No, this is not another political rant.  But, it's time to re-visit green initiatives to see if and how they might affect business relationships.  So, put aside any predetermined positions on the reality or unreality of global warming, and, if real, whether caused by humankind or not.  Whatever the outcome of that debate, we still have serious responsibilities to husband resources and nurture the planet.  And, unlike a couple of generations ago, business gets the picture.

Today, in the supply chain world, it’s not enough to get smug about your own progress and accomplishments in the realm of green.  Your green is nearly worthless if your upstream suppliers aren’t equally green.  And, you’re both in trouble if the ultimate downstream customer doesn’t care.

As we’ve often said, our world is populated by competing supply chains.  So, to be sustainably green, the entire supply chain needs to be pursuing green objectives in sync with one another.  In fact, the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) defines sustainable supply chains in those terms.

Others are catching on.  Inbound Logistics magazine just published a list of green supply chain partners.  They may not have gone quite far enough, but they’re going in the right direction.  And they’ve enlisted their printer and their suppliers to join in the elimination of waste in their own supply chain.  Eyefortransport has issued a Carbon & Sustainability Report to go along with their Sustainable Supply Chain Summit.  The report isn’t focused on what a company ought to do, but on what supply chains need to do.

I think the emergence of this issue is a huge net positive; I also think it will tax business relationships, as supply chain partners figure out how to link their individual green initiatives.  It may also be stimulating “greenwash” claims by those who’d rather talk the talk than walk the walk.

How is your company being affected by a supply chain-wide green direction?  Have you had to re-prioritize your efforts to match up with those of your key relationship partners?  Has the difficult economy impacted your ability to pursue green progress and keep pace with competing supply chains?  Are you running into supply chain partners who are greenwashing?

I’ve written a couple of time about the status of green in the supply chain, and particularly how hard times might affect programs.  An update will soon be available at www.artvanbodegraven.com.  A fresh outlook will also soon be resident on www.s4consulting.com.   Cited sources are www.inboundlogistics.com (August 2009) and www.eft.com.