My colleague Karl Daumüller, Programme Manager and SC SER Lead Auditor, attended the European Alliance for CSR Event in Brussels last week and I asked him to give some updates on the latest supply chain news. Enjoy, Jeannette.

The online responsible supply chain portal

Last week I attended The European Alliance for CSR 2008. The reason for the event was the launch of the deliverables of the 20 CSR Europe Laboratories. As you might know from earlier blogs, HP is one of the four leading companies (the others being L’Oreal, Titan and Volkswagen) working within the ‘Responsible Supply Chain Management’ Laboratory.

'Responsible Supply Chain Management' was one of the six selected laboratories highlighted during the event. Since 2007 experts and representatives from the participating companies have worked on an online portal for responsible supply chain management. As you can see, the portal gives an overview of best practices, existing international standards and principles. It also gives lots of background information, all of which is sorted by topic (forced labour for example).

I think small and medium sized enterprises particularly gain from this portal as they find a lot of useful information and guidance. These corporations lack the resources and knowledge about responsible supply chain management and the portal is a great help to them. It equally illustrates what large corporations expect and demand regarding responsible supply chain management practices.

All in all, the portal constitutes a best practice example and shows what companies, stakeholders and governmental institutions can achieve when they join forces.

For me, a personal highlight was when Mr. Verheugen (VP of the European Commission, responsible for Enterprise and Industry) came to our stand and I could show him the content of the portal and how it works. I am proud to be part of this laboratory and I am keen to continue the work on the portal.

Karl Daumüller, Programme Manager and SC SER Lead Auditor