GLS Group is improving their CSR-management
Customer: GLS Group
Category: Logistics
Date: July 2017
General Logistics Systems B.V. (from now on mentioned as GLS) is a European parcel service with headquarters in Amsterdam. They recently also introduced their services to the west coast of the US. GLS employs 18.000 employees in 19 European subsidiaries and seven US states with an overall package distribution of almost 600 million pieces in business year 2018/2019.
As one of the market leaders on the European market, GLS is aware of its leadership role concerning classic CSR-topics as environment or social issues. The company is involved in the development and implementation of green delivery concepts and supports multiple social projects.
„GLS welcomes that sustainability is getting increasing attention for business- and investment decisions. We work actively on projects in the fields ThinkFuture, ThinkGreen and ThinkSocial addressing solutions for ecological, economical and social problems and thanks to EcoVadis, we are looking forward to apply the gained knowledge also in assessments.
Challenge
The assessment-platform EcoVadis offers the possibility to companies to assess their supply chain regarding their CSR-performance. For that, every supplying company has to fill out an individual questionnaire. That answering process needs detailed information about single policies, processes and measurements. The answers given are then evaluated by an EcoVadis analyst and are providing an easy and comparable overview over the performances of suppliers. With help of that tool, benchmarks of suppliers can be made.
Also, the requesting customer can demand the performance within specific topics to be improved. The assessment is valid for one year. As GLS was assessed for the first time end of 2016, the next logical step was to aim for improvement for the second evaluation.
Solution
GLS Group: The responsibility of the logistics sector
EcoVadis differs between four different fields of activity. Companies are assessed for their performance regarding the topics environment, labor practices, fair business practices and sustainable procurement. For service-oriented businesses, the employees are the pillars of efficiency and long-term success. Also, the impact of logistics on the environment is major. According to the Fraunhofer Institute for Logistics and Material Flow, the total share of logistics companies on global CO2-emissions is bigger than 5%[1]. Therefore, those two topics – environment and labor practices – are regarded as important for GLS and their strategic development.
[1] Fraunhofer IML (2011): Klimaschutz liefern. Logistikprozesse klimafreundlich gestalten
To avoid formal errors and guarantee consistency of the answers given, GLS relied again on the support of the experts of DFGE. Because of the good cooperation in the previous year where GLS was able to achieve an above-average score for their environment part, this approach was approved successfully.
Result
GLS Group: Avoiding mistakes with the DFGE EcoVadis Response Check
Since 2015 DFGE is the first official EcoVadis-Partner in the DACH-region. This partnership allows DFGE to support customers and their supply chain in the best way possible guiding them through the EcoVadis-assessment.
