ABSTRACT
For most organizations, the environmental impact of their supply chain far outweighs that occurring within the factory fence/office walls. Given the size of the task in tackling the supply chain, 80/20 thinking can help focus thinking down on the issues that matter. The 80/20 Rule can be applied vertically or horizontally to the supply chain. Vertically, the 80/20 Rule suggests that the most effective strategy is to eliminate those huge primary industry impacts by choosing low impact virgin materials or sourcing secondary materials. Supply chain sustainability is one area where bureaucracy has a tendency to strangle the very change it is meant to deliver. One of the key culprits in focusing supply chain sustainability management on process and incremental improvements is the ubiquitous supply chain questionnaire. The chapter looks at some of the supply chain techniques that will help us break away from the obsession with process and start making rapid change.
