As a major automaker that does business in just about every corner of the world, Ford has the potential to make a substantial impact on global supply chains. The automaker’s forward-thinking Partnership for a Cleaner Environment (PACE) program does just that by encouraging supply chain transparency and environmentally conscious approaches to procurement. Find out how Ford’s PACE program paves the way for sustainability around the globe.
Situation: Ford Aims to Shrink Its Environmental Footprint
For a company with a global reach as extensive as Ford’s, waste from inefficient supply chains and environmentally harmful practices can have an immense impact. The automaker has long understood the necessity of improving its approach to sustainability. Since Ford sources materials and supplies from countless manufacturers around the world, however, the automaker must involve its suppliers in order to institute wide-reaching change.
Approach: Ford Includes Dozens of Suppliers in Its PACE Program
The automaker took the first steps toward a global sustainability program with the launch of PACE in 2014. The first stage of this voluntary program aimed to teach the company’s primary suppliers how to incorporate the automaker’s best practices for conserving water, reducing waste, and saving energy. The program encouraged suppliers to develop multi-year plans for improving their environmental performance, collect data along the way, report progress, and share their own best practices.
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Since 2014, Ford has continued to improve the PACE program and roll it out to a larger group of suppliers. The program now includes over 40 suppliers and affects at least 40 countries. PACE provides participants with monitoring tools to help suppliers work toward the sustainability goals they have established, and the program also shares over 350 best practices for reducing energy, water, waste, and air emissions.
Impact and Advantage
The PACE program has already proven to be successful in improving supply chain transparency and reducing waste. Thanks to the sustainability programs they have instituted, program participants will reduce their water consumption by about 550 million gallons and lower carbon emissions by 500,000 metric tons over the next five years.
Participants have already adopted a wide range of approaches to increasing sustainability, such as using LED light bulbs and improving cooling tower operation. The PACE program also encourages suppliers to hire experts to advise about additional ways to save water and energy.
Ford may be just one company, but its ability to impact sustainability is massive. The automaker already has a selective approach to partnering with suppliers, taking care to choose those with good Carbon Disclosure Project results, and the company may adopt even more stringent criteria as its PACE program evolves.
The automaker’s initiatives haven’t gone unnoticed, either. Ethisphere Institute, for instance, has included Ford on its list of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for several years in a row, due in part to the automaker’s commitment to improving sustainability.
Ford’s PACE program has proven successful thus far, and ethical organizations, industry heads, and suppliers alike will continue to monitor its results as the program expands its reach. The automaker has the potential to be a true game-changer for supply chain transparency and sustainability.[/show_to]
