Supply chain responsibility continued
During 2006, all group suppliers received our
Supplier Code, along with a request to review
their own practices against this Code and to
explicitly indicate whether they were compliant.
By the end of the year, 83 percent of all our
group suppliers acknowledged their full
compliance with the Code. Three suppliers have
responded that they are unable to formally
acknowledge their compliance due to legal
constraints. Together with these suppliers
we are investigating ways to achieve the same
level of assurance without compromising their
legal obligations.
During 2007, those companies that still have to
respond will be contacted and will be asked to
confirm their status. Our implementation process
does not automatically mean that non-compliance
will lead to the discontinuation of supplier status.
Depending on the scale and nature of any failure
to comply, suppliers may be given a set period
(up to three years for minor areas of non
compliance) during which they can take the
measures necessary to meet our standards.
All correspondence with suppliers, along with
details of inquiries related to the Supplier Code,
will be stored in a central Heineken database,
which will be accessible to all buyers in Group
Purchasing.
In order to help buyers in the department to
incorporate discussion on the Supplier Code into
their regular contacts with suppliers, a meeting
was held in November 2006 to brief Group
Purchasing managers and employees. The Code
will become even more embedded into the
normal practices of the department in 2007,
when the Supplier Code will become part of the
criteria used to assess all approved suppliers.
Following this, the Code will be subject to all
periodic quality audits.
In addition to quality audits, Group Purchasing
is developing a vendor rating system, already
operational for malt suppliers, which will regularly
monitor a number of critical factors, including
compliance with the Supplier Code.
O/l Heineken N.V.
Sustainability Report 2006
