Sustainable supply chain management

Supplier mapping Sustainable tender management SAP Product Footprint Management Carbon tracking in transportation networks

Integrating sustainable practices enables businesses to minimize their environmental footprint and promote social responsibility – and in most cases, it improves overall transparency and resilience, ensuring long-term viability in rapidly changing markets. 4flow supports customers to achieve sustainability in their supply chains.

With the many partners, customers and suppliers involved, end-to-end supply chain management plays a critical role in corporate sustainability. Additionally, the global reach of supply chains makes them a key driver of sustainability efforts. While environmental impact is an important aspect of a sustainable supply chain, it represents only one component. To create truly sustainable supply chains, organizations must also weigh the social and economic dimensions inherent in these vast global networks. Effective sustainable supply chain management recognizes the interdependence of all three elements – environmental, social, and economic – and addresses them with a holistic approach.

Sustainable supply chains present both risks and opportunities for businesses. Governments around the world are progressively introducing policies and directives to address both environmental and social concerns – such as carbon taxes (e.g., the European CBAM) and laws on corporate due diligence in supply chains (e.g., the European CS3D). However, the introduction of these measures can pose serious challenges for companies, as failure to adapt early could result in a loss of market share or even market access. Moreover, customers, investors and analysts increasingly favor socially and environmentally responsible organizations and are placing greater emphasis on sustainability when evaluating companies.

Taking proactive steps to meet regulatory requirements and exceed the expectations of customers, investors and analysts is essential. As additional benefits, by embedding sustainability throughout the supply chain, businesses can improve their market positioning and even establish industry leadership, ensuring long-term success in an environmentally conscious marketplace. Furthermore, optimizing resource use, establishing sustainable logistics practices and communicating transparently about sustainability initiatives can minimize costs, increase supply chain flexibility and enhance corporate image both internally and externally. Sustainability can therefore be seen as a true enabler on many fronts.

4flow supports customers to understand and effectively improve the sustainability of their supply chains by addressing potential challenges and taking advantage of opportunities

4flow partners with businesses to gain a clear understanding of how sustainable their current supply chain is. By identifying and measuring all relevant impact areas and stakeholders, 4flow supports its customers to establish individual sustainability baselines and solutions. Using proven benchmarks and best practices, 4flow's supply chain sustainability consulting helps identify and prioritize the most effective fields of action for each customer’s materiality.

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Supplier mapping

At a time when sustainable practices are rapidly becoming a corporate imperative, supplier mapping is a powerful method to increase transparency, resilience, and accountability within supply chains. By identifying and categorizing supplier bases and their potential risks for supply chain due diligence, businesses gain a comprehensive understanding of their supply chain networks. This empowers them to make informed decisions that align with their sustainability goals – and lays the foundation to carry out supplier sustainability audits in a structured and effective way.

Sustainable tender management

The importance of supply chain for overall corporate sustainability is well recognized – and not just in terms of emissions, where scope 3 activities often account for up to 90% of all emissions. To fully integrate sustainability in the business, organizations need to extend their efforts beyond internal operations into their supply chains. Because many supply chain services are outsourced to suppliers, integrating sustainability criteria in procurement is key to achieving significant positive environmental, social, and ethical impact. Sustainable tender management is therefore an effective way to increase supply chain sustainability.

SAP Product Footprint Management

Sustainability is quickly becoming a crucial factor in supply chains. Around the world, regulations will require businesses to report on their environmental footprint, and some government administrations are already implementing environmentally motivated taxes. Meanwhile, customer preference is further driving the need for sustainability. Consumers often consider sustainability when making purchases, preferring options with traceable product footprints.

Carbon tracking in transportation networks

Sustainability is on everyone’s agenda today. Customers, investors, regulators, and even employees are demanding the reduction of carbon emissions to meet sustainability benchmarks. A business’s ability to quickly reduce carbon equivalent (CO₂e) emissions in its supply chain will be an important factor for competitiveness.