The green supply chain: Integrating suppliers into environmental management processes

In business today, companies cannot ignore environmental issues. Increasing government regulation and stronger public mandates for environmental accountability have brought these issues into the executive suite, and onto strategic planning agendas. At the same time, companies are integrating their supply chain processes to lower costs and better serve customers. These two trends are not independent; companies must involve suppliers and purchasers to meet and even exceed the environmental expectations of their customers and their governments. Based on case studies of five companies in the furniture industry, a number of supply chain environmentally-friendly practices are identified. Using accepted qualitative research methods for case-based research, several primary areas for change to increase purchasing's impact on environmental results are identified: 1. materials used in product design for the environment, 2. product design processes, 3. supplier process improvement, 4. supplier evaluation, and 5. inbound logistics processes.