Manufacturers struggle with green supply chains: IFS study

The vast majority of mid- to large-sized manufacturers responding to an IFS North America research study are grappling with market pressure to measure and report on their environmental footprint, while rapid change forces them to regularly change their business models.

More than 80 percent of respondents said that green supply chains – in which companies make purchasing decisions based on the environmental impact of vendors and their products – will become more important in the next three years. The study was conducted in December of 2010 among more than 200 executives with manufacturing operations with greater than $100 million in revenue.

Respondents indicated that their IT infrastructure, including enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, was not keeping up with their changing green supply chain needs, with 87 percent reporting that this data was handled at least in part through hard copy. Meanwhile, more than 80 percent of respondents said that their companies are running multiple business models or manufacturing modes. Seventy-four percent had added modes in the last five years; 54 percent had added modes – engineer-to-order, engineer, procure, construct, for instance – at least twice in that time; and 28 percent had added modes three or more times.

For more information on the study, visit www.ifsworld.com/en-NA/News.