Trust: The Superpower of a Great Supply Chain

Recently, the Zero100 Forum convened Chief Supply Chain Officers from around the world to share war stories of digitally overhauling operations, building future-fit teams for 2030, and chasing Scope 3 GHG reductions. It was a hit. 

The stickiest presentation of all came from a Communications expert – Alex Heath of Edelman. The title of the talk was “Consumer Trust in a Troubled Time”, and it struck a chord with everyone. Maybe this was because his data reinforced the whole purpose and ethos of a great supply chain: earning customers’ trust. 

Trust as Power 

Heath’s talk started by grounding the audience in the polarized, fear-driven reality of our time and casting the work of supply chain as part of a “battle for truth in the era of disinformation”. He shared extensive survey data from the Edelman Trust Barometer that affirmed business is seen by consumers as more ethical, competent, and trusted as an institution than NGOs, government, or media. 

The good news is that people are looking to business leaders first to solve big problems, including climate change, DEI, and skills training. The bad news is that we aren’t providing enough information to empower them to make change happen with their own choices.  And, as much as they appreciate big picture efforts like the Science Based Targets initiative, 64% worldwide say that companies are doing “mediocre or worse” at keeping their climate promises. 

Business has the peoples’ trust but is currently squandering it with soaring rhetoric and macro commitments that are more likely to be trashed on social media or weaponized with anti-greenwashing legislation. The answer is to come down to the individual consumer level with specific, personalized help for the 85% who say there is a gap between their current lifestyles and how climate-friendly they want to be. 

The top five specific reasons consumers give for failing to shop as sustainably as they want to are all dependent almost exclusively on innovation in supply chain operations and technology: 

• Drive down costs by scaling lower carbon materials, manufacturing methods, and packaging.  
• Provide item specific carbon scores at the point of sale.  
• Facilitate returns, refillable containers, and repairs.
• Populate personalized carbon scorecards for repeat customers.  
• Expand channel logistics to include more stores and more DTC sales.  

These innovations are all happening now with brands like Unilever, IKEA, and SC Johnson aggressively investing in technology and supplier development to make sustainable living a practical and personal choice. If Edelman’s data is right, this will be a welcome development for most consumers in the world. 

Consumers Are Ready 

Heath shared one data point that is paradoxically sobering and encouraging. 40% of people surveyed say that sustainable living “…would mean giving up almost all of the activities that bring me pleasure in life”. Among the young, this share rises to 47%. Grim. 

And yet, they also say they’re ready to do it. The job of supply chain people is to solve this apparently unsolvable problem with the same toolbox we’ve used for a century: technology, automation, process design, materials science, logistics innovation, and systems thinking. It is the common thread uniting the Toyota Production System, Moore’s Law, and the Amazon Effect, each of which made life better for consumers, investors and anyone who felt energized by the work of making the impossible happen. 

A Virtuous Circle Built on Trust 

Heath challenged the audience to flip the narrative on climate change from sacrifice to hope and opportunity. Consumers will engage but need supply-chain-enabled choices to start the flywheel we’ve seen before in lean manufacturing, semiconductor fabrication, and e-commerce. The technology is there to start communicating at this level of granularity. 

Supply chain earned meaningful trust keeping people fed and safe through the pandemic. Maybe now is the time to cash in that trust on an even bigger mission.