AIAG is expanding efforts to improve the social and environmental performance of the supply chain by making its comprehensive collection of tools and training available in Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese, Turkish, and Italian.

In addition, AIAG’s supply chain sustainability workshop content is now being updated for delivery in Brazil, Mexico, and China later this year. 

“AIAG is committed to creating a curriculum that will assist suppliers at various stages of their sustainability development,” says Elly Bradford, department manager, Honda North American Procurement Planning. “Our goal is to assist supply chain personnel in their understanding of sustainability basics that align with their customers’ expectations.”

Bradford points out that when it comes to corporate responsibility and sustainable practices, a common approach and message brings significant benefits.  Decisions made by one company in the supply chain may affect worker safety or environmental compliance elsewhere in the supply chain and in different parts of the world.  Understanding and managing these potential risks has become a strategic priority for the automotive industry, she says.

This new suite of tools and training is a natural outcome of the Automotive Industry Guiding Principles to Enhance Sustainability in the Supply Chain document released to the industry last year and endorsed by 14 automakers, including General Motors, Ford Motor Co., Daimler, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V., Toyota, Honda, Volvo, and others. The document, which underscored these OEMs’ commitment to achieving excellence and innovation in a sustainable manner, specifically outlines the industry’s expected high standards in business integrity and the social and environmental performance of the supply chain.  The document focuses on ethics, environmental standards, and human rights and working conditions.

“Based on these Guiding Principles, AIAG enhanced its working conditions and business ethics workshops and developed new e-tools that are accessible to suppliers wherever they are,” explains Mary Ellen Bridges, purchasing manager, Ford Motor Company. “The AIAG tools help suppliers assess their readiness for meeting the OEMs’ Guiding Principles.”

The AIAG supply chain sustainability guidelines, assessment tools, education, training, and other collateral materials are designed for companies of all sizes to meet and exceed sustainability performance expectations. AIAG recommends that companies get started with the following tools:

• Automotive Industry Guiding Principles to Enhance Sustainability Performance in the Supply Chain — guidelines based on fundamental principles of ethical, social, and environmental responsibility that are compliant with local law, consistent with international expectations, and supported by sponsoring automotive manufacturers

• NEW: AIAG Supply Chain Sustainability eLearning — a free online course highlighting the fundamental principles of responsible working conditions, including an overview of child labor, forced labor, freedom of association, harassment and discrimination, health and safety, wages and benefits, working hours, environmental responsibility, and business ethics

• NEW: AIAG Supply Chain Sustainability Knowledge Assessment (practitioner level) — a free online assessment based on the Automotive Industry Guiding Principles to Enhance Sustainability Performance in the Supply Chain that includes terms and knowledge common to the automotive industry and is designed to help on-board employees who have been assigned to champion their company’s sustainability efforts

• Supplier Sustainability Self-Assessment (enterprise level) — a free standardized tool created by a collaborative team of automotive and sustainability professionals for gap analysis and process improvement, including a method by which suppliers can report on their sustainability activities and data with a single response provided to multiple customers

• ENHANCED: Supply Chain Sustainability Workshops — in-person workshops scheduled throughout the world that use case studies and industry best practices to highlight the fundamental principles of responsible working conditions and expectations of automakers such as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V., Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Honda, and Toyota

AIAG is strongly encouraging suppliers to start with the Supply Chain Sustainability eLearning and then complete the knowledge assessments, which will provide a baseline of their understanding and show where their team members need more education and training.

“OEMs expect responsible and ethical business practices from their supply base,” says Bridges. “Having these tools available in multiple languages and the training in multiple countries helps create awareness of basic corporate responsibility principles on a more global scale.”

With a greater emphasis now on transparency in the supply chain, Bridges says it makes good business sense for companies to demonstrate their knowledge of these basic principles because not only is that what’s best for the industry and its people, but also because it’s what their customers expect.

For more information on AIAG’s supply chain sustainability tools, visit www.aiag.org or contact AIAG customer service at (248) 358-3003.