April 1st is no joke for Walmart Suppliers - IMEC's North Carolina partner MEP (NC State Industrial Extension Service) has recently been busy helping Walmart suppliers tackle the ever growing/changing world of Walmart Sustainability. So, what Walmart suppliers are in your area? Do they understand sustainability? Do they understand your Centers ability to help them both answer and improve their Walmart Sustainability Scorecard?
Beginning in 2009, Walmart has increasingly engaged their supply chain in sustainability goals and initiatives. See an overview of Walmart's supplier sustainability requirements and process here.
Manufacturers connected to the Walmart supply-chain have been "asked" to complete annual sustainability scorecards. These scorecards influence each suppliers relationship with their Walmart buyer. Scorecards measure different key performance indicators (KPIs) for each of the 110 "product categories" like metal products or wooden toys. Scorecard scope, definition, and guidance is governed by The Sustainability Consortium (TSC).
The survey is open April 1st and closes May 1st!
TSC is a global organization made up of members and partners including manufacturers, retailers, suppliers, NGOs, government agencies and academia. TSC convenes these stakeholders to build science-based decision tools to address sustainability issues within products supply chain and life-cycle. As of 2015, NC State University has signed on as the 3rd academic institution (in addition to ASU and UofArk) to partner with TSC to help influence and guide the scorecards, metrics and measures. This means, NC MEP will have behind the scenes access to TSC process', decisions, and toolkits. This year, Walmart's sustainability Scorecard questions have restructured, decreased in volume, and simplified. However, for the first time the scorecards now include both qualitative and quantitative questions.
How does this affect you? Contact your local MEP Center today to get started!
