global supply chain Tag

June 12, 2017 In Capacity Building, Ethical Purchasing

New UN Report Showcases Sustainable Public Procurement Practices Around the Globe

Version 2The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) recently released the 2017 Global Review of Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP), which provides and in-depth look at how governments and public institutions around the world are improving the sustainability of their supply chains and procurement practices.

Building on the first Global Review, published in 2013, this report draws on research conducted in 2015 and 2016 to present a comprehensive picture of global progress in advancing SPP and to elucidate the opportunities, needs, challenges, and innovations in SPP in the last five years.

The 2017 Global Review is unique in its breadth of coverage on SPP, incorporating thoughts, opinions, and data from more than 200 stakeholders across 41 countries. The report found that, although there continue to be significant challenges, awareness and implementation of SPP principles continues to grow around the world. Countries are working toward implementing SPP mainly through capacity-building activities for staff and stakeholders, and through integrating SPP principles and practices into existing procurement and management-related processes, procedures, and tools.

The report also discusses persistent challenges related to SPP implementation, including the perception that sustainable products are more expensive and a lack of expertise on sustainable purchasing. Countries are actively working to overcome these challenges, particularly through awareness-raising and knowledge-sharing activities.

Reeve is proud to have been a part of this project, which will be a useful source of information and experience on SPP, and can contribute to greater implementation and ultimately greater impacts through sustainable procurement activities.

The 2017 Global Review was published as part of UNEP’s 10YFP Programme on Sustainable Public Procurement, a “global multi- stakeholder platform that supports the implementation of SPP around the world. The Programme builds synergies between diverse partners to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) target on SPP, i.e. to promote public procurement practices that are sustainable, in accordance with national policies and priorities. The United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) leads the 10YFP SPP Programme with ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) and the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute (KEITI) as co-leads.”

October 7, 2011 In Ethical Purchasing, Olympics, Out and About, Sustainable Purchasing

PMAC Symposium bridges the gap for Global Supply Chain Solutions

Flickr / ilkerender

What are the key supply chain issues and challenges that are keeping practitioners and academics up at night? This year’s International Symposium on Supply Chain Management brought together a unique blend of professionals from around the world to discuss key issues at the forefront of supply chains and business strategy.

An important aim of the event was to both allow companies to leverage emerging research for supply chain challenges, and provide academics with perspective on the practical application of knowledge in the field.

There was plenty of quality discussion and insights on the evolving field of supply chain management. We picked up on a number of key themes during the event, including the

  1. Responsiveness of supply chains: We heard both from presenters concerned with how to recover from sudden shocks to the supply chain, like those caused by the recent earthquake in Japan, and how to effectively react to pressing humanitarian issues, like famine, by quickly assembling supply chains.
  1. Value in integrating sustainability:  Cynthia Shanahan, Director of Purchasing Resources at McMaster University shared some impressive results and valuable success factors from a recent purchasing initiative with Grand & Toy. The program reduced the delivery frequency from five visits to once per week and replaced cardboard boxes with reusable tote bags (reducing cardboard packaging by as much as 20,000 boxes per year).
  1. Current innovations and strategic issues in Canada: A presentation of particular interest to us was delivered by Bob Armstrong, President of Supply Chain & Logistics Association Canada, regarding an industry-academia-government partnership that produced a complete profile of logistics innovation and global business strategies in Canada.

Bringing together themes of responsiveness and sustainability, our own Tim Reeve presented on his role in the rapid implementation of a sustainable supply chain for Sochi 2014. In the short video below, Tim and Rick Fitch from Fleetwood Metal share why they attended the International Symposium on SCM.

Attendees agreed on the strategic relevance and competitive advantage offered by focusing on sustainable supply chain management. Another message repeated by delegates was the value of collaboration up and down the supply chain for mutual benefit, which we feel particularly applies to sustainability measures.

June 27, 2011 In Ethical Purchasing, Ethical Supply Chain Management, Reeve News

Who do you want to hear from? Call for guest speaker suggestions

Reeve Consulting is partnering with Social Accountability International to deliver SA8000 training, August 22-26 at SFUSocial Accountability International (SAI) Harbourfront in Vancouver.

A fantastic opportunity to develop your expertise in managing CSR initiatives, SA8000 is the leading global social accountability standard for decent working conditions and labour rights. This week-long training will provide practical knowledge on the main issues of social auditing and performance and is targeted at a wide audience including sustainability directors, brand managers, auditors, NGO and government staff, among others.

fork, knife, spoon

Flickr / Tanel Peets

In conjunction with the training, we’ll be hosting a dinner and networking event on August 25.  The event will include a guest speaker who will share their extensive experience in global supply chain compliance and implementation of supplier codes of conduct.

In preparation for this networking event, we’re requesting your input:

If there were one person we could bring to Vancouver this year to speak about responsible sourcing, ethical consumerism and sustainable supply chains, who would you like to hear from?

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All answers will be kept private to the Reeve Consulting team.

Thank you in advance for your input!