Maine Pointe Sponsors the Global Supply Chain Institute's Latest Paper on Best Practices in Environmental, Social and Governance Practices in the Supply Chain

The second in a three-part series, this paper focuses on the best practices related to strategies, structures, and tools companies can use to achieve ESG results today

Boston, Mass., March 1, 2022 -- Global supply chain and operations consulting firm Maine Pointe, a member of the SGS Group, proudly continues its sponsorship of a three-part series of insights pieces on environmental, social and governance practices for supply chain professionals, published by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville's Global Supply Chain Institute (GSCI). The second of the series, Best Practices Implementing ESG in the Supply Chain is now available, and focuses on insights into the specifics of how a company can implement ESG for positive results in today's environment.

Companies are under pressure to ramp up their ESG efforts, and sustainability has become a boardroom issue, said Simon Knowles, Chief Marketing Officer at Maine Pointe. In this paper, we continue the discussion of ESG to offer practical insights into how companies can take action on social sustainability, implement metrics to track performance, and offer a ten-point plan for best practices.

The first article, titled The simple guide to ESG in the supply chain released last November, introduced the subject with an in-depth look at why ESG has become such a critical issue, noting that a successful ESG strategy requires the commitment of senior leadership and expanding the focus beyond short term results. The paper also stressed the importance of moving to a more proactive approach to ESG and incorporating it as a key business strategy.

In the latest in the series, the authors of the Best Practices Implementing ESG in the Supply Chain paper note that significant financial capital is being allocated to achieve net zero emissions, and suggest that access to capital is likely to be influenced by the ESG actions of the company. We're seeing companies ramping up their ESG commitments, but businesses still need to strengthen their policies on diversity, equity and inclusion, said Alan Amling, Distinguished Fellow, Global Supply Chain Institute and author of the paper. In this paper we offer actionable insights and case studies of companies which have rolled out highly successful ESG initiatives. In the most successful initiatives, we show how supply chains must figure into the solution, especially in an increasingly global business climate. And finally, the report echoes the conclusions of the U.S. Business Roundtable, which reinforced the need for corporate CEOs to deliver value to all stakeholders.

Amling is a frequent commentator on supply chain issues, and along with Maine Pointe's Simon Knowles, was recently featured by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), the largest supply management association in the world, in their publication's March issue, discussing how corporations are closing the gap between corporate needs and corporate social responsibility and ESG. In the article, Amling noted that such trade-offs can contribute for the long-term good of the corporation, and that cost and profit are not always the primary motivator. Also in the article, Knowles reinforced the importance of customer experience as it relates to the stakeholder experience, and the bottom-line benefit that occurs when consumers believe in a company's ESG efforts.

In the third and final paper, the authors will continue the discussion to address the ROI of ESG, underscoring how and why ESG is becoming such a key part of strategy and how it can help companies become good corporate citizens while positively impacting the bottom line.

About Maine Pointe 

Maine Pointe, a member of the SGS Group, is a global supply chain and operations consulting firm trusted by many chief executives and private equity firms to drive compelling economic returns for their companies. We achieve this by delivering accelerated, sustainable improvements in EBITDA, cash and growth across their procurement, logistics, operations and data analytics. Our hands-on implementation experts work with executives and their teams to rapidly break through functional silos and transform the plan-buy-make-move-fulfill digital supply chain to deliver the greatest ethical value to customers and stakeholders at the lowest cost to business. We call this Total Value Optimization (TVO). Maine Pointe's engagements are results-driven and deliver between 4:1-8:1 ROI. We are so confident in our work and our processes that we provide a unique 100% guarantee of engagement fees based on annualized savings. www.mainepointe.com

About SGS

We are SGS, the world's leading testing, inspection and certification company. We are recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. Our 96,000 employees operate a network of 2,600 offices and laboratories, working together to enable a better, safer and more interconnected world.

SGS has been delivering ESG and sustainability solutions and services to clients for the past 25 years and has been a carbon neutral company for the past seven years.

About the Global Supply Chain Institute

The Global Supply Chain Institute (GSCI) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, shapes and influences the practice of supply chain management by serving as the preeminent global hub for leading practitioners, academics, and students to learn, network, and connect. With the largest assembly of corporate partners of any university-based supply chain management program, more than 1,200 students studying the subject, and the top-ranked faculty globally for supply chain research, UT's GSCI is shaping the practice of supply chain management. Please visit http://gsci.utk.edu/ or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook for more information.