We enable our suppliers and partners to create a sustainable tomorrow in a mutually beneficial way.
With a strong supplier base of 446, as of 2023, we remain committed to establishing long-term partnerships with our suppliers while focusing on sustainable and responsible sourcing. By keeping our suppliers updated on our vision, we enable mutual alignment of our goals, thereby actively influencing their future strategy.
Supplier Innovation Hour
The Schaeffler Supplier Innovation Hour is a global digital initiative where suppliers present their ideas directly to Schaeffler decision makers. After seven successful Innovation Hours across various regions and themes, we were excited to bring the Innovation Hour in India. Suppliers play a crucial role in driving innovation with us. Therefore, we launched series of events to turn outstanding ideas into winning products and solutions. We invited our existing and potential suppliers to showcase their innovation on four different themes of sustainability viz. Green Production, Green Material, Green Data, and Green Energy.
We offered a chance to suppliers with the best ideas by onboarding them into our supplier pool and engaging in deeper discussions. We received an overwhelming response, and we have shortlisted 7 suppliers to explore further and evaluate the value proposition and how they can further collaborate with us.
Green Purchasing
For the Schaeffler Group, the Green Purchasing element primarily refers to the purchase of low-emission materials and services. In line with our global purchasing strategy, we are working on promoting active dialogue with our existing and future suppliers, prioritising CO2 reduction across the supply chain. In India, we collaborated with key steel mills and component manufacturers to work in the area of decarbonisation.
Digitalisation
We connected with our suppliers through increased efforts on digitalisation through SupplyOn and COUPA during the year, thus improving efficiency and adding value. We focused on a range of services, including supplier management, transportation management, procurement and sourcing, quality management, and production control. This digital platform enhances the data-sharing experience and improves data transparency.
suppliers connected
through digitalisation
Supplier Certifications
We require that our suppliers meet certain standards in quality, environmental management, occupational health and safety, and social responsibility. We emphasise and promote that our suppliers meet not only the standards defined but go beyond and also comply with ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 to ensure that our supply chain operates in a responsible and sustainable manner.
In addition, we also have the Schaeffler Code of Conduct set out to ensure we meet expectations for ethical behavior, human rights, labor standards, sustainability and regulatory compliance thereby ensuring value creation for all our stakeholders.
2023 has been a year of growth, collaboration, and significant strides towards a more sustainable future. We thank our supplier partners for having played an instrumental role and I am immensely proud of the progress we have made together.
In our ongoing commitment to excellence, we are renewing our focus on the digitalisation journey and I am excited to share with you its profound impact on our collaboration with suppliers.
We are working with our suppliers to increase our local presence as we continue on our growth journey and introduce new products. Backed by the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, localisation remains a strategic topic for us and we continue to progressively contribute towards this initiative.
We are committed to investing in our suppliers responsibly and giving them the tools and assistance they require. Our aim is to create a supply chain that is sustainable, and we believe that collaborating with our suppliers is key to reaching this goal.
As we look ahead to the coming year, I am optimistic about the opportunities that lie before us. We will continue to prioritise sustainability in all aspects of our business, seeking innovative solutions and forging strong partnerships to drive positive change.”
Purchasing
