Sustainable Procurement

1. Sustainable Procurement Sustainable procurement is the process of purchasing or acquiring goods, resources, and utilities by any business, in an ethical, responsible and environment-friendly manner. More and more companies have recently switched to sustainable procurement because it is economical in the long run and benefits the company, customers as well as the society at the same time. Consider the example of a product. The initial cost plays a role, the cost of the products life cycle plays a role and several other aspects like cost of acquisition, maintenance and cost of the end of service time and disposal are very crucial. Thus, an ideal customer would not prefer a product that is exploiting labor or is harmful to the environment. Here, the supply chain of the trade is a critical aspect and once it meets all the above criteria of being clean and sustainable to the environment, then it becomes a sustainable procurement process. It is no surprise that in today’s day and age, economic irresponsibility has the potential to destroy any company. At the same time people are really getting agitated even by the smallest incidents of environmental transgression with social media playing a significant role, getting information about the supply chains of major companies is not a difficult task. On realizing anything sketchy regarding the environment, the masses bring it out in the open and publicize it on various social media platforms. This can further lead to the boycott of any company. This is a new pressure faced by the companies and is forcing them to take up more green initiatives and sustainable ideas. To start off with sustainable procurement training, the basic needs of the company have to be set out to how sustainability objectives. These objectives have to be managed at an early stage of the supply chain process via market analysis, forward commitment, life cycle assessment, risk management, whole-life costing, scenario modeling, social return on investment, etc. Given below are the 5 ways in which any organizationcan take the first step to sustainable procurement: 1. Sustainable Supply Rather than Sustainable Supplier The company should focus on getting a sustainable supply rather than a sustainable supplier. This means that companies should be willing to use more suitable techniques and products to supply to the demands of the buying organization. They should try to shift their focus slightly from the sustainability practices of the supplier to the product itself. This will have a reasonable impact on the supply chain and the prices and would be the first step to sustainable procurement services. 2. Do Some Research on The Sustainable Supplier

2. Many companies are not aware of the countless influences that happen due to their supply chain on the environment, and management. Here the organizations should evaluate their supply chain and track down the problems they cause along the way, from the perspective of risk and opportunities as well. On investigating, the supply chain professionals will realize that some suppliers that are large and sophisticated, are surprisingly way ahead on the sustainable service curve as them, while other modest suppliers are slightly behind in the concept. This can be an opportunity to learn new things and explore more. Some of the suppliers will be large and sophisticated, while others may be better characterized as mom-and-pop shops. Upon investigation, some suppliers may even be further ahead of the curve in their sustainability journeys than the client itself, creating new opportunities for learning. 3. Create a Culture that Favors Sustainability The company should first make sure that the suppliers are aware of the sustainability process they are pursuing. Here, the notion of "lead by example" comes to play. When an organization is seen practicing environmentally friendly procedures and positive labor operations, it might motivate many others to take the step too. And once the word gets out to the suppliers, they might certainly contemplate on having a much cleaner and greener approach to the supply chain. This also helps the company's public image. As it gains the spotlight, it is bound to attract many other profitable and socially conscious organizations to join forces with them This works well with the public image and helps to gain a good amount of consumer favor. 4. Start Documenting the Performance Once the company sets a goal to have acleaner and greener approach towards the supply chain, it has to determine the starting point of the process. For example, before the organization starts off by reducing its suppliers’ collective carbon footprint, it is essential to know the current emissions of the supplier Only then the company can take a decision on reducing it to an even lower level. Also, while researching, the organization has to be a bit careful so as to not ruin the relationship between the supplier and itself. This is something that is a bit critical and thus, the organization should consider working on past records and information they already have. 5. Encourage Innovation and New Procedures The organization has to be open-minded about new processes and innovative ideas. Since sustainability has recently been recognized, there are many aspects of it that are not solid for businesses.

3. Thus, it is advisable to take in all ideas and inventions that are emerging in the market towards the sustainable procurement process, by the supplier. In this economy, any green and clean method that is profitable cannot be overlooked. That is why it is important to always have an open mind about innovations and encourage new strategies and ideas in the supply chain.