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Sustainability Today: How to Take Measurable Actions to Integrate Sustainability into Core Business Strategies
Supply chain: The process allows you to bring products or services to the market by transferring them from the supplier to the customer.
Sustainability: A process or a state that can be maintained at a certain level for an indefinite period with consequent and, preferably, growing environmental, social, and economic well-being in the future.
Before talking about Fashion Supply Chain and sustainability, it is necessary to elaborate on the meaning of these two terms. They both must go hand-in-hand in the fashion industry and in other production sectors in today’s world.
Starting from sustainability in industrial processes, which must cover the following three areas:
- Environmental, perhaps the simplest and easiest to understand. It means the processes should be designed to protect our planet and all the resources it provides to us.
- Social, is another pillar of sustainability; this means the complex of actions should achieve equity in society and human well-being.
- Economic, which concerns the ability of a system to produce income and work in a lasting way.
At this point, it is obvious to wonder why pursuing sustainability is a benefit for businesses?
Talking about preservation, the importance of sustainability is pretty much straightforward. Whereas when it comes to the economic aspect, it is always beneficial to implement sustainability since consumers have been paying more attention to it for the past few years.
McKinsey & Company conducted a survey on European consumers in April 2020. In this survey, they found out following things,
- An astounding 88% of these consumers believed that the fashion industry must reduce pollution.
- Around 57% of them claimed to change their lifestyle to reduce their carbon footprint on the planet.
- A further 60% pledged to recycle in their maximum capacity, including buying from the brands cautious and respectful towards the environment.
Overall, this study indicated that buyers welcome the brands promoting sustainability in material, processes, and even transport. It has an ethical connotation encouraging them to lead a sustainable life.
Trustpilot and London Research also published a study in 2021, in which they assessed the impact of ethical and sustainable fashion on the purchasing guideline of Italian consumers. Overwhelmingly, 92% of them claimed to abandon the brand that does not consider these issues.
Planning in terms of Fashion Supply Chain to be Sustainable
Refining the planning of supply chain operations reflects the clear vision of current and future events.
Digital supply chain planning: This means a total dedication towards optimal planning through integrated business planning systems aiming to resume and incorporate sustainability in the fashion supply chain. A proper integrated digital planning transforms following core processes of the fashion businesses, maximizing operations and helping avoid waste.
- Sales and operations planning
- Forecasting and demand management
- Inventory planning and optimization, inventory planning and optimization
- Response and supply planning
- Demand-driven replenishment.
All these points are equal, and their connections with each other help develop a sustainable supply chain.
We begin with planning the demand for a given collection on the practical side. We analyze the purchase data of the target demographic to identify the strong pieces and then organize the production accordingly.
The following two aspects that can be closely monitored and managed are connected to logistics and the organization of faster deliveries that are functional and less risky. In a way, we provide sustainable solutions not just to the businesses but also to the customers. For example, sending goods from the nearest and most convenient point; moreover, depending on the types of good, choosing from the path where there will be fewer mishaps, say accident or traffic jams.
Sustainable Digital Supply Chain Planning: the benefits
Now let’s get to the concrete; what does a company with a sustainable digital supply chain planning gain in the fashion world?
- Increased the efficiency of business activities and processes
- Rational use of resources, resulting in reduced waste and costs
- Improved risk management skills
- A greater understanding of the market through the ability to innovate
- Increase in brand reputation
- Improvement of the internal climate of the Company and working conditions.
All these aspects will, in fact, respond to the sustainability of the consumer world, with consequent benefits of environmental, economic, and social terms.