A paradigm from the humanities to a political awareness, sustainable development appears gradually as a lever for development of enterprises.
Demonstrated the concept of reputation capital: the introduction and deployment of CSR in a company through the legal certainty that results in this case may generate a climate of confidence in the markets and shareholders.
In this movement, it seems appropriate to look at the penetration and the mesh of this principle within the procurement function to identify the boundaries of value creation that results.
The manager must control its procurement risk.
Head of triptych cost / time / quality, it is also responsible for the consequences of the performance that follows.
Beyond these objectives, the purchasing manager, especially in large industrial projects, is now responsible for the deployment of a responsible purchasing policy.
The Corporate Social Responsibility in this case establishes a panel of good practices to reduce the cost of acquisition and possession of the undertaking by a process of anticipation and prevention of environmental risks.
Beyond the strict consensus of legal norms is a process of dissemination of knowledge within teams as well as tools for managing the procurement, through its process, which must be considered in particular taking into account the cost of risk (1) environment.
This posture creates an investment made by the adjudicator to reliable overall cost of ownership at the end of the project.
It can for example make direct expenditure to equip the management of procurement with the aim of increasing the legal cover of the company.
The EMS
The first step is to densify the substrate quality assurance of the company by the creation of an Environmental Management System (EMS), environmental prescriber hub of the company, whose main task is a classification of substances chemical (2) used in the product life cycle.
Finally, the SME is the guarantor of a “black list”, ie a repository of products or prohibited practices during various production process (assembly, integration, on-site work, subcontracting in situ or ex situ, transport) and the definition of product / process substitution to apply to the external (outsourcing) via the internal (Purchase).
It should also be clear that such a repository is a family of specific purchase (a surface treatment for example does not pose a very specific pipeline or drilling).
Meet the requirements of the EMS
In the second movement, the purchasing division must have tools designed to respect the environmental requirements and at all levels of the process which governs its activities:
- Integration of requirements for obtaining certification within specific regulations for consultation
- Integration of these requirements by introducing specific provisions in the purchase contract (general conditions, special, general and particular specification ..)
- The establishment of arrangements to raise awareness of the requirement and its monitoring (scheduling visits and audits)
The establishment of such a device raises the legitimate question of the return it provides.
Reputation capital is a positive effect of “effort”, but it is not modeled by revenue characterized.
A failure to formally quantify a return on Investment for Sustainable Development within the procurement function, it would emphasize the concept of avoided cost.
Consolidating the procurement documents of the company by the introduction of environmental requirements has the effect of reversing the burden of proof in cases of serious loss.
Indeed, while the payer is responsible for choosing its subcontractors and by extension of the subcontractors to lower ranks. The establishment of specific requirements in contracts in that allows the payer to minimize legal risk inherent in failure (environmental) of a player in its supply chain.
Furthermore, the concept of gain sharing (3) can not be considered. Obtaining a provider of ISO 14001 certification represents a real competitive edge in a competitive environment.
The initial investment characterized by the implementation of environmental management systems in line with the requirements of “external” can also be a creation of value (market access).