May 24, 2022
Supply Chain Transparency Begins with Buy-In from Businesses
In year two of our quest to bring visibility to the supply chain industry’s problems, both within the enterprises that manage them and in the public eye, we hope more businesses put effort into supply chain transparency. This hope, in turn, will allow the inefficiencies to surface so they can continue to be identified and improved.
At Requis, we believe it’s high time to bring more visibility to the supply chain industry’s issues. That’s why I’m hoping you’ll continue to join me in the calling to create International Supply Chain Day on June 4 this year and every year following. Hopefully, it will help eliminate waste for businesses to start their journey toward better sustainability and true circularity.
In our first year of calling attention to this goal, we had hoped that developing and adopting an easy-to-use ESG metric and sustainability efforts would encourage businesses to adopt and implement to reduce waste and use energy efficiently. While this goal hasn’t fully materialized, we feel that the momentum has begun, and the scope of the original purpose has grown.
In year two, we aim for transparency and ask businesses to show real impact and deliver on ESG commitments. Neglecting sustainability can lead to higher employee turnover, customer pushback, and damage to a company’s brand.
What’s the Focus?
Why do we need to keep the focus on supply chains? The focus comes at a time of mounting pressure from countries, businesses, and consumers worldwide. In January 2022, the World Economic Forum reported that the “Supply chain is now a key focus of the C-Suite” due to the pandemic. The underlying message is that the resiliency of our supply chains is a top priority on a global scale. We must build a resilient supply chain that responds to dramatic changes and the resulting challenges organizations face in a post-pandemic world.
The industry can no longer focus on the old methods to meet demands and businesses are expected to be agents of change while increasing value for internal stakeholders. These goals can be achieved with more visibility, collaboration across companies, and transparency, with diversity and sustainability goals being transparent and public.
While holding suppliers accountable through a due-diligence program, revamping supply chain processes will ensure proper procedures and controls for sustainable and ethical operations.
Establishing accurate metrics to ensure that the right goals are being set and achieved is also vital, as pointed out in our first-year goal. Read our 10-year plan and the awareness we hope to accomplish each year. Let’s expand the discussion for International Supply Chain Day beyond sustainability to encompass resiliency, risk management, and visibility.
Let’s Make it Happen.
As I mentioned at the beginning, we know that things will change along the way. But if we don’t start the journey, we won’t get anywhere. We know that there will be definite consequences if we do nothing as the world’s population grows to over ten billion people by 2050, and available resources stay constant.
We hope you will become a pioneer in driving global impact to support your business’s financial bottom line and social obligations. I hope you’ll join me on what promises to be a fascinating journey towards a better future.
We’re making progress in bringing visibility to this issue, but we’re calling on all businesses to celebrate supply chains and supply chain visibility on June 4, 2022. Share your stories on social media and tag them with #InternationalSupplyChainDay, or if you prefer a shorter one, #SupplyChainDay.
Sincerely,
Richard Martin
About the Author
Richard Martin
Richard is a 25-year veteran of the high-tech industry working for technology leaders such as VMware, Nortel, Bay Networks, 3Com, and IBM. He has a proven track record for providing strategic and operational leadership in research and development, product management, marketing, business development, sales, channel management and operations.