Page 245 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

10

A Case Study of the Practice of Sustainable

Supply Chain Management

1
Annie Weisbrod and Larry Lof tus 2
Principal Scientist, Product Safety & Regulatory Affairs, Environmental Stewardship,
The Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, OH, USA
2
Director, Corporate Purchases, The Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, OH, USA

Abstract
Companies can use several methods to understand and instigate improvements to the
sustainability of consumer products. This chapter is a case study of the sustainable
supply chain management system in use at a Fortune 100 company, and reveals the
current capabilities of global supply chains to measure and improve in sustainability
metrics. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and supply chain due diligence are the pre-
dominant systems integrated into the work and governance processes of The Procter &
Gamble Company (P&G). Results from multiple LCA studies led P&G and its leading
supplier partners to develop a Supplier Sustainability Board, and an environmental
sustainability scorecard and ratings process for suppliers. This was added to P&G's
existing performance requirements for suppliers. Results of the first two years of score-
card use demonstrate strong interest and potential for supply chain collaboration in
environmental sustainability. Creating a framework on which to build that collabora-
tion has quickly generated tangible results.
Keywords: Sustainable supply chain management, sustainable supply
chain governance, P&G, LCA of consumer products, environmental
sustainability scorecard, supplier performance management

10.1 Introduction

Environmental scientists at Procter & Gamble (P&G) have collaborated with
government, academic, and other industry experts to develop methods for life
cycle assessment (LCA) since its inception in the 1990s (Fava et al. 1991). The
results of their LCAs conducted over 20 years show that for many kinds of
consumer products, specific supply chains are the primary contributors to the
environmental indicators evaluated in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA).
Although many sustainability programs focus on improving manufacturing,
many kinds of companies are no more sustainable than the suppliers they

Mary Ann Curran (ed.) Life Cycle Assessment Handbook: A Guide for Environmentally
Sustainable Products, (233-248) © 2012 Scrivener Publishing LLC
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