Competitive advantage of carbon efficient supply chain in manufacturing industry

Abstract

Abstract The competitiveness of the manufacturing industry is fundamentally intertwined between sustainable production and carbon efficiency in the supply chain. There is a growing level of alertness to environmental protection vis-a-vis emission control and the climate change. Apart from the cost reduction, network optimization, profit maximization, risk mitigation, and value-added services, the modern manufacturing has added carbon footprint reduction to their performance indices. Therefore, the focus is changing to green manufacturing and carbon efficient supply chain, which is intended to improve their production and product consumption as a result of competitive advantage. However, mitigating the climate change demands a more fundamental shift in the way the manufacturing industry delivers products and services to the end users. This research investigates how the competitive advantage of a carbon efficient supply chain can be sustained. Some automobile manufacturing company in the United Kingdom were considered as the case study. Data were sourced through interview, survey questions and from the existing literature. The cross-case synthesis was applied to draw comparison among different companies used as the case study. Influencing drivers and barriers associated with the automobile manufacturing supply chain were identified. The investigation revealed that consumers are the major driver of competitive advantage in manufacturing, with the competition now moved to supply chain which is associated with a different level of product consumption. The impact of other existing strategic factors was also identified. A flow chart for the strategic implementation of carbon efficiency practices along the supply chain was developed. In overall, the study revealed the need for the implementation of carbon reduction strategies in business development.