Veröffentlichung

Titel:

Socially sustainable raw material sourcing in global supply chains

AutorInnen:

Franze, L.
Kieckhäfer, K.
Mota, B.
Barbosa-Póvoa, A.

Kategorie:

Referierte Zeitschriften

erschienen in:

Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 107, 102588, 2026. [Link]

Abstract:

Due to due diligence requirements, social sustainability is receiving more attention in global supply chains. In the context of sourcing, companies seek sustainable supply sources, engage in supplier development, or invest in raw material mining projects to meet social standards. However, existing literature on supply chain planning rarely studies and oversimplifies socially sustainable raw material sourcing. To fill this gap, we develop a novel approach to support optimal raw material sourcing, combining social life cycle assessment, activity analysis, and multi-objective optimization. The developed multi-period model decides how much raw material to source from multiple sites with varying levels of costs and social risks. To meet social standards and fulfill demand, different measures are explored: commitment to long-term supply contracts, investment in mining projects, and implementation of social supplier development measures. The net present value of these decisions is maximized in the economic objective function, while social risks are limited by constraints or used as a second objective function. The augmented ε-constraint method is used to solve the model for raw material extraction in the supply chain of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. The results reveal the complex and intricate interdependencies between the decisions about supply sources, sourcing options, and supplier development in socially sustainable raw material sourcing. Depending on the objective function, different sourcing options as well as different locations for the implementation of supplier development measures are obtained. Additionally, decisions are influenced by the social impacts of indirect suppliers outside the focal firm's control.