Environmental manufacturing issues have become important to both consumers and regulatory entities in recent years. Although previous research has investigated environmental influences on supply chains and product development, less attention has focused on the environmental influences on manufacturing planning and control systems. This lack of attention belies the fact that today’s successful firms must balance environmental concerns with production, inventory and distribution issues. While many of today’s firms use ERP systems to manage many of their resources, new environmental drivers and stakeholders may require additional integration of traditional manufacturing goals with new environmental goals. This paper proposes that significant competitive advantages could be leveraged by integrating environmental MRP issues with the ERP systems that many firms are currently implementing, creating an ‘environmentally conscious’ ERP system.

Patricia J. Moser-Stern , President, i3 advantage Inc., patricia@i3advantage.com

There is no question that the environment is one of the major issues facing the world today. It has attracted star power of the likes of Al Gore and Arnold Schwarzenegger, however, back in 1968 Bobby Kennedy was warning of the potential ramifications of proceeding with environmental ignorance.
Some corporations call themselves “green” but how environmentally friendly are they truly? Being environmentally responsible is more than just having blue boxes available for recycling, or turning off lights.
The Supply Chain is where any business can have the most significant impact on the environment, either positively or negatively. The usual suspects are the most obvious, the emissions as a result of transportation, but how deep are organizations looking into their supply chain to determine the depth of their “greenness”?
Corporations are racing ahead in the continuous pursuit of efficiency and lower costs, but at what price to the future of our globe. Offshoring for product manufacture has taken off, because of the obvious lower cost of goods, from areas such as China, India, and Latin America.
Yet, although, allowing corporations to achieve greater profits, they are turning a blind eye to the poor environmental records of these countries. The Western business approach to “well, it’s not in my backyard”, is both naïve and dangerous to the future of this planet, as we are continually reminded that what happens “over-there” eventually impacts everyone in the world.
What kind of an environmental audit have firms done on their supply chain? This is not just within their four walls, but is there an active outreach to certify your suppliers as green? In the search for the almighty “cost savings” have you enabled your organization to become an environmental delinquent? How can you reach out to your organization, your suppliers and customers to create an environmental renaissance?
This session would provide thought provoking questions, insight and vision into the environmental impact of the supply chain and “how” the supply chain can begin its journey to environmental leadership.