Data Science for Sustainable Sourcing
Sustainable sourcing is the process of integrating social, ethical and environmental performance factors when selecting suppliers.
This includes assessing and evaluating suppliers based on sustainability criteria such as health and safety, environmental impacts or labour rights.
The aim is to minimize the negative impacts on the environment and maximize the positive social impacts.
As a Data Science Manager, can you develop tools to streamline the process of sustainable sourcing?
Supply Chain Network design tools automatically select the best suppliers that minimize costs and meet the market demand while respecting constraints defined by your sustainability team.
In this article, we will explore how you can use Data Science in your organization to support the implementation of sustainable sourcing.
Sustainable Sourcing Problem Statement
Scenario: Selection of T-shirts Suppliers
Let us take the example used in the previous articles about Life Cycle Assessment.
You are the Data Science Manager of an international clothing group that has stores all around the world.
The company sources garments, bags, and accessories from suppliers located in Asia.
Stores are delivered from local warehouses and directly replenished by suppliers.
Can you automatically select suppliers that minimize your costs while respecting environmental and social constraints?
The sourcing team has decided to implement sustainable sourcing on the limited scope of T-shirt suppliers.
They want to review their supplier selection process to support the company's sustainability roadmap.
However, they are facing several obstacles
-
Suppliers data collection and storage There is no central source of information as the data is stored in unstructured Excel files across the organization.
- Complex decision-making based on many parametersTheir current system of Excel Scorecard is showing its limits as the number of indicators is increasing.
Therefore, they request your help deploying a product to monitor suppliers' KPIs and automate the selection.
Let's see how data analytics can answer this problem.
Sustainable Sourcing Indicators
This article will use a simple example with a limited range of indicators.
- Environmental Indicators including Carbon Emissions, Energy Consumption, Waste Generation and Water Usage
- Social Indicators, including labour and human rights
We can quickly review them to understand their definition and how to measure them.
Carbon emissionsThe primary indicator that will drive your sustainability roadmap is the supply chain's carbon footprint.
This can be measured by calculating the total emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.
