Evaluating sustainability trade-offs along supply chain

The aim of this present paper is to evaluate network sustainability applying a quantitative model based on the integration of LCA data with discrete simulation. For this purpose, different scenarios have been defined by collecting several product-chain data as an attempt to develop a formalized approach to share information within a network cluster. As preliminary approach, the supply chain environmental impact is assessed through a static modular LCA. Then the paper presents different supply chain configurations in which the variations of three important drivers, like lead-time to the customer, level of sustainability of the suppliers and target Global Warming Potential (GWP) value per product, can influence each other. By collecting data from a footwear company case, the model assesses the environmental sustainability of the supply chain (SC) taking into consideration the following environmental impact: materials and components suppliers, transport and logistics from suppliers to producer or contractors, and producer or contractors. According to the proper data reliability required at inventory level, it was possible to simulate scenarios considering different degree of variability of the GWP. The preliminary results highlighted as specific decisional areas under the control of product managers (e.g. supplier selection and manufacturing defects) can significantly affect the environmental impact of the whole supply chain.