Supply Chain Network Design: Architecting a Green Future - An Aberdeen Report

The green-optimized supply chain has become a focus of corporate innovation and social responsibility that has powerfully impacted efficiency, profitability, and the very nature of global relationships, all along the value chain. In the March 2008 report, Building a Green Supply Chain: Social Responsibility for Fun and Profit, Aberdeen benchmarked the green supply chain initiatives of over 300 firms, world-wide. Evidence that a growing number of companies are moving from green rhetoric to sustainable action, 83% of respondents indicated that they have completed or are planning the green-focused redesign of their supply chains. (Figure 2)

Supply chain network design is an important component of this overall green redesign of the supply chain. Adding green/sustainability criteria to the complex process of determining the optimum configuration for physical supply chain layout and planning is the foundation for many of these new initiatives. This research brief explores the usage of network design tools and techniques as part of a successful and sustainable green supply chain.