Make Supply-Chain Management Top Priority
In a Wall Street Journal story listing important lessons to learn from recent events, author Carol Hymowitz says getting control of the supply chain is becoming increasingly more critical. The recent examples of contaminated Chinese imports coupled with globalization rules that have no accountability for national health, safety or environmental standards, point out some of the major vulnerabilities corporations now face as a result of the spread of our assumptions about growth fueled by cheap energy and resources.
This is something consumers are being forced to confront. Our toys, chemicals, foods and many of the raw ingredients in nutritional products are manufactured overseas.
The Natural Products Association GMP Certification Program is designed to verify compliance of member suppliers of dietary supplements with a standardized set of good manufacturing practices (GMPs) developed by the Natural Products Association. This program is based upon third party inspections of member suppliers and comprehensive audits of their GMP programs in the areas of Personnel, Plant and Grounds, Sanitation, Equipment, Quality Operations, Production and Process Controls, and Warehouse, Distribution, and Post-Distribution Practices. This program ensures that all elements of the manufacturing process are reviewed to provide reasonable assurance that processes are sufficiently controlled so that products meet their purported quality.
Businesses are going to find it necessary to guarantee the safety of their products. I guess we’ll finally see what free markets can do as consumers stop buying as a self-preservation strategy. Who knows what else they might discover once they start asking “Is It Healthy?†before they make their purchases.
We’ve seen innovation in the energy consumption side of business, Business Goes On An Energy Diet, but when it comes to the chemical supply chain, there’s a lot work to be done.
Jim Lauria of TeamChem, Inc. has been pointing out the self-interest to chemical companies of taking responsibility for all their of chemicals – from manufacture all the way through to the end user and eventual recycling. He points out the advantages of better control, lower liability and increased profit from managing for highest efficiencies in the chemical product cycles.
A recently published University of California report, Green Chemistry in California: a Framework for Leadership in Chemicals Policy and Innovation. Team Chemistry LLC assisted Chemical Industry Council of California (CICC) with the design and facilitation of the forum which drew approximately 100 attendees from the chemical industry, trade associations, the NGO community, academia, government and service providers to look into a systemic approach to chemical policy.
It’s obvious to everyone that if China and India adopt our current over consumptive lifestyle, the “style†of life on the planet will be radically different for all of us.
We would be well served if our corporations invested some of their vast (some would say obscene) profits, in environmental technologies. That we could clean up our own act and license new technology and best practices to China and India making their growing economies greener. It seems to me that’s a formula for sustainable growth.
Business has always operated wastefully. As long as energy and resources were cheaper than responsible stewardship, the next quarter was the only future that mattered. Now we’re seeing a scramble to go green. Green also means highly efficient. That’s less waste of both energy and materials.
Now if we could factor in the workers and communities that corporations operate in, we’d have an excellent foundation for long term sustainable health and profit.
Our daily routines are being increasingly intruded on by the consequences of our past assumptions and practices. For some this incredibly frightening. For others, it’s a time of great excitement and possibility.
The context is decisive. Playing the “Is It Healthy?†Game, is a context for optimal health in our lives. It’s also our gift to others – be they spectators or players. Be the Change you want to see in the world.
