In a recent article published by The Sustainable Supply Chain, Microsoft announced that its hardware and packaging in the supply chain was ISO 14001 certified as part of its new commitment to sustainability.
Being part of Gen Y myself, I can’t help but think that this is merely a marketing scheme to get on board with sustainability and cater to my generation. Microsoft is smart, and if they’ve been doing their research, they know that Gen Y consumers will make up 24% of the market within five years. Meaning that if they want to be part of our buying decision in the future, they better start complying with what we care about.
Even if it is a marketing scheme, it is brilliant because if I care about sustainability and I am basing my purchasing decisions on an organization's practices, then I will favor an organization that is ISO-compliant.
Thus, if your organization is active in the supply chain, it is important to understand that the new generation cares about sustainability-which will greatly affect their business and purchasing decisions in decades to come.
Leveraging Technology to Support a Sustainable Supply Chain
In a previous post, we talked a little bit about how organizations can leverage ERP to maintain sustainability in the supply chain.
There is, unfortunately, little research or information on utilizing ERP to meet ISO standards.
As a member of Gen Y operating within a Baby Boomer landscape, I fully believe that sustainability will impact purchasing decisions in the future. This is merely bringing awareness to manufacturers and distributors who would like to begin thinking about ways in which they can leverage their current accounting system for sustainability in the future.
If sustainability is something that you’d like to consider, we’d like to suggest Microsoft Dynamics AX (now Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain ) an ERP solution by a company that cares about sustainability and creates products that support it. The statement of direction, available for download below, should provide more information on AX and where it’s headed.
