CONSULTING

Visibility is key to sustainability

RODNEY WEIDEMANN looks at the critical role consultants play in driving more sustainable supply chains

In a world where the supply chain is already evolving rapidly, companies now have to also focus on sustainability and other environmental concerns. Under such conditions, designing an efficient, sustainable supply chain is more crucial than ever.

According to Gary Benatar, CEO of consulting and infrastructure design firm Relog, consultants have never been more necessary. “Consultants bring a wide base of experience to companies, in that they broaden the view of what is possible, based on their experience and exposure to other ideas, solutions and experiences – as opposed to a company that might have a blinkered view of its own operations.”

Anton de Klerk, EY Africa supply chain field of play leader, agrees. “Organisations don’t always have the visibility of their operations required to understand and build resilience and sustainability into their supply chains. Consultants can offer an end-to-end view of exactly what makes a business resilient, while helping them to become even more so.”

Clients often work in silos (meaning functions focus on their own jobs and don’t really link up across functions), something De Klerk points to as the enemy of resilience. Consultants, however, can work across and objectively connect these silos, helping to drive more value chain thinking throughout the organisation and enabling it to improve its resilience. They can also help to package relevant ideas and plans in the right manner to be presented to the board.

“This can cause conflict, but it’s important to view sustainability as a competitive advantage and a big driver of transformation projects too,” suggests de Klerk. “This means viewing it less as a regulatory issue than a value-added approach. Don’t make it a box-ticking exercise, but rather a fundamental part of the value proposition you offer to your customers and shareholders.”

Sustainability and efficiency

Benatar notes that sustainability in the supply chain is often focused on the sustainability of materials and equipment used in manufacturing. However, there is a bigger picture in designing a sustainable supply chain in terms of processes and resource use. “One of the fundamentals we focus on is that designing efficiency into the supply chain is effectively critical to sustainability. An efficient system will use less labour, energy and space, along with fewer machines.

“The consultant that focuses on efficiency and the best solutions – rather than on a solution that merely sells a lot of specific equipment – increases opportunities for efficiency and helps design sustainable solutions to address environmental concerns,” he adds.

De Klerk points out that sustainability is a complicated matter including decarbonisation and usage of natural resources, product

“Remember that if you don’t truly understand your challenges around sustainability, you can’t fix them.” – Anton de Klerk

KEY FOCUSES OF A SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY CHAIN

• Decarbonisation: There are strong drives towards renewable energy and properly measuring emissions. • Sourcing: The focus here is on ethical and sustainable sourcing. • Traceability: This means knowing exactly where your products have come from. • Circularity: As far as possible, you want a closed-loop supply chain, with as little waste as possible. • Regulatory taxes and incentives Source: Anton de Klerk, EY

ingredients, contributions to deforestation and the waste you create. “Its a very complex issue, which is why the sooner you link it to your corporate strategy, the sooner you can determine your responses to it and put in place clear, actionable activities and approaches over the short, medium and longer term.”

Closing the circle

The circular economy is a growing topic in South Africa and across the world. Consultants can offer a wide-angle view in this regard and play a key role here, such as ensuring your reporting is correct in order to help you avoid fines, says De Klerk. “It’s also worth mentioning that consultants are able to leverage international best practice around issues like the circular economy, because there are other markets that are more mature. Remember that if you don’t truly understand your challenges around sustainability, you can’t fix them. You need visibility, which is what a good consultant provides.”

Benatar agrees, adding that a consultant, if focused on building a resilient and sustainable supply chain, can certainly craft a process to help you achieve both a good business return on investment (ROI) and a strong green ROI.

“With the correct approach and the ability to measure the end-to-end supply chain – rather than just at an individual component level – the overall green supply chain can often be cheaper, more circular and sustainable. You just need to focus correctly, and it is this focus that a consultant offers,” Benatar concludes.