Unveiling "Procurement Policy" and "CSR Procurement Standards"
To share a mutual understanding about CSR procurement with parts and materials suppliers, the Brother Group put its "Procurement Policy" and "CSR Procurement Standards" on the website in May 2008. The Brother Group has been committed to green procurement practices since FY 2001, when it started giving priority to purchasing environmentally friendly parts and materials. The new policy and standards have been expanded to cover human rights and labor, employees' health and safety, fair trade and ethics, product quality and safety, information security, social contributions, and other aspects. Meanwhile, the Brother Group organizes CSR procurement explanatory meetings and CSR group studies to assist suppliers with their CSR activities.
Hosting a Group Study Meeting in Vietnam to Promote CSR Procurement
Employees from 20 suppliers and Brother discuss CSR procurement-related challenges
Lecture given by a Brother Industries employee in charge of CSR procurement
Discussing the challenges and future efforts as a group
In October 2010, the second CSR procurement group study meeting was held at Brother International (Vietnam) Co., Ltd. (BIVN), a manufacturing facility in Vietnam. The meeting was joined by 25 employees from 20 local suppliers and five BIVN employees in charge of procurement. After attending a lecture on CSR procurement, the participants had a group discussion on the state of CSR activities at respective companies and identified future challenges and visions.
As part of CSR management, the Brother Group has been promoting CSR procurement by requesting parts and materials suppliers to comply with Brother's CSR procurement standards released in May 2008.
Suppliers are encouraged to work actively on green procurement (environmental consideration) as well as human rights, labor issues, health and safety, fair trade, business ethics, information security, consumer protection, social contribution, and other activities, in order to avoid social risks, increase opportunities to win new customers, and grow with the Brother Group while improving corporate strength.
To promote understanding and awareness of CSR, a CSR procurement seminar was held in Vietnam in November 2008, followed by questionnaire surveys and corporate visits to assess the degree of understanding and implementation of CSR; the first CSR procurement group study meeting was held in September 2009. At the latest meeting, the discussions covered legal compliance (which is a particular focus of CSR) awareness and its activities. Training programs were provided for BIVN staff to enable them to organize their own such meetings.
The discussions confirmed that the companies realize the importance of CSR for their sustainable development, and that corporate managers' involvement and actions in CSR are crucial for promoting CSR. It was also revealed that various challenges including wages, fringe benefits, working environment, and working hours, remain to be resolved, and that frequent communication between management and employees is needed to boost CSR activities by suppliers.
The meeting closed with a commitment to future efforts: to share specific cases of CSR activities (which suppliers have given permission to be disclosed) with other companies to help them address challenges, upgrade CSR activities by BIVN employees, and actively involve suppliers.
