With over 15 years of experience, we
have developed extensive knowledge
on how to assess the sustainability
performance of our supply chain. We
started in the 90s with monitoring
our suppliers and drafting remediation
plans for non-compliance. We
learned quickly that this could help
address many issues, but that it’s
not enough to tackle systemic issues.
Years ago with the launch of our Full
Audit Programme, we went beyond
just monitoring and put stronger
focus on management systems,
capacity building and collaboration
with key actors beyond the factory
walls to help tackle societal barriers
to improvements. It’s now time to
take this to the next level. We want
to move our approach from “yes or
no” based compliance audits to even
more impactful assessments and put
even greater focus on partnerships
and involvement of local stake holders. This will help us make a
measurable difference in the social
and environmental impacts – not
only amongst our first-tier suppliers,
but gradually across our entire value
chain. That’s why we are currently
developing an updated supplier
assessment method that we are planning to roll out during 2015.
This will further advance our data
management and risk assessments,
strengthen supplier ownership and
prepare us for the integration of new
tools, such as the HiGG Index, that
will provide better alignment and
comparability across our industry.