key talking points included:

  • What standards and tools are out there?
  • How do we move beyond command-and-control mechanisms like procurement standards?
  • How do we assess risks in the supply chain?
  • How do we actively engage with suppliers to promote sustainable practices?

Delegates spent time discussing three different approaches to responsible procurement by Wal-Mart, HP and Symantec. In particular, the conversation benefited from in-depth information on the Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and its standards, guidelines and expectations.

Says Todd: “It became clear that there is a wide range of approaches and priorities between companies and sectors when it comes to responsible procurement, and a wide variety of drivers in the marketplace including investor and customer pressure.

“Despite this diversity, the group was able to develop and populate a Maturity Matrix for Responsible Procurement that was generally applicable. The Maturity Matrix identified characteristics of ‘early’, ‘progressing’ and ‘mature’ responsible procurement programmes.”

Two Tomorrows is currently working with several clients on their responsible procurement programmes. They include Bacardi, Crossrail and Symantec.

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