Sustainability is high on our priority list, but how can we make it an integral part of indirect MRO procurement?
Waste recycling, reduced plastic packaging, reduced energy usage: these are some of the practices that respondents in the latest Indirect Procurement Report by RS and Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) said their organisation has in place as part of a reduced carbon footprint strategy. The same report also revealed that sustainable and ethical procurement is now a top business pressure alongside pressure to improve asset performance.
The growing importance of sustainability within maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) has become apparent during the annual roundtable discussions with senior indirect procurement professionals at the RS headquarters in London too. At one recent discussion, for example, there was awareness the climate crisis could be the next cause of disruption.
“Whereas a few years ago this would have been almost laughed off, these are no longer freak weather events,” remarked a commercial manager from a machine building firm.
“You maybe realise that an island in the Caribbean makes a particular product and think what if they experience more hurricanes?”
Many businesses are adopting more serious commitments to sustainability than in the past. As one participant at the same event admitted, “Our contracts have long included a sustainability element, but one almost paid lip service to them. Nowadays they are heavily considered.”
Not all organisations, nor all MRO teams, are at the same stage of this journey towards more sustainable operations. “As a procurement function, we aren’t far down the road, but we have certainly started off and are making progress,” said a category manager at a brick manufacturer. “It’s a hot topic within the group.”
“Some are further back in terms of progress,” they added. “Some people are more advanced.”
An engineer working for a large food manufacturer, for instance, commented that “Sustainability is at the core of what we do, from the farm to the factory.” A procurement officer at a recycling and waste management company expressed a similar sentiment, saying “We’ve been talking about sustainability for a long time and our contracts include sustainability clauses.”
“I would expect to see sustainability in any report today,” they continued. “If a report doesn’t have something about the ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) framework in there then it’s not a report worth reading.”
Within this context, measures to improve sustainability within MRO contribute to wider sustainability targets within an organisation. Participants at this roundtable shared their views on how this can be achieved.
1. Repair, reuse, refurbish
Developing a more sustainable approach to MRO doesn’t just involve policies for sourcing new products. On the contrary, repairing and reusing what’s already in existence has an important role to play too.
“Something we are looking at is refurbishing,” responded a former regional sourcing lead at recycling and waste management company. “It’s one of our main goals. Do we want to be in that throwaway culture or do we to keep it in our stores for a couple of years then use it? Surely that’s better than sticking it in a skip.”
