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Going Green With Paperless Procurement
As society pushes the modern business world toward sustainable practices, the “bottom line” becomes about more than just finances. The green movement encourages companies to take social and environmental factors into consideration in addition to economic concerns. In the long-term, this focus on sustainability through green procurement and other business practices often has significant financial benefits in addition to giving others an increasingly positive impression of your company.
Why Go Green With Your Procurement?
Sustainable business practices might have a higher up-front cost, but companies are increasingly seeing a return on investment in terms of procuring longer lasting, safer, and more reliable products. Socially responsible products are often manufactured to a higher quality standard and use fewer hazardous materials. Safer products lessen the risk of lawsuits, and the higher safety standards typically result in a quality product that lasts longer before needing replaced.
Going green also has a positive impact on company reputation, which can lead to increased business. More and more frequently, business partners and consumers are seeking to work with companies that are environmentally friendly and demonstrate a commitment to conducting business in a responsible, sustainable manner. Taking your company green may even lead to increased opportunities to work with government organizations and other businesses that prefer contracting with green companies.
Making The First Move
Given today’s business climate, you probably won’t meet with much opposition to bringing a focus on sustainability into your company’s procurement process. Once your company makes the commitment to going green, you can immediately start taking steps towards the goal of entirely green procurement.
Start by researching green suppliers and asking your current suppliers if you can have a copy of their green policies and standards. If they have one, then you many not have to look for a new supplier. If they don’t, the request will let them know that you’re interested in procuring green products and why you could be switching suppliers in the near future.
Next, work on developing green policies and procedures for your company. You might consider taking a look at the green policies of other corporations for ideas, as well as getting your PR and Marketing departments involved, along with the Corporate Social Responsibility department if your company has one.
Sustaining Green Procurement
Green procurement has to look at the bottom line in a sense that includes environmental, social, and economic concerns. Taking all these factors into consideration isn’t nearly as challenging when you have reliable software helping with the procurement process. NextProcess’ Purchase Order Software gives you increased control and insight into your company’s purchasing practices and lets you automatically enforce key purchasing policies.
Continue to set goals, refine your strategy, and conduct evaluations as your company moves closer and closer to the goal of green procurement. If all goes well, you’ll soon start seeing rewards like lower long-term costs and better public perception. Making the move to green, sustainable procurement won’t happen overnight, but it’s a goal worth pursuing.