NORMA Group in a dialogue on sustainability within the supply chain

NORMA Group, a global market leader in engineered joining technology, sought to engage in an open and targeted dialogue with its stakeholders once again. The second stakeholder roundtable on corporate responsibility took place on September 13, 2016. This year’s event focused on sustainability within the supply chain after the further development of the strategic direction of Corporate Responsibility at NORMA Group was the main topic last year (NORMA Group invites its stakeholders to develop corporate responsibility further).

Eighteen experts from civil society, academia and industry met with experts from NORMA Group from the areas of Purchasing and Procurement to develop new ideas and solutions on integrating sustainability into purchasing processes in a strategic manner. John Stephenson, Chief Operating Officer (COO) at NORMA Group, played host to the half-day dialogue event. “Corporate responsibility at NORMA Group includes the entire supply chain and, in particular, our direct suppliers, even at the global level. Our goal is to exercise our influence on the work and social benefits of our suppliers and make sure that human rights are always observed,” he said.

NORMA Group presented both its strategic approach as well as individual measures aimed at increasing sustainability in procurement for further discussion. An emphasis was placed on identifying suitable sustainability criteria for supplier evaluation. “We are thrilled by the many suggestions and approaches the participants developed. We will evaluate these for their feasibility and effectiveness as the next step before we implement concrete measures aimed at achieving greater transparency in complex supply chains and efficient sustainability management in procurement,” said Stephenson.

More comprehensive integration of sustainability aspects into purchasing is becoming increasingly important to NORMA Group because of the company's growth and increasing internationality. A global Supplier Code of Conduct was introduced in 2015 that defines the requirements for NORMA Group with respect to managing its business in a sustainable manner. Furthermore, the CR Roadmap 2018 includes concrete objectives for integrating sustainability considerations into the procurement processes at NORMA Group.

Additional information on the company is available on www.normagroup.com.