One of the most significant competitive challenges for companies in any supply chain is learning to act responsibly. Bernard Molloy, ‘Logistician of the Year’ and global industrial director at Unipart Logistics sets out an approach to competitive advantage through Corporate Responsibility.
Corporate Responsibility policy now plays a highly influential and expanding role in how companies choose to develop their business strategies.
With consumer awareness of how companies behave ethically and environmentally influencing decisions on the brands they buy, protecting corporate reputation has become a critical focus for companies and is changing the way businesses operate. And, critically, how they choose their trading partners.
Responsible businesses seek to forge relationships only with organisations that reflect their own values and that comply with their own standards and policies on corporate responsibility.
Corporate responsibility reporting is now a mainstream business practice worldwide, undertaken by almost three quarters (71 per cent) of the 4,100 companies surveyed by the accounting group KPMG in 2013.
Clearly, if businesses wish to thrive then they must adopt sound policies on corporate responsibility and work only with like companies.
According to Ethical Corporation’s ‘State of Sustainability 2015’ report, supply chains were the area of corporate activity where sustainability was most important. Some 49 per cent of respondents said sustainability was driving business revenues, with 67 per cent agreeing it provided savings.
However, working ethically and sustainably requires expert knowledge and, perhaps, the right partner.
As a logistics services company responsible for running the supply chains of some of the world’s most valuable brands, Unipart Logistics has for many years realised the importance of being a responsible company.
The Unipart Value Set has been in place since 1987, forming the basis of our culture and is reflected in The Unipart Way, our philosophy of working, which engages and empowers employees to identify and remove waste from every aspect of the business and the supply chains we manage.
As an example, for Sky we have succeeded in recycling 98% of all waste by recycling waste back to raw materials. The remaining waste becomes fuel (Refuse Derived Fuel), which in turn preserves fossil fuel resources. We also provide an award winning zero landfill service for any returned product, equipment or packaging through a fully auditable and ethical process and are able to leverage our repair capability to provide full repair, refurbishment or harvesting of re-usable parts.
Demonstrating our commitment to being a responsible company, Unipart Group was amongst the top 10 performing companies in the UK to receive a five star rating in the Business in the Community 2015 Corporate Responsibility Index – the UK’s leading benchmark of responsible businesses. In 2014, for the second year in a row, Unipart won six British Safety Council Swords of Honour across its principle sites. In addition to the Swords of Honour, Unipart was also awarded the coveted Globe of Honour for environmental management excellence in 2014.
Corporate responsibility is at the very heart of our business and determines every aspect of the way we work with our partners and stakeholders to produce high performance supply chains that are ethical, sustainable and above all responsible.
More information on Corporate Responsibility visit our new website at www.unipartlogistics.com
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