Most manufacturers understand that skillful management of service parts operations is critical to reducing costs and optimizing stock levels throughout a supply chain network. But very few are actively leveraging the after-sales side of business as a source of greater profits.
Lawrence Black sees the circular economy finally moving from theory and high-level strategy to practical applications in design, engineering, and marketing. He has a clear view of these changes as senior advisor to the Waste Management-McDonough Sustainable Innovation Collaborative, a partnership formed in 2013 to improve the recyclability of packaging and products.
It only makes sense that The 3M Company, with a business model resting almost entirely upon technology, would eventually get around to applying it to the supply chain.
Analyst Insight: You design a product, source it, build it, store it, ship it, and your consumer enjoys it... then what? It is inevitable that at some point the original intended use will be over and the product will reach its end of life. What happens now is a topic that is piquing the interests of many traditional and non-traditional supply-chain players. The challenge lays in how to efficiently reintegrate or disposition these products. - Melissa Hadhazy, associate partner, Infosys Consulting
Analyst Insight: Global manufacturers must meet the growing number of "green" regulations that are focused on sustainability. From the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive to the United States Conflict Minerals Directive as well as the European Union (EU) directives of Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) and Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), manufacturers must comply with a multitude of regulations that can have a major impact on their business and their supply chain. – Chuck Cimalore, CTO, Omnify Software