Initiative “Together for Sustainability”

More sustainability in the supply chain

In order to enhance sustainability within the supply chain, Henkel joined forces with five additional chemical companies in a new collaborative initiative: “Together for Sustainability”. The member companies, among them BASF, Bayer MaterialScience, Evonik Industries, Henkel, LANXESS and Solvay, aim to harmonize the complex supply management and optimize the joint dialogue with global business partners.

Henkel is working with suppliers and partners in around 125 different countries worldwide. Ecological and social aspects are increasingly taken into consideration in the selection of suppliers, such as the compliance with established principles and standards like the Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) standards. To verify this compliance, Henkel carries out regular audits which are systematically expanded and improved by the cross-company initiative “Together for Sustainability”.

„An audit for one is an audit for all“ – this is the initiative’s basic idea. In line with this motto the audit reports are available to all member companies and the results of the supplier assessments are shared on a web-based platform. This exchange enables the suppliers to do only one “self-assessment” or a single audit in future years and helps to standardize the assessments and audit criteria globally.

The initiative’s pilot phase has been successfully completed. In 2012, the member companies selected a total of 2,000 suppliers for assessments (worldwide) and audits (150 chemical companies in China). On the basis of the experience gained, the initiative will increase its engagement in further sourcing markets (focus on Brazil, China and India) and will also onboard new members in the upcoming years.

More information can be found on the homepage of the initiative.