Supply Chain School initiative goes Down Under

An initiative to promote sustainability in the construction industry has proved so successful it is now being exported to Australia and could be rolled out worldwide.

Supply Chain Sustainability School was set up 18 months ago as a virtual learning environment by Skanska, Kier, Lend Lease, Morgan Sindall, Sir Robert McAlpine, Willmott Dixon and Aggregate Industries, with support from the CITB.

The online learning environment allows companies in the construction industry to develop their knowledge and skills in sustainability.

The target was for 800 companies to join in the first year but, so far, more 3,800 members from more than 1,850 companies have signed up, including  14 out of the UK’s top 20 construction contractors.

Wates and Balfour Beatty are the most recent new signings, and Lend Lease, Carillion, BAM, Galliford Try and ISG are also backing the scheme. 

The major contractors encourage their supply chain members to enrol in the school, but membership is open to any construction firm, whether or not they supply them. The CIOB also promoted the scheme to members.

The initiative has proved so successful in the UK that it is now being rolled out in Australia where it is to be launched on 1 June. In the UK it is operated by Action Sustainability, part of the business services provider BE Group.

Ian Heptonstall, director of Action Sustainability, said: “In addition to Australia, we have serious interest from Malaysia, Canada, Sweden and the Middle East. We plan to see how we can replicate it in the Australian market and then roll it out to as many countries as we can to internationalise this award-winning platform.’’

The Supply Chain Sustainability School works through e-learning modules, webinars, interviews, workshops, tools and best practice case studies. These allow companies to self-assess their current knowledge, develop an action plan and access free training and support.

The School was set up to meet the challenge facing construction contractors that wanted to improve their sustainability but which had to coordinate and ensure standards among suppliers and subcontractors.

Graham Edgell, director of procurement and sustainability at Morgan Sindall, said: “The bigger picture is that the supply chain knowledge around sustainability isn’t as great as it should be of the emerging agenda, in terms of carbon, materials, business ethics and social issues and with government regulations, building regulations and client requirements driving us. We need to develop a greener, more socially aware and more ethical supply chain to meet these agendas.’’

Action Sustainability says that three principles underlie the School: it is free; it is voluntary (with no major contractor insisting their suppliers must register); and it is confidential, allowing companies to be honest about any lack of competencies or knowledge without the fear of this affecting their status with a contractor’s procurement department.

Andrew Haworth, Balfour Beatty supply chain director, said: “Balfour Beatty has joined the School because we see it as something that has engaged the supply chain right the way across the industry. It’s an opportunity to be working alongside our peers and competitors to really support the supply chain to deliver on the sustainability agenda.’’