Sourcing from China isn’t more responsible or irresponsible than sourcing from Finland for example. Oh how so? Let me tell you.
Responsible sourcing is based on knowledge of supply chains. Product sourced from your home country can also come from China, so where you buy your product doesn’t define how sustainable it is. A product coming from China doesn’t mean that it’s Chinese. Chinese people also outsource to cheaper countries.
In order to evaluate responsibility, the supply chain must first be determined with sufficient precision. What constitutes sufficient precision depends on the requirements and expectations set by the buyer, customers, and society, which are tightening all the time. Nothing prevents companies from acting better than what is required of them. If exceeding the level of mandatory legislation is the standard, that should be the starting point, not the goal.
Today, individual consumers also expect the products they buy to be manufactured responsibly, and that the seller can say something more than merely claiming the factory, wherever it might be, holds the responsibility. But should a seller know the complete history of every single product, component, and raw material when the selection includes thousands of items? That is likely an impossible task for many companies, especially if goods are produced thousands of kilometers away, but the responsibility of the product line should be known with sufficient accuracy.
If the task sounds massive, it certainly can be, but getting started is easy. A company can first determine which goods sell the most and assess the responsibility of that specific product. The next step could be, for example, asking the supplier how they have taken responsibility into account. Talk can be cheap, so it is best to visit the factory in person to inspect how things stand, or use a reliable sourcing specialist.
Today, there are also various standards (such as SA8000) and corporate responsibility systems (such as amfori BSCI) against which companies can be audited and information verified. An increasing number of companies have committed to the United Nations Global Compact corporate responsibility initiative and to implementing its ten principles, which responsible sourcing also supports.
Most companies in China, or anywhere else, have no clue about international sustainability standards, but that does not automatically mean the company is exceptionally irresponsible. It simply means that when working with such a company, you need to be more careful so you do not accidentally end up doing business with a party whose factory has hazardous working conditions for workers, uses child labor, or similar issues.
Responsible sourcing also involves influencing suppliers so that they begin to take responsibility issues more into account in their operations. You should not close your eyes to problems, because identifying and solving problems is what responsibility is all about. Clear problems must be fixed, and even budding issues need to be unearthed so they can be corrected while it is still easy.
Responsibility is best achieved when it is integrated as comprehensively as possible into all company operations. While visiting the factory to inspect sustainability, you can also perform a quality inspection of the products or discuss delays with the previous delivery. It is good to communicate to the factory that responsibility is an essential part of procurement, just like quality, delivery time, and price. If the price is not acceptable to the buyer, the products are not purchased. If the level of responsibility does not meet the buyer’s requirements, the products are not purchased, or a concrete plan is made with the supplier to rectify the issues and re-evaluate the situation at an agreed time.
Is your company responsible? The corporate responsibility self-assessment is an online tool for further developing your company’s sustainable business practices. The free tool provides your company with an overview of the current level of sustainability operations, helps identify areas for improvement, and enables performance comparison against other companies. In addition, the tool provides practical tips for managing corporate responsibility. Take the self-assessment at: https://www.vastuullisuusarviointi.fi/
(Only in Finnish)
