Manufacturers’ ERP systems not delivering on green supply chains
1 min read
More than three quarters (77%) of manufactures participating in a recent survey claimed that customers require them to report on their environmental impact and that of their products.
IFS North America president and CEO Cindy Jaudon says the results indicate that green supply chains are rapidly becoming the norm.
Making her point, more than 80% of respondents also said that green supply chains – in which companies make purchasing decisions based on environmental impact of vendors and their products – will become more important in the next three years.
However, respondents also indicated that their IT infrastructure, including ERP software, was not keeping up with their changing green supply chain needs – with 87% reporting that this data was handled at least in part through hard copy.
Only 5% rated their ERP software 'excellent' in its handling of green supply chain data, while 54% rated their ERP solution as 'poor' or 'not at all helpful' in this regard.
"This disconnect between industry needs and what ERP software vendors are delivering will likely become a major issue in the years ahead," suggests Jaudon.
"This is one issue we at IFS have been passionate about for a long time, and this passion has driven us to stake out a leadership position in integrated ERP functionality for comprehensive environmental footprint management," she claims.
And she points to IFS Eco-footprint Management software, which enables environmental impact to be traced along the value chain, from raw-material procurement and production to distribution and use of the products in the field.
The study was conducted in December last year among more than 200 executives with manufacturing operations having greater than $100 million in revenue.
