The SMART Supply Chain Conference in Sydney today

Speaking at the SMART Supply Chain Conference in Sydney today, Trevor Barrows, Principal Consultant - Sustainability at Fujitsu Australia Limited, said: "There has been much talk about what could be achieved at the supply chain level however what I'm seeing is that it is nevertheless viewed in silos and that an end to end approach has not been achieved by mainstream business in this country.

"Australia is a laggard compared with the rest of the world largely due to the fact that we have been insulated from the worst of the global financial crisis. We're not pushing hard enough on the efficiency and waste management front. And the unhelpfully confusing political messages surrounding carbon pricing are not encouraging Australian companies to move on from business as usual."

The delivery mechanism at that time looks at the drivers, strategic actions, implementation framework and the business benefits of an end-to-end sustainability business model. Fujitsu's enabling projects provide a complete circle from the clean-up of operations and facilities to optimised infrastructure, managed energy use and rationalised procurement and supply.

To achieve zero waste requires a strategic, whole of business approach and collaboration across the supply chain. From ICT to human resources and physical infrastructure, energy consumption must be measured, managed and mitigated. The fact that sophisticated, cloud and wireless enabled integrated solutions, which were once within reach of only the largest enterprises, are now as well affordable to SMEs will power these changes.

Waste from operations and asset ownership should be considered part of the supply chain. And it is now providing innovative opportunities for businesses to use it as a new and significant revenue generator. With working examples of end to end sustainability in action Fujitsu is demonstrating how supermarkets, factories and distribution centres can install tri-generation power units to convert expensively removed organic waste into a revenue stream. A $500,000 capital equipment investment is paying back within 1-2 years, through returning electricity to the grid, providing heating/cooling to the building and the sale of agricultural biochar.