Artikkeli
Supply chain innovation and sustainable value creation
A roadmap for responding to a new business imperative
Supply chains were historically built to achieve cost-effectiveness and time efficiency. In the oil and gas industry, as in many others, the goal was to find the shortest, least expensive path from raw materials to product and then to market while maintaining safety and reliability standards. But today, stakeholder expectations and legislation are changing the paradigm.
As consumers increasingly demand climatefriendly solutions, companies are taking on greater social responsibilities, frequently driven by regulation that continuously promotes sustainable transformations. These stakeholder and legislative pressures are forcing supply chain managers to adapt to a new normal. Businesses and organizations are being challenged to consider new operating models for supply chains as their responsibilities—and opportunities for sustainable value creation—now extend further upstream beyond their own operations.
As the energy transition accelerates, oil and gas companies are being faced with how to strike a balance between increasing investment in sustainable solutions and continued capital discipline. Is it possible to balance short-term gains and long-term prosperity? Can a company invest some of today’s profits to build greater resilience for future downturns and to position themselves for long-term growth in a cleaner, more circular economy? Deloitte contends that it is not only possible but also plausible since resilience and sustainability often go hand-in-hand.
While there are likely many factors to take into account—some of which are sector-driven—there are three key enablers that companies should consider when embarking on a journey towards a more sustainable—and ultimately more resilient— supply chain:
• Operational excellence has been the backbone of supply chain management and will remain so. Cost-efficient supply chain solutions do not preclude sustainable supply chain solutions. An efficient physical footprint design, better asset utilization, and strict quality management are considered key drivers towards a more sustainable supply chain.
• Industry collaboration is key to sustainable supply chain design. To drive this, businesses should expand their perceptions of the ecosystems in which they operate and embrace wider collaboration on data, information, and asset sharing. Collaboration does not need to compromise competitive advantages, but instead can create mutual benefits through better insights, less waste, and more accuracy.
• Traceability and insight can present significant barriers to effective sustainable supply chains but also potential opportunities. As a company’s responsibilities extend beyond their direct suppliers, tighter control is required for managing the wider ecosystem. To ensure compliance with social responsibilities, emissions control, and climate footprint—as well as to enable economically and environmentally sustainable improvements—businesses need technology that can improve traceability and insights.
According to a recent Deloitte survey of 2,082 C-level executives around the world, companies are feeling a moderate-to-large degree of pressure to act on climate change from many different stakeholder groups, including regulators/ government, board members/management, consumers/clients, civil society, shareholders/ investors, competitors/peers, employees, and banks and lenders. Given the ubiquity of the call to action, achieving a more sustainable supply chain is not merely a “should do”; it has become a business imperative.
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