SGS-Maine Pointe and Global Supply Chain Institute’s Three-Part ESG Series Concludes with a Look at

Global supply chain and operations consulting firm SGS-Maine Pointe, a member of the SGS Group, has released the third and final portion of a three-part series of articles exploring issues relating to environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices for supply chain professionals. The series, published by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Global Supply Chain Institute (GSCI), concludes with a detailed explanation of the ROI that can be generated from an effective ESG policy. The third paper, “Generating an ROI from ESG,” is now available, and offers insights into how a company can invest in ESG goals while continuing to generate profits – and explaining the connection that exists between ESG and financial performance.

“ESG has become front-and-center in corporate America creating equal parts urgency and confusion on how best to proceed,” said Jeff Staub, CEO at SGS-Maine Pointe. “Throughout this series, we have shared why ESG has become such an important issue, specifics on how to implement it sustainably and effectively, and in this final paper, how implementing best practices in ESG actually fits in with the corporate directive of maintaining a profit and generating an ROI. It is critically important that we align ESG clearly and meaningfully into the core mission of how companies operate or risk greenwashing backlash.”

In the first of the series, titled “The simple guide to ESG in the supply chain,” the authors examined the need to focus beyond short-term results, and how to take a proactive approach to ESG and make it a key business strategy. The second of the series, titled “Best Practices Implementing ESG in the Supply Chain,” notes that while significant capital may be required to achieve positive ESG goals, companies are ramping up those commitments.

In the third and final article in this series, the authors explain precisely why ESG and ROI are “two sides of the same coin,” noting that while investments are required to achieve ESG goals, investments still require a return – and doing so is certainly possible and indeed essential for the long-term survival of businesses. The paper shows in detail how companies can invest to achieve those ESG goals, while continuing to generate profits to sustain their operations. The authors go into detail on how to calculate the ROI of ESG, and explore some existing studies that show a positive relationship between ESG and financial performance.

“We believe that ESG investments can be a win-win for all stakeholders,” said Alan Amling, Distinguished Fellow, Global Supply Chain Institute and author of the paper. “ESG investments can create an immediate payback in terms of even simple changes such as switching from incandescent bulbs to LEDs, investing in employee relations, and reducing waste throughout the supply chain.” The paper includes a detailed case study clearly showing how one of the largest integrated energy companies met the dual requirements of both planet and profit using SGS-Maine Pointe’s proven supply chain and operations optimization approach.

SGS-Maine Pointe and GSCI were also featured in a recent podcast hosted by SupplyChainBrain, on ESG in the supply chain, where they discussed the opportunities in ESG, and how business leaders are beginning to understand the long-term value creation potential of ESG. They were also featured in a Supply Chain Management Review/ASCM podcast “The Rebound,” where they also focused on supply chain ESG, as well as being quoted in the March/April edition of ISM’s Inside Supply Management Magazine discussing how companies must consider some trade-offs to achieve ESG status, and why it needs to be part of the overall corporate agenda.

The entire three-part series, now available on SGS-Maine Pointe’s website at http://www.mainepointe.com/esg-improvement, offers the most in-depth analysis of ESG, its benefits to the corporation, and how to achieve positive ESG goals to satisfy all stakeholders.

About SGS-Maine Pointe

SGS-Maine Pointe, a member of the SGS Group, is a global supply chain and operations consulting firm trusted by many chief executives and private equity firms to drive compelling economic returns for their companies. We achieve this by delivering accelerated, sustainable improvements in EBITDA, cash and growth across their procurement, logistics, operations and data analytics. Our hands-on implementation experts work with executives and their teams to rapidly break through functional silos and transform the plan-buy-make-move-fulfill digital supply chain to deliver the greatest ethical value to customers and stakeholders at the lowest cost to business. We call this Total Value Optimization (TVO)™.

SGS-Maine Pointe’s engagements are results-driven and deliver between 4:1-8:1 ROI. We are so confident in our work and our processes that we provide a unique 100% guarantee of engagement fees based on annualized savings. www.mainepointe.com

About SGS

We are SGS – the world’s leading testing, inspection and certification company. We are recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. Our 96,000 employees operate a network of 2,600 offices and laboratories, working together to enable a better, safer and more interconnected world. SGS has been delivering ESG and sustainability solutions and services to clients for the past 25 years and has been a carbon neutral company for the past seven years.

About the Global Supply Chain Institute

The Global Supply Chain Institute (GSCI) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, shapes and influences the practice of supply chain management by serving as the preeminent global hub for leading practitioners, academics, and students to learn, network, and connect. With the largest assembly of corporate partners of any university-based supply chain management program, more than 1,200 students studying the subject, and the top-ranked faculty globally for supply chain research, UT’s GSCI is shaping the practice of supply chain