Five Winds' Kevin Brady quoted on Green Supply Chains

Published by Paulette Fréchette on August 03, 2010

Chemical and Engineering News published an article on August 2, 2010 regarding how manufacturers of consumer products go the distance to source sustainable ingredients. Kevin Brady, a Director of Five Winds, was asked to contribute insight to the piece.

The relationship that manufacturers have with their suppliers is at the core of designing or reformulating a green product, says Kevin Brady, director of Five Winds, a consulting firm that helps companies understand and improve their sustainability performance. "They try to assess the performance of their suppliers with data and questionnaires, but it's challenging and expensive--especially with global supply chains--to understand what is going on."

Suppliers with sustainability problems are a risk for a company's brand, Brady says. A smart company will "figure out a way to manage that risk and work with suppliers that are responsible and will provide ingredients that are non-toxic, low CO2 emitting, and fairly and responsibly made," he says. It's a lot to analyze, he admits, but "you want to look broadly at the environmental, social, quality, and technology performance."

At the same time, although databases claiming to sort good ingredients from bad abound, Brady warns that expecting suppliers to share every piece of information with their customers is a "utopian vision." Instead, he advises, manufacturers should be "moving to a more collaborative approach, using their leverage with suppliers to improve the footprint of the supply chain and stimulate innovation."

Click here to read the article.

Found in: manufacturers suppliers Green Products