A joint journey

“It’s a journey that we undertake together with our suppliers,” says Fabian Dreier, who heads the purchasing and logistics division at Endress+Hauser Flow. Dreier was recently in China, where his partners demonstrated how environmental protection and fair business practices are a natural way of doing things. “It’s a good sign that these issues are proactively presented,” says the manager.

Since 2019, Endress+Hauser Flow has given its roughly 400 direct suppliers the opportunity to have their sustainability performance audited by external specialist EcoVadis. The evaluation is carried out using 21 criteria from the fields of environmental protection, work practices and human rights, fair business practices and sustainable procurement.

The participating suppliers gain insights into how they stack up against other companies in their comparison group and where they can further develop, in addition to receiving concrete suggestions for improvement.

“For us this offers an opportunity for an open dialogue,” says Fabian Dreier. How is the health of the workforce being safeguarded? How is water management set up? “As a family company, sustainability and a long-term mindset are core values at Endress+Hauser,” says Dreier. This responsibility for subsequent generations does not stop at the edge of the company premises. “For us it’s important that our suppliers also act in an ecological, social and ethical manner.”

Our goal is for all core and strategic suppliers to voluntarily participate in the sustainability audit. A total of 84 partners in Europe, China, the US and India participated in an initial round of audits by the end of 2022, with the results going to Endress+Hauser Flow. In addition to the information from its own supplier audits, the product center receives an even more comprehensive overview of its partners, which it can use for comparison purposes.