‘Greening’ of supply chain poses challenges

Canadian executives concerned with supply chain management face a number of risks including environmental regulations and pressures, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) LLP in Canada.
Lino Casalino, partner, Canadian supply chain and logistics leader with PwC, points to several key trends influencing current and future supply chains over the next five years one of which includes the greening of the supply chain.
Heightened environmental concerns will have significant implications for supply chains, Casalino warns.
This has and will continue to include political, regulatory and consumer pressures to reduce carbon emissions and adopt environmentally friendly practices.
Organizations must balance traditional supply chain levers such as cost and service levels with the environmental impact of their manufacturing, distribution and transportation decisions.
He also noted that manufacturing is challenged by issues including the Canadian dollar, energy costs, labour shortages and the regulatory environment.
Given this, we foresee that global sourcing will continue to rise in popularity as companies seek to compete on a cost basis but will increase supply chain complexity as organizations deal with new suppliers, longer lead times and the added costs of items such as transportation, inventory carrying, customs/excise/duty and compliance.
Security will also continue to be a crucial part of supply chain management, he notes.
Based on expected volume growth, cross-border wait times will only proliferate in the future particularly at the point of domestic terrorist threats/strike, a PwC statement says.
As well, industries targeted by counterfeit products will have to tighten their control of the supply chain through either strategic moves or the use of technology.