News
Thursday 15. April 2010
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| The need to catch up in terms of sustainability |
| For 41 % of those responsible for purchasing and procurement in the producing industry, ecological standards still play no part in purchasing; and for one quarter of them, social standards are still no important subject in purchasing. |
| And that although 34 % of the 202 companies interviewed in a current study – conducted by the Kerkhoff Competence Center of Supply Chain Management (KCC) at the University of St. Gallen and by the Institut für Demoskopie Allensbach – declared that compliance with ecological and social standards had resulted in competitive advantages. Change is expected, however. Thus, 69 % of the participants in the study expect that sustainability in procurement will become yet more important in the future. Those interviewed described the most important future trends as follows: Preservation of natural resources (25 %); the use of alternative sources of energy (16 %), as well as clean production (12 %). Also, 7 % of them already think about how to make their logistics areas more environmentally compatible. Sustainable procurement is already particularly important in very large companies and with producers working for the end consumer. Ecological standards are accordingly very important for 79 % of the decision-makers in the food, textile and furniture industry, but only for 50 % in the metal industry and in mechanical engineering. Consumers increasingly demand sustainable products. 45 % of those interviewed stated that, even today already, their customers – not only end consumers but also other companies or authorities – consider eco labels as important or even very important. To obtain such labels, the entire supply chain needs to be audited – all the way to winning and mining the raw materials in third world markets or in markets of newly industrialized countries. „Today, sustainability is no longer an issue exclusively for social romantics or Greens who have made it to the top management levels", says Dr. Erik Hofmann from the University of St. Gallen. f the companies interviewed, 76 % indicated that new statutory provisions had forced them into action. Changing customer demands had been the reason for 69 % to take into account in their procurement the issues of 'ecology' and 'social standards'. According to their own statements, only barely one fourth of them is "green" in their activities because of their own value system and their corporate philosophy. |
