- Ford becomes part of Catena-X, a network set up to establish data standards for the automotive value chain and improve data exchange between all contributors
- Ford is a founding member of the Responsible Supply Chain Initiative, ensuring social compliance, employee safety and environmental protection on supply chains
- The initiatives will make significant contributions towards Ford reaching carbon neutrality across its European facilities, logistics and suppliers by 2035
- The company is committed to improving the supply chain and endeavours to do business with organisations that actively protect people and the planet
COLOGNE, Germany – Ford of Europe has signed on to two key supply chain initiatives which seek to establish industry standards for data-sharing between partners and the assessment of sustainability of production sites.
The first initiative is the Catena-X Automotive Network, established to improve sustainability and efficiency across the automotive supply chain through continuous data exchange between partners. The second is the Responsible Supply Chain Initiative (RSCI), which provides tools, measures and support to achieve a more sustainable supply chain.
“Responsible, transparent and sustainable supply chains are key for a successful change in the automotive industry as we move towards an electrified future,” said Werner Pütz, vice president, Purchasing, Ford of Europe. “By defining the data standards and assuring secure data exchange, Catena-X provides a strong basis for collaborative efforts in this arena that is so important for all businesses in the industry. We are extremely pleased to be now part of two groundbreaking initiatives.”
Joining these initiatives is a significant step towards Ford achieving carbon neutrality across its European footprint of facilities, logistics and suppliers by 2035. Also by 2035, Ford is targeting zero emissions for all vehicle sales in Europe.
Catena-X Automotive Network
As a digital ecosystem and collaborative network, Catena-X will create uniform standards for data and information exchange across the automotive value chain. Ford joins a wide range of partners from business and science in this unprecedented collaboration between companies in the automotive industry.
The areas of application include quality management, maintenance, supply chain management and sustainability. The smooth flow of data between members and their global partners could improve issue management in case of supply chain pressures, raw materials shortages and parts tracking and address them quickly. 1 Ford’s involvement with Catena-X will help the company improve sustainability, ensure human rights standards are followed and make supply chains even more transparent.
Responsible Supply Chain Initiative
Ford is one of the 14 founding members of this initiative launched by the German Automotive Industry Association VDA (Verband der Automobilindustrie). The objective of the RSCI is to develop a standardised assessment for evaluating the sustainability of companies in automotive supply chains, including social compliance of working conditions, occupational safety and environmental protection.
“Shaping a sustainable future requires taking a holistic approach and offering practical solutions. Initiatives like RSCI offer companies the opportunity to work with advanced and common industry standards for individual company sustainability auditing. This enables a wide range of companies to work together towards a common goal,” said Helmut Philipp, sustainability specialist, Ford of Europe, who became Vice Chair of the RSCI.
Ford is committed to improving all facets of the supply chain while seeking to identify and do business with organisations that adopt and enforce policies to protect people and the planet. The company’s Supplier Code of Conduct outlines the requirements for supplier relationships in areas related to human rights, the environment, responsible material sourcing, responsible and lawful business practices, and the associated implementation of these principles.
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1 Data sovereignty on Catena-X is maintained in accordance with the standards of the European cloud data infrastructure (GAIA-X) and the International Data Spaces.
Source: Ford, https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/feu/en/news/2022/04/19/ford-joins-data-sharing-network-and-auto-industry-initiative-to-.html
