When faced with the task of greening your supply chain, where do you start? You may even start by asking what is a supply chain? Very briefly described, supply chain is all the steps involved in getting a product to the end customer. For a tangible product, this means obtaining raw materials, turning them into your product and then delivering them to your customer. In many cases a single company does not produce all of the components and resources needed to complete this task. Building all of the components of a computer would mean manufacturing the computer chips, producing plastics, electrical components, all the way to LED lights, etc. The basic business model does not include the production of every item on a bill of materials. To solve this problem companies tend to address their make or buy decisions by weighing out the benefits of manufacturing vs. sourcing. If outsourcing costs less or the company does not have the expertise to produce the product in question, they will opt to purchase it from another company rather than invest in the resources necessary for production. When this decision is made the company gives up the control and oversight of the manufacturing process. This is where the challenge of greening a reseller’s supply chain becomes difficult. [Read more...]
Green Supply Chain: Where to start?
Want to add some “green” to your Annual Report?
As we head into the final quarter of the year, there’s always someone in your organization thinking about how to describe the organization’s successes this year for the Annual Report. Record sales, industry awards, new ventures are all news worthy developments…but what about green? Large organizations tend to have an entire separate report dedicated to Corporate Social Responsibility, but more and more organizations are just including a few key green initiatives in their main Annual Report.
But what if you don’t have anything to share? Many projects in IT are implemented for their business value, but have great green benefits too! You may have an amazing energy saving story right under your nose.
The 2010 Softchoice Cares Sri Lanka Mission
This year the Softchoice Cares board made the decision to revisit the first location to where Softchoice Cares all started, Sri Lanka. In December of 2004, a devastating tsunami struck South East Asia. Following the catastrophe a few employees decided to raise money to support the massive relief effort. Their example caused a chain reaction companywide and Softchoice Cares was born.
The decision to go to Sri Lanka went through a lot of debate and the board felt that revisiting Tangalle, Sri Lanka would have a largest impact on the employees of Softchoice.
The goal of the 2010 mission is to:
- Build a computer lab at Tangalle Primary School
- Educate and train teachers and students on computer basics
- Build a training facility
- Participate in a Habitat for Humanity build in Galle
- Revisit the location(s) from the previous board
This year the entire board is participating in the mission. Additional participants to the mission include:
- David MacDonald – Softchoice President and Chief Executive Officer
- Rachelle Goddard
- Cédric Morel Delarue
Room to grow
Softchoice dedicates considerable resources to the learning and development of our people. In a tough economic year, Softchoice continued this
commitment by investing almost $900,000 in employee development programs.
Softchoice uses a combination of internal coaches and external partners to deliver training on a variety of topics – from solution selling and new account prospecting to other initiatives that ensure our Sales, IT, HR, Finance, Professional Services and Enterprise Architects are up to date with the latest industry certifications and designations.
Fundraising and creativity in action
Outdoor Movie Night: Seattle held a successful outdoor movie night on their office deck which overlooks the Puget Sound. The event allowed around 50 employees, friends and families enjoy a fun movie, BBQ and a beautiful sunset while raising money for Softchoice Cares.
Fostering a green culture
A big focus of Softchoice’s strategy is enabling our customers to green their IT infrastructure. At the same time, we recognize we must practice what we preach. When it comes to greening our operations, it’s about finding projects that address areas where we can make the biggest difference while also engaging our employees.
Whether it’s reducing energy consumption or eliminating waste generated by daily operations, we’re taking real steps to minimize our environmental impact. Our goal is to become North America’s IT supplier of choice for organizations looking to green their supply chain. [Read more...]
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