Rethinking the global

We are all part of a global

economy, capable of

producing and transporting

seemingly anything, from

anywhere, to anyone. Its life-

blood is an interconnected network of

suppliers and producers, retailers and

consumers, spanning the planet. But

the public typically knows far more

about Apple, Nike, and other brands

than the logistics empires many tiers

below, where firms such as Foxconn

and Pou Chen connect vast underlying

commodity and labor markets that

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supply chain

are relatively hidden from the public

eye. This sprawling web of supply

chains can raise living standards,

improve conditions for workers, and

help alleviate poverty. But feeding its

unquenchable thirst for energy, water,

and other resources puts a strain on

the planet. Finding ways to relieve

that strain is an enormous challenge

and will undoubtedly require greater

traceability and transparency.

One step forward is providing better

measurements and models and making

efforts to standardize and coordinate

How traceability, measurement, and standardization might tame an unwieldy web

by Brad Wible, Jeffrey Mervis, Nicholas S. Wigginton

S P E C I A L S E C T I O N

6 JUNE 2014 • VOL 344 ISSUE 6188 1101SCIENCE sciencemag.org

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SPECIAL SECTION RETHINKING THE GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN

their use. Researchers are intensely studying

how to account for supply-chain demands on

ecosystems by integrating carbon, water, energy,

and other “footprints” into coordinated schemes

(see Hoekstra and Wiedmann, p. 1114). They are

also developing better ways to inventory mate-

rial and energy inputs, from the conception of

a product to its grave, via life-cycle assessment

tools (see Hellweg and Milà i Canals, p. 1109).

Yet academic insights alone cannot solve

these problems. The large-scale cooperation of

industry is essential. Many

companies and industries

are seeking to improve how

they collect, synthesize,

standardize, and commu-

nicate supply-chain data to

better inform decision-making (see O’Rourke,

p. 1124). A study of the Brazilian Amazon

shows how supply-chain initiatives in the beef

and soy industries, interacting with economic,

social, and policy drivers, can slow deforesta-

tion of one of the world’s major sources of

biodiversity and carbon sequestration (see

Nepstad et al., p. 1118).

Logistics and transportation are also ripe

for improvement. One approach is drawing

inspiration from the digital Internet to create

a Physical Internet. The initiative envisions

using standardized “packets” and protocols for

shipping, and forging the types of industry-wide

partnerships that are normally anathema to a

free-market system, but perhaps necessary to

reduce the congestion, pollution, and ineffi-

ciency that make the current system ultimately

unsustainable (see Mervis, p. 1104). Although

many companies may initially be motivated by

improved efficiencies and profit margins, such

improvements in supply chains hold out the

hope of improving conditions for humanity

(see Dooley, p. 1108).

NEWS

The information highway gets physical p. 1104

OPINION

The whole chain p. 1108

REVIEWS

Emerging approaches, challenges and opportunities in life cycle assessment p. 1109

Humanity’s unsustainable environmental footprint p. 1114

Slowing Amazon deforestation through public policy and interventions in beef and soy supply chains p. 1118

The science of sustainable supply chains p. 1124

INSIDE

Podcast at www.sciencemag.org/special/supply

ONLINE

PHOTO: © RALPH D. FRESO/REUTERS/CORBIS

Ports like Hong Kong (previous page) and warehouses

like Amazon’s feed global supply chains, but their social

and environmental costs are largely hidden.

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SCIENCE sciencemag.org 6 JUNE 2014 • VOL 344 ISSUE 6188 1103

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Rethinking the global supply chainBrad Wible, Jeffrey Mervis and Nicholas S. Wigginton

DOI: 10.1126/science.344.6188.1100 (6188), 1100-1103.344Science 

ARTICLE TOOLS http://science.sciencemag.org/content/344/6188/1100

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