Suppliers

Groupe SEB expects its relationships with its suppliers to be based on transparency. Beyond the valuable requirements, quality and punctuality, the Group involves its suppliers in its commitment to sustainable development, particularly in the areas of business ethics, the environment and working conditions. Sustainable development criteria form an integral part of the purchasing guidelines and general conditions of purchase. All members or aspiring members of the supplier panel are individually assessed for compliance with sustainable development criteria and regulations. Social and environmental issues are also examined during the annual suppliers panel evaluation. With 1,202 industrial suppliers worldwide, Groupe SEB has a huge responsibility to see to it that its products are manufactured in ethical conditions.

Meeting social and environmental requirements 

All suppliers of Groupe SEB are required to sign an eco-statement: this is a contractual commitment in which the suppliers agree not to use any substance prohibited by the regulations in the countries where their products will be marketed. It includes most importantly the European RoHS/REACH directives and is the subject of targeted analysis.

Groupe SEB encourages its panel of suppliers to aim for ISO 14001 certification. In 2010, 40% of finished products suppliers and 35% of materials and components suppliers attained certification. The Group above all conducted a study on the costs of ISO certification and the benefits to some of its suppliers to encourage the others to follow suit. The Group has asked non-certified suppliers to fill out an environmental statement in order to assess their achievements in this area, and encourage them to improve their efforts.

The Groupe also wants its suppliers to comply with local labour laws, particularly in countries where Human Rights are thought to be insufficiently protected. Since 2002, the Groupe requires all its Asian and South American suppliers to fill out a social declaration based on SA 8000, one of the international standards in this area. Then it carries out social audits to monitor actual practices in this field.
In 2008, the Group set out a procedure for nonconformity cases. For any serious breach of regulation, the Group suspends new orders with the supplier and imposes him to implement a corrective action plan before any resumption of cooperation.

A buyer’s ethics code

Several years ago, the Group wrote an ethics code focusing on four main areas:

• observing the law in all countries and actions to verify that suppliers do the same,
• refusing all financial compensation, gifts and advantages,
• keeping information that is not indispensable for trade confidential,
• applying buying methods that stimulate genuine competition between sound suppliers.

Drafted in French, English and Chinese, this ethics Code is signed by all the buyers of the Group and sent to all the suppliers in the panel.