SA business doesn't measure up to green

The SCIR is an annual, independent and international study into the supply chain and logistics practices of emerging economies around the world. Developed and compiled by TerraNova Research the 2009 edition saw over 200 senior company officials, from both a strategic and supply chain perspective, participate in an in-depth survey. All major industries in the country are represented, including the automotive, food and beverage, mining, construction, transportation and finance industries.

One section of the survey focused on what business in South Africa is doing to ensure environmental sustainability. A list of several KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) around environmental sustainability was drawn up and respondents were asked to indicate whether any of the KPIs from the list provided ‘are or will be forming part of their supply chain measurement metrics within the next 12 months.'

The percentage of companies not considering the following environmental KPIs currently, or in the future included:

• Energy consumption from supply chain operations: 51.1%
• Carbon dioxide emissions from supply chain operations: 51.9%
• Water consumption from manufacturing operations: 46.2%
• Delivery time lost due to traffic congestion: 46.6%
• Employee safety and stock security compliance: 12.9%
• Infrastructure simplification - reduction of the physical footprint of the supply chain, such as warehouse space: 23%
• Reverse logistics - the reprocessing of materials, packaging or products that can be recycled or used: 34.6%

No measures in place, none planned

Surprisingly the results indicate that most South African companies do not have any measures regarding their impact of their supply chains and operations on the environment, nor do they plan to introduce any of these measures within the next 12 months. A total of 41.3% of the companies which took part in the survey did not have or plan to introduce metrics to measure their impact on the environment. This revelation is quite startling considering the long publicised and growing concern about the environment globally.

Respondents were then grouped according to their level of complexity and capability (using the Complexity Masters Theorem developed by Deloitte in 2003. The Complexity Masters stood out against the total sample with 88.6% of these companies having planned or already introduced metrics to measure their impact on the environment.

This progressive behaviour could be partly driven by their global complexity and the fact that they are required to conform to certain standards in international markets. Perhaps the Complexity Masters are more sensitive to consumer expectations and know that legislation is bound to change in the short to medium term.

Measures of success, acceptance and ways of doing business are rapidly changing to incorporate sustainable practises, which are considered to become a major component of competitive advantage. The Complexity Masters in South Africa have made strides in adopting the necessary strategies, pre-empting an inevitable change in legislation. Over 40% of South African companies however, have not, and this does not bode well for their own sustainability.

Attend the launch of SCIR 2009 in Johannesburg on 9th March, and Cape Town on 11th March to discover the strategies South Africa's most profitable companies are adopting in order to weather ‘the storm' and still achieve competitive advantage.

The cost per delegate to attend the launch of SCIR 2009 is R250 (incl. VAT) and includes a free copy of the research report.

For more information or to book your seat at the launch of SCIR South Africa 2009 in Johannesburg or Cape Town contact: Monika Oosthuizen
(011) 463 5713
Email: .