Sustainability means more than just looking at your carbon footprint and being environmentally responsible. For our members, it means looking up and down their supply chain. Indeed, ethical supply chain management is a critical aspect of responsible business. Organisations need to be looking at where, how, and by who the products they use are being made.
This is why IPC and its members have joined to look at the postal industry ethical value chain. Much like IPC had done in its EMMS program, IPC is collaborating with our members to achieve the following:
- To drive improved sector performance in line with customers
- To promote compliance with international law and standards
- To enable new “responsible” business opportunities
- To build a more sustainable and ethical sector
Best Practice Seminar
On March 9 & 10, 2010, IPC hosted a Best Practice Seminar on Ethical Value Chains where we discussed the key drivers and risks for business (i.e., reasons for ethical value chain management, responsible outsourcing and procurement); current and future international, regional, sector and regulatory standards and requirements; and best practice examples of programmes and tools that deliver competitive advantage, such as mapping tools, risk calculators, etc.
Participants heard from not only experts in the area of ethical value chains, we were also joined by guest speakers from other industries, including Ms. Heike Schulze from Daimler AG, who discussed the Daimler and automotive ethical supply chain management programmes and how this influences the creation of high performance companies, and Ms. Jo Webb from Sedex, who introduced the Sedex ethical supply chain management programme, its different work streams and the journey of member companies, and provided insight into collaborative initiatives and challenges.