3 Procurement Stories That Will Inspire You
Things feeling a little tough right now? Let these three inspiring procurement stories lift your spirits and inspire you to aim higher.
After a tumultuous eighteen months, with the beginning to 2021 marred with some extreme supply chain challenges (AKA the USD $9 billion blockage), life in procurement is a little tough. Sometimes it just feels like a one-foot-in-front-of-another slog day in and day out, all while we try to do more and achieve more – for example, do our part to eradicate modern slavery in our supply chain or better our environmental impact. It’s hard going, to say the least.
What we need in times like these is a little inspiration.
And that’s exactly what we’re here for.
Here at Procurious, we scoured the web for uplifting stories to share with our community. So without further ado, here are three procurement stories that put a smile on our dials and gave us the inspiration to keep fighting the good fight:
1. Mars creates a Supplier Leadership on Climate Transition coalition
One of the world’s most popular confectionery brands, Mars, has been the subject of intense criticism over its many supply chain sustainability failures for years. From deforestation in West Africa, to the continued use of palm oil, Mars has drawn the ire of many critics, some of whom say the company is simply too big to fall, regardless of what it’s costing the planet.
But fortunately, things at Mars seem to be changing.
Mars, along with PepsiCo and spices supplier McCormick, have recently created a Supplier Leadership on Climate Transition coalition. The aim of the coalition is to help their suppliers drive down their own emissions, and will provide these suppliers with resources and tools to do so. 2020 was the first year of the program, with a focus on educating suppliers about greenhouse gas emissions while helping to both calculate their carbon footprint, and set science-based targets for decreasing it.
By encouraging its own suppliers to take action, Mars aims to shorten the timeline for reaching their own targets for emissions, which are currently ambitious (as they should be), and require Mars to cut emissions by 67% by 2050.
Although it’s too early to see any results, the commitment on behalf of Mars (and others) shows that it is possible to change not just the actions of your own organisation, but to also exert a positive influence on manufacturers in your supply chain.
2. H&M accelerates transparency and sustainability in supply chain
When you think of sustainability, the last industry you would think would be championing it is fast fashion. Yet that is exactly what appears to be happening at giant Swedish label Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), who are attempting to positively influence the industry through rapidly increasing their transparency and investment in sustainable materials.
Of course, in the past H&M have made headlines for their practices, but for all the wrong reasons. In 2010, 21 workers died in a Bangladesh factory fire, and even more recently, critics have pointed out that millions of H&M garments flow into the ocean every single day.
These trends may be (slowly) changing though, with the recent appointment of CEO Helena Helmersson, who was the brand’s former sustainability chief. Helena has introduced a number of environmentally-positive procurement practices, including mandating that over 60% of H&M’s materials must come from recycled or ‘more sustainable’ sources, and that by 2025, 30% of all materials be recycled.
H&M is also leading the way in transparency; a quality that we’ve repeatedly pointed out as being one of business’s most important responsibilities. H&M publish a full list of their suppliers on their website, as well as detailed product information on all of their clothing. Beyond this, H&M was one of the few brands that stood by their purchasing agreements in 2020 (despite impending losses), as well as updated their Fair Living Wage strategy.
While sustainability and fast fashion may seem inherently contradictory, introducing recycled materials, increasing transparency, and ensuring a Fair Living Wage is still an enviable achievement, and one that should hopefully inspire other companies to follow suit.
Inspiring stories don’t just take shape in eye-watering mega-money deals… they’re happening on every local and regional scale too! We were particularly inspired by this story here:
3. KPMG wins on all fronts by engaging indigenous supplier Muru Office Supplies
Diversity in your supply chain is not just a nice-to-have these days, but a need-to-have for so many reasons. Yet still, Indigenous businesses remain underrepresented in supply chains around the world, despite the fact that they are growing at over 12.5% every year, and every dollar invested in one creates $4.41 in social return.
Many large organisations say the reason they don’t include Indigenous businesses in their supply chain is because they simply can’t find them, or that they may not be the best choice in a competitive market. But one company who is showing that that isn’t the case is KPMG, who recently engaged Indigenous business Muru Office Supplies on a two-year contract.
Muru was selected following a standard procurement process, says KPMG’s Head of Procurement, Business Enablement and Workplace, Paul Ktenas. Paul says:
“The partnership between KPMG and Muru is initially for two years, and was finalised after a competitive market review.”
KPMG’s partnership with Muru was a win-win, and not just because KPMG is Muru’s biggest client. Beyond this, says Muru CEO Mitchell Ross, the partnership enables both organisations to further assist the Indigenous community:
“We [Muru] invest a portion of our profits in Indigenous community projects, and working with KPMG has allowed us to increase our contribution to $52,000 last financial year.”
The partnership in part came about due to KPMG’s commitment to Indigenous procurement targets, a target that all organisations should aim for.
When it comes to adapting, resetting, and moving forward into 2021 and beyond, the procurement community is full of inspiring stories.
Tell us what you think will happen next, and what has inspired you, with our exciting new survey created in conjunction with Compleat, What Next?
Have your say today (it will take you less than 15 minutes!)
