Evaluation of suppliers: how to consider the environment

Industry in general, and Swedish private companies in particular, are working today within increasing environmental considerations. Environmental strategies, policies, and work programmes in varying forms are necessary in a market which increasingly focuses on environmental factors. An environmental process must include a product’s full life‐cycle, its supply, production, use and waste handling. It must also include economic calculations and be well established within a company’s leadership. A part of a company’s environmental analysis is to evaluate its suppliers and their effect on the environment. The Ishikawa diagram (Ishikawa, 1990) has been used in a project as a diagnostics tool to evaluate suppliers. In conjunction with this evaluation, tables in the computer program Excel have been produced. The work has been done in conjunction with Swedish industrial companies.