Categorization: A 2011 Sustainable Supply Chain Focus

Blog by Julie Urlaub, Founder and Managing Partner at Taiga Company

Jan 25, 2011 9:15 AM ET

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Categorization: A 2011 Sustainable Supply Chain Focus http://3bl.me/q5hy6d by @TaigaCompany #SCM #green #sustainability

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A 2010 year in review revealed a growing emphasis on environmental awareness, social responsibility, and business sustainability actions in the supply chain. More progressive companies, similar in action to IBM and Wal-Mart, have begun to evaluate inbound supply and their organizational role in the overall supply chain from an expanded perspective. Our sustainability consulting experiences revealed that, in 2010, business sustainability action resulted in strategic sourcing and procurement guidelines to align suppliers with defined business sustainability strategies. The coming year will see these efforts moved forward.

A post by Spend Matters, 2011 Prediction: Procurement Organizations Refocus Efforts on Complex Categories as a Core Strategy, explores the evolution of supply chain management strategies. As pure procurement savings decline, more advanced areas of business sustainability begin to be explored. Named specifically in this article, advanced category management begins to examine supply chain compliance (internal/external) and demand management.

Developed from the retail industry, category management within the supply chain is a grouping of common spend for the purpose of synergy and aligned business improvement efforts. Drilling into the framework of spend/activity categorization, a traditional category management plan is an all encompassing program, with several major components:

• Commercial Strategy

• Supplier/Contract Management Plans

• Demand Management Plan

• Communication/Change Management Plan

• Continuous Improvement Process

Moving forward into 2011, our sustainability consulting practice believes the next generation of ‘sustainable’ category management will continue to emerge in the New Year. Focused on a new level of responsibility across all supply chain activities, efforts in the coming year will drive deeper into category value by addressing more pointed supply questions: click here to continue reading.

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