No Planet B: Why you need to make your supply chain sustainable, now

When it comes to sustainability, many business leaders are feeling the pressure to act. Customers, investors, and regulatory agencies like the SEC are demanding that companies actively address the climate crisis. Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) priorities impact every facet of business and will determine the market leaders of tomorrow. But the challenge of knowing where to begin leaves many business leaders stuck at the starting line.

Oracle’s recent global survey, No Planet B: How Can Businesses and Technology Help Save the World? found that 91% of business leaders face major challenges with sustainability and ESG initiatives. These include:

• Challenges getting ESG metrics from suppliers, partners, and other third parties
• Difficulty tracking their ESG progress due to a lack of data
• Time-consuming manual processes to report on ESG metrics
• Complexities integrating data from across global supply chains

Start with your supply chain

These responses illustrate that supply chain sustainability is top of mind for many executives. It might seem overwhelming, but supply chain is one of the first places you can make improvements, because every aspect of producing and moving goods has a sustainability component. From product design and operations planning, to manufacturing and logistics, there are many opportunities for improved efficiency at each stage of the process.

Much of the ESG journey is about conserving resources with smart planning and automation—but you can’t do that manually or with spreadsheets. Investing in technology can help companies make progress with their sustainability initiatives. 

A prerequisite for an ESG implementation is a move to the cloud. Why? Because cloud applications for the supply chain are mobile, user-friendly, and provide information using dashboards and alerts that are easy to understand. You can get updates from anywhere and respond to supply chain snags before they cascade into catastrophes.

From design to last mile sustainability

But cloud applications are just the start. From design to the last mile, Oracle has a solution for each step along the supply chain. Oracle Fusion Cloud Supply Chain Management and Manufacturing helps you design environmentally friendly products, source materials responsibly, and manufacture and transport goods in a sustainable way. Let’s look at a few real-world examples:

• You can establish standards for sustainable product design and packaging with Oracle Product Lifecycle Management.
• You can run simulations to understand the environmental impact of manufacturing and product end-of-life options (such as reuse or recycling) with Oracle Supply Chain Planning and Smart Manufacturing.
• You can make lower-carbon transportation choices with Oracle Logistics; even doing something as simple as planning truck routes with fewer left turns can reduce your carbon emissions.
• You can monitor the condition of goods in transit to reduce spoilage with Oracle IoT Intelligent Applications.
• You can collaborate with ethical suppliers and source materials responsibly with Oracle Procurement.

Examples of customers that have built more sustainable supply chains with Oracle Cloud SCM include Uber Freight, Unilever, Lidestri, and many others. 

The challenge of change

Like any technology project, ESG initiatives require some change management. Some employees will worry that technology and automation might mean the end of their jobs. Yet the World Economic Forum reports that, “by 2025, technology will create at least 12 million more jobs than it destroys.” Reassure your employees that not only will they still have work, but when automation takes over manual tasks, there will be more time for higher-order thinking, innovation, and work/life balance.

Moreover, a sustainability mission increases morale and helps people feel invested in the company. In fact, 83% of respondents to the “No Planet B” survey said they’re more likely to work for a company that demonstrates a commitment to ESG priorities, and 69% would leave their company to work for a brand that takes it more seriously. Especially in the tight talent market, attracting and retaining employees who believe deeply in their work is a win-win.

There’s no time to waste. The pressure to act is not just coming from consumers willing to cut ties with brands who don’t take action on sustainability. Within the supply chain ecosystem, manufacturers can refuse to work with suppliers who don’t practice ethical sourcing, or shippers can award bids to carriers who have capabilities to reduce their carbon footprints. Future partnerships and opportunities will be built on the ESG planning your company undertakes today.

Learn how your company can make progress on ESG initiatives with Oracle Cloud SCM. Download the full report, “No Planet B: How Can Businesses and Technology Help Save the World?”