Trusting your partners, treating other businesses how you would wish to be treated and extending participation beyond the first tier of suppliers are three key steps to building a sustainable trading partner network, according to supply chain software company E2open president and CEO Mark Woodward.

Suppliers to the office furniture industry better start paying close attention to the materials going into the pieces they're making. That's because the sustainability programs being implemented by the office furniture OEMs in West Michigan and beyond are increasingly demanding the suppliers provide more detailed information about the chemicals that go into their products.

Efforts to increase supply chain transparency should include closer collaboration and partnerships with suppliers.

The newly introduced sustainability guidelines provide a great opportunity for Australian companies to showcase their supply chain performance, including disclosure of supply chain issues that might not be on the radar of the Australian public.