In this engaging conversation, theCUBE's Shelly Kramer speaks with Saskia van Gendt, chief sustainability officer of Blue Yonder, about the growing importance of sustainable supply chains. Sustainability is more than just a virtue signal — it's a key business differentiator, helping companies boost efficiency, reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction, according to van Gendt.
As global carbon emissions are largely driven by supply chains, companies that integrate sustainability into their operations gain a competitive advantage. Data-driven decision-making, such as optimizing inventory and transportation, leads to measurable outcomes such as reduced emissions and increased margins — demonstrating that sustainability directly impacts the bottom line, van Gendt emphasizes.
The awareness of sustainability's value is rising, with consumers willing to pay more for eco-friendly products, van Gendt underscores. With the right technologies and strategies, companies can eliminate waste, reduce pollution and proactively plan for a more sustainable future, ensuring business resilience and long-term growth.
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Talking Sustainability With Blue Yonder's Saskia van Gendt
In this engaging conversation, theCUBE's Shelly Kramer speaks with Saskia van Gendt, chief sustainability officer of Blue Yonder, about the growing importance of sustainable supply chains. Sustainability is more than just a virtue signal — it's a key business differentiator, helping companies boost efficiency, reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction, according to van Gendt.
As global carbon emissions are largely driven by supply chains, companies that integrate sustainability into their operations gain a competitive advantage. Data-driven decision-making, such as optimizing inventory and transportation, leads to measurable outcomes such as reduced emissions and increased margins — demonstrating that sustainability directly impacts the bottom line, van Gendt emphasizes.
The awareness of sustainability's value is rising, with consumers willing to pay more for eco-friendly products, van Gendt underscores. With the right technologies and strategies, companies can eliminate waste, reduce pollution and proactively plan for a more sustainable future, ensuring business resilience and long-term growth.
Talking Sustainability With Blue Yonder's Saskia van Gendt
Saskia van Gendt
Chief Sustainability OfficerBlue Yonder
search
Shelly Kramer
>> Hello, and welcome to this CUBE conversation. I'm your host, Shelly Kramer, principal analyst here at theCUBE Research. And our discussion today is part of our series on The Future of the Supply Chain. My guest is Saskia van Gendt, chief sustainability officer at Blue Yonder. Saskia, welcome. I'm so glad to have you.
Saskia van Gendt
>> Thanks so much for having me. Really looking forward to the conversation.
Shelly Kramer
>> Absolutely. So I'm going to set the stage here and give you some context. We are seeing a growing awareness of global supply chain and the many environmental impacts it has. Organizations are getting pressure from stakeholders, think customers, investors, employees, and even government regulators to adopt more sustainable practices and do things like boost efficiencies and cut costs. In fact, building a sustainable supply chain is not only an important part of business operations in today's world. It can actually help establish a competitive edge. So who's not interested in that? The good news is that today businesses don't have to choose between growth and sustainability. Sustainability is good for business and the planet, and they can have both. So I think it's really an exciting conversation and one that I've been looking forward to. So the thing about sustainability is that, as I mentioned, when it's done right, it's proven to increase operational efficiency, reduce costs, increase customer and employee satisfaction, meet regulatory requirements, and improve brand perceptions. 60% of global carbon emissions come from supply chains. And so getting sustainability right is bound to give businesses a massive competitive advantage. And that's what this conversation today is all about, how to leverage sustainable supply chains as a competitive advantage. Saskia, let's start with some basics. Talk with me a little bit, if you would, about why people should care about sustainable supply chains.
Saskia van Gendt
>> Yeah, well, you teed it up really well and said a lot of the context around the environmental impact from supply chain. And there's a growing awareness of this interconnectivity between the environmental and social impacts and our value chains. So it's not just the carbon emissions that you mentioned, but also pollution from shipping and last mile transportation. Actually, the World Health Organization estimated that pollution from poor air quality is responsible for up to 7 million deaths per year. So there's a direct tie in between making more efficient supply chains and our health effects, effects from poor air quality. And then also some of the extreme weather disruptions that we're seeing directly to supply chains. So things like ranges in crop yields or droughts that are changing the flow of the Panama Canal. So these disruptions to supply chains are directly being affected by changes in the environment. There's true opportunity and addressable waste and emissions that are sitting within the supply chains today. One of the issues that I'm very passionate around is addressing the overproduction of products. So if you look at the food sector and clothing sector, a third of all food produced is getting wasted, yet we know people are still hungry and there's an excess of up to 5 billion garments produced every year. So how do we address some of this overpopulation and really meet the demand where it is without overproduction and all of the waste impacts that can come from that. So there's a huge opportunity to make a positive impact.
Shelly Kramer
>> Yeah, yeah. No, I'm with you there on the food waste and the clothing, the manufacturing waste and all of that. It's just overwhelming to see some of the data on that. So solving for that is a very big deal. So what do you see happening in the market? What are some of the key trends that you are seeing across supply chains and sustainability?
Saskia van Gendt
>> Yeah, I think we're really rising. We're seeing pressures rise from all different places. And I've been in sustainability for long enough to see how these trends are changing. It used to be a pocket of companies that were looking at this, a group of consumers that were interested in environmental issues. Now there's really growing awareness, and a lot of that comes from external pressures that our customers are facing. That could be regulatory pressures, the pressure from consumers to adopt more sustainable practices. Shareholders are invested in building more resilient supply chains. So all of these pressures mounting, now there's a need for better data quality and reporting, and that's largely to meet some of the regulatory pressures. But then also this synergy between making supply chains more efficient from an environmental standpoint and also cutting costs. And that's a huge opportunity if we look at transportation networks, for example, where you can directly reduce excess miles and see cost savings, but also see reduced pollution and emissions coming from that. So we're really seeing all of these pressures mounting for the customers and the different verticals that we served, the we are working with. But also now the rise of the awareness is leading to all companies needing to act and not just those isolated view.
Shelly Kramer
>> I tend to look for silver linings. And one of the silver linings, I feel like, that came out of navigating a global pandemic is it kind of shown a spotlight that was much needed on global supply chain. Because I think that for most ordinary, average people, and many times organizations as well apart from supply chain professionals, really didn't spend a lot of time thinking about supply chain and perhaps the fragility of it and that sort of thing. So I think I love the fact that I think that that transitioned us to putting supply chain top of mind and really lasering in on the huge difference that supply chain and sustainability can make within an organization. What do you think?
Saskia van Gendt
>> Yeah, that's right. We've all become accidental supply chain experts, and partly that comes from directly feeling affected by supply chain disruptions.
Shelly Kramer
>> Right.
Saskia van Gendt
>> And we hear that from consumers, we hear that from our customers, so I couldn't agree more. There's really a lot more awareness and that awareness of the interconnectivity between sustainability and supply chain is higher than ever.
Shelly Kramer
>> Yeah. And I think that's a good thing.
Saskia van Gendt
>> Right.
Shelly Kramer
>> So talk with me about how addressing these issues that we're talking about could offer businesses a competitive advantage.
Saskia van Gendt
>> So at a headline level, I think that sustainability is almost synonymous with supply chain resilience. And even speaking to some of the disruptions that we were just mentioning, the ability to create more resilient supply chains will improve your sustainability impact. And so going back to your opening statement, there's really not necessary to have a choice between growth and sustainability.
Shelly Kramer
>> Right.
Saskia van Gendt
>> We do an annual survey from Blue Yonder consumers, and the survey showed that 65% of consumers are actually willing to pay more for sustainable products. And that's an important proof point for our customers, right?
Shelly Kramer
>> Yeah, good.
Saskia van Gendt
>> The purchase driver is there. And then the more that we're increasing efficiency, especially if you're looking at things like manufacturing and transportation networks, that's where lower emissions and lower waste can also improve margins. Just going back to the example around the fashion industry and the excess of production of garments, excess stock in the fashion industry is valued at as much as 140 billion in sales in 2023, and that's really stuff that's just getting wasted and not sold. So how do we harness and create that better synergy between designing inventory plans to meet real customer demand and avoiding waste on the back end? So that's where we're really tapping into that efficiency.
Shelly Kramer
>> Yeah. Well, and I saw one of your stats from the study that you mentioned, and one of the data points was that 83% of respondents said they would opt for slower, more sustainable shipping for online purchases if incentivized. And I will tell you that I am faced with these tough decisions on a regular basis. If I'm buying something on Amazon Prime, I really do stop and think about, "Do I need this tomorrow? Do I need this in two days or does it matter?" So I think it's little things like that. And Amazon is just one example, but there are many, many other opportunities, since so many of us do online shopping, to step back and think about how can we incentivize our customers to slow things down a little bit and then we all win, you know?
Saskia van Gendt
>> Yeah. I think the other element of that is just creating the data and visibility for where those tradeoffs can be made.
Shelly Kramer
>> Right.
Saskia van Gendt
>> Because if you're just assuming that a consumer wants the product as quick as possible and you're not communicating the carbon savings or the environmental benefit, then they really don't have a choice in understanding the trade-offs. And that's been the big focus of ours, is integrating sustainability and supply chain data and visibility because then you have the awareness around decision-making and knowing where those trade-offs exist.
Shelly Kramer
>> Yeah, I love it. So can you share with me some examples of how businesses can operate more sustainable supply chains? And if you want to toss in a customer use case or two that you're able to share with us, that would be awesome.
Saskia van Gendt
>> Yeah, I'd love to go back to the conversation around overproduction and eliminating waste, because we do see a huge addressable efficiency around designing better inventory plans, especially for retailers, to allow them to better manage the supply and availability on shelf while reducing the need for disposal of especially fresh food waste. So particularly for grocery customers, and Morrison's is an example of a customer that's using this, is by knowing all the different variables around the shopping behavior, whether that be a local holiday or an event that's happening that might drive a purchase decision, or even whether that can drive more people to buy ice cream, all of those variables fed into a planning solution can help grocers plan more dynamically and balance shelf availability while all reducing food waste. So that's a key point for ours. And then the synergy between, especially transportation and warehousing is a huge opportunity because if the inventory and when the inventory needs to go out is balanced with the transportation side, then you can see that there's a huge waste avoidance, but also transportation emissions avoidance opportunity. We have a high-tech company that we're working with that was able to reduce transportation emissions by 40% just through that synchronized execution and knowing when products needed to be going out before they would become obsolete in warehouse and maximizing truckloads to avoid emissions.
Shelly Kramer
>> Got it. Very . And I think really the key to all of this is data and how you see that data that we have. Yeah, absolutely.
Saskia van Gendt
>> Right. Right.
Shelly Kramer
>> So what's stopping businesses? Why is sustainability such a challenge when it comes to supply chains? And I have a feeling that perhaps data plays a role here, but let me hear your thoughts.
Saskia van Gendt
>> Data is a huge factor. And the conversion of supply chain data into relevant sustainability metrics is one of the things that we're building into new solutions. I would say historically, technology has not supported the development of more sustainable supply chains. And we see this really in the marketplace today where, yes, there's technology that's supporting supply chains and there's technology that's helping companies with their ESG metrics, but those two tend to be really separate and they're not sharing data and they're not creating the optimization engines and the scenario building using that integrated approach, which is a big focus for Blue Yonder. We actually do a supply chain executive survey as well, and we know that executives are heavily investing in sustainability. It's one of their top challenges. But some of the challenges that they pointed to are silos and fragmentation in how sustainability is embedded throughout the organization. As I mentioned, the supply chain solutions and the ESG-related solutions are not separate, are not integrated so it's actually reinforcing silos in the organization. And we see from our most advanced customers, they have sustainability programs at the company level and they're actually embedding sustainability mandates and directives to each department. The challenge is, the department may not know on a day-to-day basis how their decisions are affecting that company goal. So that integration of data and really empowering different teams to support those goals is a key opportunity.
Shelly Kramer
>> Yeah, absolutely. Sustainability can't operate in a vacuum.
Saskia van Gendt
>> Right. That's right.
Shelly Kramer
>> Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So walk me through, if you would, what a sustainable supply chain platform looks like and the key elements that can be game changers for businesses.
Saskia van Gendt
>> Yeah. And I'm glad you used the word platform because that really points to the integrated value chain approach where you're not just looking at individual point solutions and trying to address problems in isolation, but how from a holistic standpoint, sustainability can be addressed in the supply chain. I think one of the biggest opportunities, especially for the customers that we're working with is to empower them to move from a reactive to a proactive approach. And what this means is not just looking in hindsight and reporting the waste that occurred or the pollution that occurred over the past quarter or the past year, but developing plans, whether it be transportation plans or inventory plans that proactively allow you to optimize for future performance. And that's a key benefit of this centralized planning and execution platform. So having this single cohesive view allows that real-time responsiveness and also decision making towards those higher level goals that companies are setting. I think the other key point that we're building is around network visibility. We're seeing regulations that are pointing to not just immediate first-tier supplier visibility, but that in-tier influence through the supply chain and things like a network. And looking at ESG risk across the entire network, actually being able to decide if you're choosing manufacturer A or B based on their performance is a key lever for sustainability teams to influence deeper into the supply chain. So tapping into the network effect and being able to respond in real time, but also have deeper network visibility and how risk and ESG performance is overlaid onto the network.
Shelly Kramer
>> Yeah, yeah. No, that makes perfect sense. Now, what about, do organizations seem to have the right systems in place to help measure and monitor their supply chains? Or is that continued to be a challenge?
Saskia van Gendt
>> So there's definitely more technologically advanced customers that are using supply chain solutions to measure. And I think the key opportunity for the future is not just the hindsight measurement, but also that future optimization and really being proactive around how your future value chain can be designed to eliminate waste, to eliminate pollution.
Shelly Kramer
>> Right. And really going back to what I mentioned about supply chain, the thing about supply chain that I think is so critical here is that supply chain and sustainability play a huge role in business resilience. We can't run our businesses if we can't respond to market conditions that may change on a dime. Remember when the Ever Given stuck in the canal, things like that impact all of us. So being able to have that real time visibility into your operations as a whole, I think to me, that's one of the biggest parts of being a game changer for business and certainly laying a foundation for business resilience.
Saskia van Gendt
>> Absolutely. And that real time visibility can also enable not just quicker responsiveness around your supply chain, but being able to make a more sustainable decision when you're pressed too in real time. So we do see again that that integration of visibility is really important.
Shelly Kramer
>> Yeah. Platform for the win. Saskia, as we wrap the show, do you have any final words for supply chain professionals since they work to get their arms around their sustainability objectives?
Saskia van Gendt
>> Yeah. I think going back to just what we're hearing from customers and knowing that the silos still exist, there's more and more momentum around building sustainable supply chains, but organizationally, we don't always connect between our supply chain teams and our sustainability teams. So changing the mindset around integrating those approaches will allow companies to go from being reactive to being proactive and further embed sustainability throughout the organization. And we do think that technology is the key driver for achieving that integration, creating better visibility, creating that real time decision making, empowering teams across your organization, and also taking action on sustainability at the scale and the speed that's needed.
Shelly Kramer
>> I love it. Great words of advice. Well, Saskia van Gendt, chief sustainability officer for Blue Yonder. Thank you so much for joining me today as part of our series on The Future of Supply Chain. I knew it was going to be a great conversation and you did not disappoint. To our audience-
Saskia van Gendt
>> .
Shelly Kramer
>> To our audience, thank you so much for joining us today. I'm Shelley Kramer from theCUBE, your source for enterprise and emerging tech news. We'll see you here next time.
Talking Sustainability With Blue Yonder's Saskia van Gendt
search
Shelly Kramer
>> Hello, and welcome to this CUBE conversation. I'm your host, Shelly Kramer, principal analyst here at theCUBE Research. And our discussion today is part of our series on The Future of the Supply Chain. My guest is Saskia van Gendt, chief sustainability officer at Blue Yonder. Saskia, welcome. I'm so glad to have you.
Saskia van Gendt
>> Thanks so much for having me. Really looking forward to the conversation.
Shelly Kramer
>> Absolutely. So I'm going to set the stage here and give you some context. We are seeing a growing awareness of global supply chain and the many environmental impacts it has. Organizations are getting pressure from stakeholders, think customers, investors, employees, and even government regulators to adopt more sustainable practices and do things like boost efficiencies and cut costs. In fact, building a sustainable supply chain is not only an important part of business operations in today's world. It can actually help establish a competitive edge. So who's not interested in that? The good news is that today businesses don't have to choose between growth and sustainability. Sustainability is good for business and the planet, and they can have both. So I think it's really an exciting conversation and one that I've been looking forward to. So the thing about sustainability is that, as I mentioned, when it's done right, it's proven to increase operational efficiency, reduce costs, increase customer and employee satisfaction, meet regulatory requirements, and improve brand perceptions. 60% of global carbon emissions come from supply chains. And so getting sustainability right is bound to give businesses a massive competitive advantage. And that's what this conversation today is all about, how to leverage sustainable supply chains as a competitive advantage. Saskia, let's start with some basics. Talk with me a little bit, if you would, about why people should care about sustainable supply chains.
Saskia van Gendt
>> Yeah, well, you teed it up really well and said a lot of the context around the environmental impact from supply chain. And there's a growing awareness of this interconnectivity between the environmental and social impacts and our value chains. So it's not just the carbon emissions that you mentioned, but also pollution from shipping and last mile transportation. Actually, the World Health Organization estimated that pollution from poor air quality is responsible for up to 7 million deaths per year. So there's a direct tie in between making more efficient supply chains and our health effects, effects from poor air quality. And then also some of the extreme weather disruptions that we're seeing directly to supply chains. So things like ranges in crop yields or droughts that are changing the flow of the Panama Canal. So these disruptions to supply chains are directly being affected by changes in the environment. There's true opportunity and addressable waste and emissions that are sitting within the supply chains today. One of the issues that I'm very passionate around is addressing the overproduction of products. So if you look at the food sector and clothing sector, a third of all food produced is getting wasted, yet we know people are still hungry and there's an excess of up to 5 billion garments produced every year. So how do we address some of this overpopulation and really meet the demand where it is without overproduction and all of the waste impacts that can come from that. So there's a huge opportunity to make a positive impact.
Shelly Kramer
>> Yeah, yeah. No, I'm with you there on the food waste and the clothing, the manufacturing waste and all of that. It's just overwhelming to see some of the data on that. So solving for that is a very big deal. So what do you see happening in the market? What are some of the key trends that you are seeing across supply chains and sustainability?
Saskia van Gendt
>> Yeah, I think we're really rising. We're seeing pressures rise from all different places. And I've been in sustainability for long enough to see how these trends are changing. It used to be a pocket of companies that were looking at this, a group of consumers that were interested in environmental issues. Now there's really growing awareness, and a lot of that comes from external pressures that our customers are facing. That could be regulatory pressures, the pressure from consumers to adopt more sustainable practices. Shareholders are invested in building more resilient supply chains. So all of these pressures mounting, now there's a need for better data quality and reporting, and that's largely to meet some of the regulatory pressures. But then also this synergy between making supply chains more efficient from an environmental standpoint and also cutting costs. And that's a huge opportunity if we look at transportation networks, for example, where you can directly reduce excess miles and see cost savings, but also see reduced pollution and emissions coming from that. So we're really seeing all of these pressures mounting for the customers and the different verticals that we served, the we are working with. But also now the rise of the awareness is leading to all companies needing to act and not just those isolated view.
Shelly Kramer
>> I tend to look for silver linings. And one of the silver linings, I feel like, that came out of navigating a global pandemic is it kind of shown a spotlight that was much needed on global supply chain. Because I think that for most ordinary, average people, and many times organizations as well apart from supply chain professionals, really didn't spend a lot of time thinking about supply chain and perhaps the fragility of it and that sort of thing. So I think I love the fact that I think that that transitioned us to putting supply chain top of mind and really lasering in on the huge difference that supply chain and sustainability can make within an organization. What do you think?
Saskia van Gendt
>> Yeah, that's right. We've all become accidental supply chain experts, and partly that comes from directly feeling affected by supply chain disruptions.
Shelly Kramer
>> Right.
Saskia van Gendt
>> And we hear that from consumers, we hear that from our customers, so I couldn't agree more. There's really a lot more awareness and that awareness of the interconnectivity between sustainability and supply chain is higher than ever.
Shelly Kramer
>> Yeah. And I think that's a good thing.
Saskia van Gendt
>> Right.
Shelly Kramer
>> So talk with me about how addressing these issues that we're talking about could offer businesses a competitive advantage.
Saskia van Gendt
>> So at a headline level, I think that sustainability is almost synonymous with supply chain resilience. And even speaking to some of the disruptions that we were just mentioning, the ability to create more resilient supply chains will improve your sustainability impact. And so going back to your opening statement, there's really not necessary to have a choice between growth and sustainability.
Shelly Kramer
>> Right.
Saskia van Gendt
>> We do an annual survey from Blue Yonder consumers, and the survey showed that 65% of consumers are actually willing to pay more for sustainable products. And that's an important proof point for our customers, right?
Shelly Kramer
>> Yeah, good.
Saskia van Gendt
>> The purchase driver is there. And then the more that we're increasing efficiency, especially if you're looking at things like manufacturing and transportation networks, that's where lower emissions and lower waste can also improve margins. Just going back to the example around the fashion industry and the excess of production of garments, excess stock in the fashion industry is valued at as much as 140 billion in sales in 2023, and that's really stuff that's just getting wasted and not sold. So how do we harness and create that better synergy between designing inventory plans to meet real customer demand and avoiding waste on the back end? So that's where we're really tapping into that efficiency.
Shelly Kramer
>> Yeah. Well, and I saw one of your stats from the study that you mentioned, and one of the data points was that 83% of respondents said they would opt for slower, more sustainable shipping for online purchases if incentivized. And I will tell you that I am faced with these tough decisions on a regular basis. If I'm buying something on Amazon Prime, I really do stop and think about, "Do I need this tomorrow? Do I need this in two days or does it matter?" So I think it's little things like that. And Amazon is just one example, but there are many, many other opportunities, since so many of us do online shopping, to step back and think about how can we incentivize our customers to slow things down a little bit and then we all win, you know?
Saskia van Gendt
>> Yeah. I think the other element of that is just creating the data and visibility for where those tradeoffs can be made.
Shelly Kramer
>> Right.
Saskia van Gendt
>> Because if you're just assuming that a consumer wants the product as quick as possible and you're not communicating the carbon savings or the environmental benefit, then they really don't have a choice in understanding the trade-offs. And that's been the big focus of ours, is integrating sustainability and supply chain data and visibility because then you have the awareness around decision-making and knowing where those trade-offs exist.
Shelly Kramer
>> Yeah, I love it. So can you share with me some examples of how businesses can operate more sustainable supply chains? And if you want to toss in a customer use case or two that you're able to share with us, that would be awesome.
Saskia van Gendt
>> Yeah, I'd love to go back to the conversation around overproduction and eliminating waste, because we do see a huge addressable efficiency around designing better inventory plans, especially for retailers, to allow them to better manage the supply and availability on shelf while reducing the need for disposal of especially fresh food waste. So particularly for grocery customers, and Morrison's is an example of a customer that's using this, is by knowing all the different variables around the shopping behavior, whether that be a local holiday or an event that's happening that might drive a purchase decision, or even whether that can drive more people to buy ice cream, all of those variables fed into a planning solution can help grocers plan more dynamically and balance shelf availability while all reducing food waste. So that's a key point for ours. And then the synergy between, especially transportation and warehousing is a huge opportunity because if the inventory and when the inventory needs to go out is balanced with the transportation side, then you can see that there's a huge waste avoidance, but also transportation emissions avoidance opportunity. We have a high-tech company that we're working with that was able to reduce transportation emissions by 40% just through that synchronized execution and knowing when products needed to be going out before they would become obsolete in warehouse and maximizing truckloads to avoid emissions.
Shelly Kramer
>> Got it. Very . And I think really the key to all of this is data and how you see that data that we have. Yeah, absolutely.
Saskia van Gendt
>> Right. Right.
Shelly Kramer
>> So what's stopping businesses? Why is sustainability such a challenge when it comes to supply chains? And I have a feeling that perhaps data plays a role here, but let me hear your thoughts.
Saskia van Gendt
>> Data is a huge factor. And the conversion of supply chain data into relevant sustainability metrics is one of the things that we're building into new solutions. I would say historically, technology has not supported the development of more sustainable supply chains. And we see this really in the marketplace today where, yes, there's technology that's supporting supply chains and there's technology that's helping companies with their ESG metrics, but those two tend to be really separate and they're not sharing data and they're not creating the optimization engines and the scenario building using that integrated approach, which is a big focus for Blue Yonder. We actually do a supply chain executive survey as well, and we know that executives are heavily investing in sustainability. It's one of their top challenges. But some of the challenges that they pointed to are silos and fragmentation in how sustainability is embedded throughout the organization. As I mentioned, the supply chain solutions and the ESG-related solutions are not separate, are not integrated so it's actually reinforcing silos in the organization. And we see from our most advanced customers, they have sustainability programs at the company level and they're actually embedding sustainability mandates and directives to each department. The challenge is, the department may not know on a day-to-day basis how their decisions are affecting that company goal. So that integration of data and really empowering different teams to support those goals is a key opportunity.
Shelly Kramer
>> Yeah, absolutely. Sustainability can't operate in a vacuum.
Saskia van Gendt
>> Right. That's right.
Shelly Kramer
>> Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So walk me through, if you would, what a sustainable supply chain platform looks like and the key elements that can be game changers for businesses.
Saskia van Gendt
>> Yeah. And I'm glad you used the word platform because that really points to the integrated value chain approach where you're not just looking at individual point solutions and trying to address problems in isolation, but how from a holistic standpoint, sustainability can be addressed in the supply chain. I think one of the biggest opportunities, especially for the customers that we're working with is to empower them to move from a reactive to a proactive approach. And what this means is not just looking in hindsight and reporting the waste that occurred or the pollution that occurred over the past quarter or the past year, but developing plans, whether it be transportation plans or inventory plans that proactively allow you to optimize for future performance. And that's a key benefit of this centralized planning and execution platform. So having this single cohesive view allows that real-time responsiveness and also decision making towards those higher level goals that companies are setting. I think the other key point that we're building is around network visibility. We're seeing regulations that are pointing to not just immediate first-tier supplier visibility, but that in-tier influence through the supply chain and things like a network. And looking at ESG risk across the entire network, actually being able to decide if you're choosing manufacturer A or B based on their performance is a key lever for sustainability teams to influence deeper into the supply chain. So tapping into the network effect and being able to respond in real time, but also have deeper network visibility and how risk and ESG performance is overlaid onto the network.
Shelly Kramer
>> Yeah, yeah. No, that makes perfect sense. Now, what about, do organizations seem to have the right systems in place to help measure and monitor their supply chains? Or is that continued to be a challenge?
Saskia van Gendt
>> So there's definitely more technologically advanced customers that are using supply chain solutions to measure. And I think the key opportunity for the future is not just the hindsight measurement, but also that future optimization and really being proactive around how your future value chain can be designed to eliminate waste, to eliminate pollution.
Shelly Kramer
>> Right. And really going back to what I mentioned about supply chain, the thing about supply chain that I think is so critical here is that supply chain and sustainability play a huge role in business resilience. We can't run our businesses if we can't respond to market conditions that may change on a dime. Remember when the Ever Given stuck in the canal, things like that impact all of us. So being able to have that real time visibility into your operations as a whole, I think to me, that's one of the biggest parts of being a game changer for business and certainly laying a foundation for business resilience.
Saskia van Gendt
>> Absolutely. And that real time visibility can also enable not just quicker responsiveness around your supply chain, but being able to make a more sustainable decision when you're pressed too in real time. So we do see again that that integration of visibility is really important.
Shelly Kramer
>> Yeah. Platform for the win. Saskia, as we wrap the show, do you have any final words for supply chain professionals since they work to get their arms around their sustainability objectives?
Saskia van Gendt
>> Yeah. I think going back to just what we're hearing from customers and knowing that the silos still exist, there's more and more momentum around building sustainable supply chains, but organizationally, we don't always connect between our supply chain teams and our sustainability teams. So changing the mindset around integrating those approaches will allow companies to go from being reactive to being proactive and further embed sustainability throughout the organization. And we do think that technology is the key driver for achieving that integration, creating better visibility, creating that real time decision making, empowering teams across your organization, and also taking action on sustainability at the scale and the speed that's needed.
Shelly Kramer
>> I love it. Great words of advice. Well, Saskia van Gendt, chief sustainability officer for Blue Yonder. Thank you so much for joining me today as part of our series on The Future of Supply Chain. I knew it was going to be a great conversation and you did not disappoint. To our audience-
Saskia van Gendt
>> .
Shelly Kramer
>> To our audience, thank you so much for joining us today. I'm Shelley Kramer from theCUBE, your source for enterprise and emerging tech news. We'll see you here next time.
Shelly Kramer