Ford has joined two initiatives aimed at improving sustainability in the automotive supply chain.
The first the Catena-X Automotive network, which promotes better data exchange between supply chain partners. Formerly known as the Automotive Alliance, Catena-X was founded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, and the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA)
The second is the Responsible Supply Chain Initiative (RSCI), which was also launched late last year by the VDA, along with 14 other automotive members (of which Ford is one). It supports companies looking to make their supply chains more sustainable through the provision of assessment tools and guidance.
Data to deal with disruption
Ford said Catena-X creates uniform standards for data and information exchange across the supply chain and it would be benefitting from a wide network of partners from business and science. Focus areas include quality management, maintenance, supply chain management and sustainability.
“Ford’s involvement with Catena-X will help the company improve sustainability, ensure human rights standards are followed and make supply chains even more transparent,” said the company in a statement.
The collaborative initiative is designed to make dealing with supply chain disruption, raw materials shortages and parts tracking a faster and easier process.
At the same time, the aim of the RSCI is to develop a standardised assessment tool for evaluating the sustainability of companies in automotive supply chains, including social compliance of working conditions, occupational safety and environmental protection.
“Shaping a sustainable future requires taking a holistic approach and offering practical solutions,” said Helmut Philipp, sustainability specialist at Ford of Europe, who is also vice-chair of the RSCI. “Initiatives like RSCI offer companies the opportunity to work with advanced and common industry standards for individual company sustainability auditing. This enables a wide range of companies to work together towards a common goal.”
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