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Events & Press > Supply Chain Cafes

 

The concept

 

Supply Chain is today a subject mastered… by Supply Chain professionals. However, Supply Chain challenges and the benefits it can bring to other functions are still underestimated, or even unknown. In light of this observation, was born the idea of organizing “Supply Chain Cafes”, where cross-functional sharing could prove and make aware of the possible contribution of Supply Chain in creating value for the company.

 

An issue usually dealt by functions different than SCM is chosen to be debated on with Supply Chain Managers and representatives of other functions. We try to assess the possible impacts of this issue on Supply Chain and identify together what can be the benefits of integrating Supply Chain in the conception of related projects. An expert and a client’s feedback on the subject will feed the debate.

 

Following the Cafe, volunteer participants will help us write the “10 best practices” identified during the discussion, which are to be observed in the cross-functional relationship needed to conduct successfully projects linked to the chosen topic.

 

The next Cafe


   Several topics are currently considered for our next Café:

  • Budgeting process and S&OP : towards more consistency
  • Project management and Planning : often considered as enemy brothers
  • Product design and Supply Chain : synergies to be found
  • Risk Management: is Supply Chain contributing to or preventing risk?
  • Supplier panel management : how to become suppliers favorite customer
  • Lean Manufacturing and SC  : converging approaches

Please let us know any other topics of interest for you.

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The last events

 

One-pager synthesis of the last Cafes are available, but only in French. Do not hesitate to contact us to discuss further these topics if of any interest for you: 

  • Cafe #6 -  April 12th  2012 
    Change Management, essential tool for the Supply Chain Manager
  • Cafe #5 - October 6th 2011
    Which challenges for Supply Chain in the case of a Business Carve-out?  
  • Cafe #4 - December 9th 2010
    Centralization of the financial function: how to maintain synchronization with the products stream?
  • Cafe #3 - April 16th 2010
    IS master scheme at the service of Supply Chain
  • Cafe #2 - January 15th 2010
    Transitional Management: Vector for Change
  • Cafe #1 - October 2nd 2009
    Delocalisation / Relocalisation and Supply Chain

 



Point of View - October 9th 2018

How to capitalize on SCM expertise to implement CSR strategy

In the previous Point of View, we highlighted the historical key stages leading to the emergence of CSR.

In the early 1980’s, the Supply Chain Management (SCM) concept arose to allow a better transversal integration of the company and valorization of  its resources to serve customer satisfaction and profitability, with fundamental principles a CSR approach can only approve.

However, one could object SCM focuses only on economics, while CSR integrates 3 axes: economy, social and the environment. Is this really the case? Although SCM seems to consider the interests of only 2 stakeholders (the shareholders for the profitability and its customers for the service), we ought not to under estimate the indirect social and environmental gains it creates. For example, the pacification of relationships within silos of the company, as well as with its suppliers and customers, or chasing down waste to limit scraps and material losses, without talking about transportation optimization decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.

Thus, Supply Chain Management, while being focused on the economic stake, directly or indirectly contributes to most of the CSR axes.

 

Therefore, it’s completely logical today to think about how to take advantage of SCM experience to facilitate the integration of CSR practices into the company?

 

 To learn more about it, click here.