2017 GEC Catalyst Awards
2017 GEC Catalyst Awards
Representatives from the Global Electronics Councilwere pleased to honor in-person several of the Winners, Finalists and a member of the Judging Committee at the 2017 Catalyst Awards Ceremony in Shanghai, China, in June 2017.
2017 Catalyst Award Winners
Sourcemap Inc. Supply Chain Transparency Community
Advances in supply chain transparency driven by enterprise social networking, analytics and visualization are making it possible for manufacturers and brands to have continuous assurance that their products are sustainably sourced and assembled. Sourcemap introduced the first supply chain social network designed to connect supply chain stakeholders, from raw materials to end customers, to enable full traceability across the hundreds of thousands of businesses that work together to deliver modern electronics. Used for years by individual brands and manufacturers to collect custom data from 1st, 2nd and 3rd-tier suppliers, Sourcemap is now introducing supply chain communities that enable multiple competing companies to benefit from a shared repository of pre-competitive information on suppliers’ social and environmental performance. Brands that have achieved visibility and benchmarks are also able to take advantage of Open Sourcemap, the world’s largest public platform for sharing product supply chains transparently with consumers through website embeds and linked QR codes.
Xerox Corporation Optimizing a Reverse Logistics System
Xerox, as a corporate citizen, has a role to play throughout the lifecycle of our products and services. Our responsibility does not end once the product is sold. Xerox takes on supply chain responsibility as an electronics manufacturer from material extraction all the way through the end-of-life management of products. Over the past few years Xerox has optimized the Eastern and Western Hemisphere reverse logistics systems, which manage and process all products at their end-of-life. Xerox has always been recognized as an industry leader in end-of-life management, and this innovative optimization takes the next step towards creating a robust circular economy. The optimization utilizes a new centralized control system which calculates the value associated with sending a product through one of five potential processes, then the optimization system selects the process that will create the greatest value. These five processes include remanufacture, refurbish, remove parts for reuse, recycle, and broker sales. This optimized system utilizes current part and product inventory levels, along with the condition and service history of each return, to create a real time end-of-life inventory of spare parts and full products. These parts and products are then used to supply the manufacturing of new products and second life sales. Specifically, in this optimized system the remanufacturing and refurbishing strategy has shifted from ‘waiting for a market need’ to ‘actively seeking and creating the highest possible value’ for each end-of-life product. In addition, the parts reuse process has improved in multiple ways so that a recovered part is always the first choice over a newly manufactured part. The last end-of-life product stream is broker sales, which is a newly established process in the optimized system and is able to create a 2nd life for a product without any additional processing. Through all of these innovative improvements the optimized reverse logistics system as a whole has helped Xerox realize over $127 million USD in cost benefit, achieve over 115 million lb. CO2 equivalent in greenhouse gas savings, decrease cross continental transportation, and enable social sustainability. Xerox makes continuous improvements to this system in order to overcome all challenges, specifically to increase end-of-life collection of equipment that is not directly sold by or leased from Xerox. The global goal is to continue to drive innovation and optimization in order to increase the incremental cost savings and environmental savings by increasing the quantity of products taken back, formalizing the sharing of assets between Eastern and Western Hemisphere operations, and integrating consumable returns into this optimized system. With a global team working together towards these common goals, Xerox will continue to lead the industry with a truly innovative and sustainable reverse logistics system.
2017 Catalyst Award Finalists
China United Environmental Certification Center
Government procurement list of environmental labeling products (hereinafter to be referred as “List”) aims to promote green procurement in China and promote the development of a green supply chain. China’s policy on government procurement of environmental labeling products has been improving over the past years with wider scope of products and gradual improvement of management mechanism. It plays a good guiding and demonstration role in facilitating comprehensive implementation of sustainable consumption. Up to the end of 2016, 19 issues of the list have been released. The government policy and list on procurement of environmental labelling products not only improves environmental performances of government agencies, but also reduces energy consumption and emissions of pollutants by forcing green upgrading of enterprises through consumption and promotes the development of green supply chain, in particular electronic product industry. The scale of government procurement of environmental labelling products reached 715.45 billion Yuan during 2008~2016 with continuous rise of the percent of environmental labelling products in similar products of government procurement.
Kaiser Permanente
L'électronique et les technologies de l'information permettent à Kaiser Permanente de fournir aux membres, aux patients et aux médecins un accès en temps réel à des informations médicales électroniques, ce qui a accéléré et simplifié la prestation des soins. Mais la fabrication, l'utilisation et l'élimination des ordinateurs, des imprimantes, des moniteurs et de leurs accessoires électroniques ont un impact négatif important sur la santé humaine et environnementale à l'échelle mondiale. Conscient de ce fait, Kaiser Permanente a commencé à travailler au début des années 2000 pour identifier des produits électroniques plus respectueux de l'environnement qui lui permettraient de maximiser les avantages de ses opérations informatiques tout en minimisant leurs impacts environnementaux. Début 2006, Kaiser Permanente est devenu l'une des premières entreprises privées au monde à spécifier l'EPEAT - un système d'évaluation environnementale des appareils électroniques soutenu par l'EPA américaine - dans un contrat avec un nouveau fournisseur de systèmes informatiques. Le texte du contrat spécifiait une préférence marquée et définitive pour les équipements électroniques économes en énergie et respectueux de l'environnement, en utilisant EPEAT comme référence pour identifier de manière crédible et efficace de telles options de produits. Au cours des dix années de collaboration avec EPEAT, les spécifications de Kaiser Permanente ont exigé des niveaux de performance plus élevés et se sont étendues à de nouvelles catégories de produits. Après dix (10) ans d'engagements d'achat d'appareils électroniques enregistrés par l'EPEAT, l'organisation a été reconnue trois (3) années consécutives et a remporté le niveau de récompense EPEAT deux étoiles du Green Electronics Council. En 2016, Kaiser Permanente a augmenté ses achats d'appareils enregistrés auprès de l'EPEAT d'environ 5,9 % par rapport à 2015, ce qui représente une dépense totale étonnante de 85 millions de dollars pour les appareils enregistrés auprès de l'EPEAT au cours de l'année 2016. Cette fois, l'organisation a inclus l'achat de téléviseurs enregistrés EPEAT - démontrant une fois de plus le pouvoir d'achat d'un système de santé pour faire évoluer les marchés dans la bonne direction ! Kaiser Permanente vise désormais à accroître les performances dans les catégories de produits contestées tout en maintenant des achats EPEAT de premier plan dans d'autres.
Pacific Gas and Electric
Chez PG&E, nous mesurons nos propres impacts environnementaux et notre performance en matière de conformité. Grâce à ces initiatives, nous identifions les efficacités opérationnelles, réalisons des économies de coûts et sensibilisons nos clients, nos employés et nos fournisseurs aux avantages de la gérance environnementale. Nous attendons de nos fournisseurs qu'ils aient des programmes et des objectifs similaires. Dans le cadre de notre engagement auprès des fournisseurs, nous les sensibilisons à l'importance de mettre en place un système de gestion environnementale (SGE), de suivre leur impact sur l'environnement, de fixer des objectifs d'amélioration et de rendre compte publiquement de leurs performances. Le mécanisme de collecte de ces détails est l'enquête annuelle sur la durabilité des fournisseurs réalisée dans le cadre de notre adhésion à l'Electric Utility Industry Sustainable Supply Chain Alliance (Alliance). PG&E a été un membre fondateur de l'Alliance en 2008 et l'un des premiers membres à créer une méthodologie de carte de pointage basée sur les réponses de l'enquête pour l'évaluation des fournisseurs. Les questions de l'enquête sont basées sur le cadre environnemental de l'Alliance et comportent un système dans lequel les réponses gagnent en maturité. Il s'agit d'un outil d'apprentissage qui permet aux fournisseurs d'évaluer leurs propres performances et de voir clairement ce qui est nécessaire pour faire progresser leurs efforts de la manière la plus efficace possible. Les réponses à l'enquête sont quantifiées et utilisées dans l'évaluation annuelle de la carte de pointage du fournisseur, qui prend en compte de nombreux paramètres de performance clés, notamment la qualité, la performance, la diversité des fournisseurs et la durabilité. Les fournisseurs reçoivent une note sur une échelle de 5 points. Chaque année, PG&E se fixe comme objectif d'entreprise de faire en sorte qu'un pourcentage de fournisseurs obtiennent un score de 3 ou plus. Les normes de performance environnementale nous aident à évaluer l'importance que les fournisseurs accordent à leurs efforts pour minimiser leurs impacts environnementaux. Impact sur l'économie et le marché Depuis la mise en œuvre des normes de gestion environnementale des fournisseurs, PG&E a constaté une amélioration de la performance des fournisseurs d'année en année. Chaque année, une centaine de fournisseurs sont interrogés. En 2013, notre objectif était que 55 % des fournisseurs interrogés obtiennent un score de 3 ou plus. L'objectif a été dépassé et nous avons eu des objectifs croissants depuis lors. En 2016, l'objectif était de 70 % et nous avons atteint 75 %. Cela signifie que, chaque année, un plus grand nombre de nos fournisseurs de premier rang réalisent l'importance de mesurer, de fixer des objectifs et de rendre compte publiquement de leurs résultats en matière d'impact environnemental, et de mettre en place ou de maintenir des systèmes à cet effet. Défis Certains des défis que nous avons rencontrés tout au long de la mise en œuvre et de l'exécution de ce programme sont les suivants : la nécessité d'un engagement et d'une formation continus des fournisseurs, la réduction au minimum des points de contact avec les fournisseurs, et le dépassement de l'obstacle de l'enquête " taille unique ". Chaque défi a été relevé séparément, mais en tenant compte du fournisseur. Nous assurons une transparence totale de l'exécution de l'enquête, des résultats du tableau de bord et des actions de notre programme. Ainsi, le fournisseur sait comment ses réponses seront utilisées et comment il peut améliorer ses performances au fil du temps. Jalons du programme En 2016, nous avons élargi le champ des fournisseurs interrogés pour inclure un certain nombre de nos fournisseurs diversifiés. Il s'agissait de les préparer à ce que l'on attendrait d'eux s'ils devenaient un fournisseur de premier rang, ainsi que de les éduquer sur la manière d'améliorer leur performance environnementale. Chaque année, nous nous efforçons d'améliorer le pourcentage de fournisseurs qui obtiennent un score de 3 ou plus. En 2017, nous souhaitons que 75 % des fournisseurs de premier rang atteignent ce niveau.
toxnot PBC
Customers, retailers, and name brands are demanding chemicals transparency from their manufacturers and supply chains. Manufacturers must meet these requests or lose their largest customers, e.g. Walmart, Google, and LEED builders. Without supply chain transparency, manufacturers risk lost sales and legal costs. Today, manufacturers spend a lot of money hiring consultants to survey suppliers and produce one-off transparency reports. toxnot’s software solution reduces manufacturers’ costs and risks by automating the chemical transparency process with: (1) Fast, searchable access to the world’s best chemicals hazards data. (2) Seamless supply chain data collection. (3) Automated transparency reporting for multiple industry standards toxnot is a web based software solution that supports manufacturers and suppliers of all sizes in selecting preferred chemicals and automating the product reports required by their customers. toxnot provides a freely accessible chemical hazard database as well as best in class subscription tools for supply chain data collection and product reporting. toxnot is quickly becoming THE source for chemicals hazard data. Our ‘software as a service’ subscription tools provide the easiest and lowest cost path to generating product transparency reports. Customers can access chemicals hazard data for free and purchase modular subscriptions starting at $49/mo to access reporting and supplier survey tools. toxnot is the first transparency software that is fully accessible to all business users regardless of their company size. It is also the first solution to incorporate workflows for the two most difficult issues (data collection and reporting) for users in one software solution: Toxnot combines supplier data collection directly with a full chemical hazards database and reporting engine so that users can manage the entire product transparency reporting process from one place. In addition, toxnot provides its searchable database free to anyone – the first service to make complete hazards data available to all. Our business model offers free access to our chemical hazards database, allowing all supply chain participants to drive better product design outcomes. We are the only source for free access to GreenScreen List Translator scores, the predominant method for communicating chemical hazards in product reporting. Our solution seamlessly integrates with companies’ Bill of Material and formulation systems, importing product data directly into our reporting engine, and drastically reducing the time and cost of reporting. Suppliers skip tedious web forms and quickly import their data to submit to their customers. toxnot protects proprietary chemicals while still allowing suppliers and manufacturers flexibility to see hazards and run products against changing compliance lists without having to recollect data from their suppliers. Our service was engineered from the ground up for scalability – it works across different device sizes, from phones to desktops, and can scale to hundreds of thousands of users.
Umicore Rechargeable Battery Materials
One couldn’t imagine a world without tablets or smartphones. Lithium-ion batteries have been powering the portable electronics technology in the last decade and this technology still has a very healthy growth perspective. Umicore Rechargeable Battery Materials is a world leader in the production of cathode material for lithium-ion batteries. Next to the development of new technologies and products, Umicore pays a lot of attention to the sustainability of their products and the sustainable procurement of raw materials. Together with portable electronics, the growth for lithium-ion batteries is supported by the transition towards the electrification of the automobile. Both the electronics and electric vehicle sector are driven by the ambition for a sustainable and bright future. Companies in the battery supply chain, however, are facing high ethical and environmental risks in the supply chain of cobalt, an essential mineral in the lithium-ion batteries of portable devices. Umicore is aware of the risks that are linked to the sourcing of cobalt. Infringements of human rights, occurrence of child labor and environmental issues, as well as the lack of sufficient health and safety protection are reported to occur in certain parts of the cobalt supply chain. Last year, research by Amnesty International revealed the occurrence of the worst forms of child labor in the artisanal mining activities of cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Amnesty International, “This is what we die for”, January 2016). To avoid the occurrence of these practices in Umicore’s supply chain, and consequently that of its customers, Umicore has created a dedicated Sustainable Procurement Framework for Cobalt already in 2004. The current Sustainable Procurement Framework for Cobalt builds on this and takes into account the specific risks that are currently linked to the mining of cobalt. It is inspired by the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals (OECD, 2013). For the practical implementation of the framework, Umicore has created a decision tree. Following the decision tree leads to the decision whether or not to source from a certain cobalt supplier. This decision tree includes four essential steps: supply chain traceability, supplier research, risk assessment and risk mitigation. In 2016, Umicore was the first company worldwide to obtain external validation for its ethical procurement approach. Umicore proactively engaged the services of the assurance provider PricewaterhouseCoopers to perform an audit on Umicore’s procurement activities of 2015. The audit included providing full transparency on Umicore’s purchasing activities, chain of custody documentation and due diligence research, as well as visit reports and risk mappings. Aiming to raise the bar for the cobalt industry, Umicore has made the compliance report of the last audit publicly available in March 2017. In doing so, Umicore wants to increase transparency towards its customers and stakeholders. Next to that, Umicore wants to stimulate other players in the cobalt industry to develop similar systems and engage with third-parties for verification. In this way, Umicore believes it is actively contributing to the further development of a sustainable supply chain of cobalt. Umicore believes that its unique approach and publicly reporting on its compliance, provides comfort to its customers about the provenance and the ethical nature of the cobalt used in the material they source. Umicore’s customers have valuable brands to protect and Umicore is committed to provide them peace of mind on all aspects.
