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Case study: How Cenergy Holdings ensures product quality and safety

Gerasimos — Sun, 02 Jul 2017 06:17:50 +0000

The Cenergy Holdings portfolio consists of Corinth Pipeworks (CPW), a global leader in steel pipe manufacturing and major producer of hollow sections for the oil and gas and the construction sector, respectively, and the Hellenic Cables Group, one of the largest European cable producers, manufacturing power and telecom cables for a range of sectors. Given the rising demand, globally, for quality solutions in the energy, telecommunications and construction sectors, ensuring product quality and safety is a top priority for Cenergy Holdings Tweet This!.

This case study is based on the 2016 Annual Report by Cenergy Holdings and on the 2016 Sustainable Development Reports by Corinth Pipeworks and the Hellenic Cables Group. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.

Abstract

Both Corinth Pipeworks and the Hellenic Cables Group strive to offer quality, first rate solutions for the fast growing energy, telecommunications and construction sectors. In order to ensure product quality and safety, Corinth Pipeworks and the Hellenic Cables Group took action to:

apply explicit manufacturing standards
ensure Corinth Pipeworks’ products meet the strictest quality and safety standards
ensure Hellenic Cables’ products meet the strictest quality and safety standards

What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2016 Annual Report Cenergy Holdings identified a range of material issues, such as economic performance, environmental law and regulations, Greece’s economic condition, waste management, higher demand for renewable energy, employee health and safety. Among these, ensuring product quality and safety stands out as a key material issue for Cenergy Holdings.

Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:

“The organization should identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations.”

Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.

Key stakeholder groups Cenergy Holdings engages with:

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Shareholders	Corinth Pipeworks: · Annual General Meeting of Shareholders · Regular meetings with the Company’s senior management · Press releases, announcements and exhibitions · Publication of the Annual Report Hellenic Cables Group: · Annual general meeting · Extraordinary general meetings · Analysts and company’s executives contact · Reporting and presentation of results on quarterly, semi-annual and annual basis
Customers	Corinth Pipeworks: · Customer satisfaction survey · Constant contact face-to-face and by phone, attendance at fairs/exhibitions · Project Management Department and product certification procedures · Attendance at industry or customer conferences, fora and events · Marketing activities Hellenic Cables Group: · Customer satisfaction survey (biennial) · Customer service department · Ongoing contact through commercial department · Handling complaints · Attendance of sectoral trade fairs (or Presence in sectoral exhibitions and trade fairs)
Employees	Corinth Pipeworks: · Company intranet · On-going communication between the Management and Human Resources, via the Open Door Policy · Briefings via email and announcements on notice boards · Employee appraisals Hellenic Cables Group: · Company intranet · Annual employee satisfaction survey · Informing via e-mail and newsletters posted on bulletin boards (for workforce) · Corporate events
Suppliers	Corinth Pipeworks: · Procurement Department for each category of supplies · Communication with the Accounting Office about financial issues · Attendance at trade fairs and events · Suppliers systematically briefed about market developments Hellenic Cables Group: · Communication with suppliers through Supplies Department of the Company · Collaboration with selected suppliers on additional product certification · Participation in segment associations · Presence at suppliers’ exhibitions
State and institutional bodies	Corinth Pipeworks: · Involvement in policy- and decision-making (via membership of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises) · Attendance at conferences · Attendance at events organized by public agencies · Participation in government surveys and consultations · Membership of local bodies such as the Federation of Sterea Ellada Industries and the Hellenic Union of Industrial Energy Consumers (UNICEN) Hellenic Cables Group: · Participation in conferences and events of sectoral or general business interest · Consultation with state and institutional bodies’ representatives on national and/or regional level
Local communities and NGOs	Corinth Pipeworks: · On-going communication with local community organisations · Participation in local community organisations’ events and activities · Participation of company representatives in events and fora to exchange views · Main member of the Hellenic Network for CSR (CSR Hellas) Hellenic Cables Group: · Communication with local governmental bodies · Participation in local community events · Hosting visits to Company plants

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

Cenergy Holdings’ companies conduct a materiality analysis in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative’s sustainability reporting standards, to identify and prioritize their material issues. The process is as follows:

an initial survey is conducted and issues are recorded
issues are prioritized on the basis of in-house assessments
material issues are communicated to stakeholders, to record their opinions
stakeholders’ opinions are integrated and the final list of the Company’s material issues is prepared

What actions were taken by Cenergy Holdings to ensure product quality and safety?

In their 2016 Sustainable Development Reports Corinth Pipeworks and the Hellenic Cables Group – and, also, Cenergy Holdings in its 2016 Annual Report – report that they took the following actions for ensuring product quality and safety:

Applying explicit manufacturing standards
Both Corinth Pipeworks and the Hellenic Cables Group apply specific manufacturing standards. They do so in order to ensure proper product labeling throughout the production process. All products:
- carry marks of conformity and trademark licenses by well-known certification bodies
- are accompanied by a quality certificate in accordance with international standards (EN/ISO) confirming production process specifications, raw materials used and the end product
- may be delivered to customers with a data book on product testing
- are accompanied by instructions on transportation, storage and product usage

Ensuring Corinth Pipeworks’ products meet the strictest quality and safety standards
Corinth Pipeworks designs and manufactures products to meet the strictest quality and safety standards. More specifically:
- line pipes used for oil and gas transportation are designed and manufactured to comply with specific safety standards
- casing pipes are manufactured to comply with the requirements of international standards (API 5CT and API 5L/ ISO 11960)
- hollow structural sections are manufactured according to the European Standard EN 10219-1
- pipes for water transportation can be externally coated or internally lined to ensure corrosion protection and smooth water flow, complying with hygiene and drinking water requirements

Ensuring Hellenic Cables’ products meet the strictest quality and safety standards
Hellenic Cables designs and manufactures products to meet the strictest quality and safety standards. More specifically:
- the Company has developed and applies a quality policy and a Quality Management System, in accordance with the ISO 9001 Standard
- all Company facilities are certified according to the ISO 9001 Standard
- to ensure the high quality of products, the Company carries out type tests in independent laboratories or in the Company plants, supervised by independent bodies
- to protect the health and safety of customers, the Company continuously monitors its products, throughout their entire life cycle
- the Company has designed and manufactures fire retardant, fire resistant and halogen-free cables to protect end users in the event of fire

Which GRI indicators/Standards have been addressed?

The GRI indicators/Standards addressed in this case are:

1) G4-PR1: Percentage of significant product and service categories for which health and safety impacts are assessed for improvement – the updated GRI Standard is: Disclosure 416-1 Assessment of the health and safety impacts of product and service categories

2) G4-PR3: Type of product and service information required by the organization’s procedures for product and service information and labeling, and percentage of significant products and service categories subject to such information requirements – the updated GRI Standard is: Disclosure 417-1 Requirements for product and service information and labeling

References:

1) This case study is based on published information by Cenergy Holdings, Corinth Pipeworks and the Hellenic Cables Group, located at the links below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the published information’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following links:

http://www.cenergyholdings.com/ (June 2017)

http://www.cpw.gr/en/ (June 2017)

http://www.cablel.com/ (June 2017)

2) http://www.fbrh.co.uk/en/global-reporting-initiative-gri-g4-guidelines-download-page

3) https://g4.globalreporting.org/Pages/default.aspx

4) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/

Note to Cenergy Holdings: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.

The post Case study: How Cenergy Holdings ensures product quality and safety appeared first on SustainCase - Sustainability Magazine.

Case study: How HEINEKEN is protecting water resources

Gerasimos — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 12:35:07 +0000

Demand for water has doubled globally over the past 50 years and is expected to increase by another 40% by 2030. In water-scarce areas this means increased competition for water among industry, the general population, agriculture and ecosystems. HEINEKEN uses water in its finished product – beer is 95% water – and throughout its supply chain and recognizes the critical importance of sustainable use and protection of water in order to safeguard this valuable resource.

This case study is based on the 2014 Sustainability Report by HEINEKEN published on the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Disclosure Database that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate that CSR/ sustainability reporting done responsibly is achieved by identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment and stakeholders and by measuring, managing and changing.

FBRH Sustain Case

Research by well-recognized institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

Sustainability reporting using the Global Reporting Initiative’s Standards is essentially a four-step process: Identify – Measure – Manage – Change.

By becoming aware of your company’s most important impacts towards the environment and all your key stakeholders – investors, clients, employees, suppliers and the wider society – you will be able to measure, set targets, take action to minimize your negative impacts and increase your positive impacts.

Using the GRI Standards in order to maintain and increase the value of your company

With each article in this series the FBRH team will highlight one key impact identified by a company reporting in accordance with the GRI Standards and show how it has taken a structured, systematic approach to improving performance. With such positive action companies build trust, by dealing responsibly and conscientiously with their impact on the environment and on their stakeholders: clients, suppliers, shareholders, local communities, NGOs or local government.

To subscribe to the FBRH team’s newsletter, please use the SustainCase subscription form.

Abstract

As one of the world’s largest brewers and a signatory to the United Nations CEO Water Mandate, HEINEKEN is aware of its responsibility to promote responsible water use and support its suppliers in doing the same. In order to protect water resources HEINEKEN took action to:

reduce water consumption in its breweries – HEINEKEN reduced water consumption at its breweries in Mexico by nearly 3.5 million hectolitres in 2014 by optimizing water flows within the production process
protect water resources and redress the water balance in water-scarce and water-distressed areas
reduce water consumption in its supply chain and
ensure that effluent from HEINEKEN’s production units is treated before discharge to surface water

What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2014 Sustainability Report HEINEKEN identified a range of material issues, such as advocating responsible consumption, sustainable sourcing, reducing CO₂ emissions. Among these, recognizing the critical importance of sustainable use and protection of water, protecting water resources stands out as a key material issue for HEINEKEN.

Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:

“The organization should identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations.”

Key stakeholder groups HEINEKEN engages with:

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement (in 2014)
Customers and consumers	• In-depth discussions with a number of global retailers • ‘Brewing a Better World’ interactive area
Employees	• HEINEKEN Climate Survey • Enjoy Responsibly Day
Employee representatives	• Regular meetings with the HEINEKEN European Works Council (EWC) • Many of HEINEKEN’s Operating Companies are routinely in dialogue with labour unions and/or have works councils in place
Governments	• A group of more than 35 representatives from the European Commission visited HEINEKEN’s brewery in Zoeterwoude, the Netherlands • Members of HEINEKEN’s executive board actively participated at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2014 • HEINEKEN’s CEO co-chaired the World Economic Forum on Africa 2014, held in Abuja, Nigeria in May • The Heads of State of Burundi and Sierra Leone and the Prime Minister of Democratic Republic of Congo visited HEINEKEN in the Netherlands
Industry associations	• Together with the Brewers of Europe, European Aluminium Association and the European Container Glass Federation, HEINEKEN began a pilot scheme for the European Commission’s Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) project • HEINEKEN continued its involvement with a large number of industry platforms and roundtables, including Green Freight Europe, the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER) and the Dutch Sustainable Growth Coalition
Investors	• HEINEKEN engaged with institutional investors during the Environment Forum in Paris • HEINEKEN presented at TBLI (Triple Bottom Line Investing) Conferences in New York and Amsterdam on its Brewing a Better World agenda • Regular dialogue with shareholder groups such as the Dutch Association of Investors for Sustainable Development (VBDO) and the Guilé Foundation • Routine contact with Eumedion and other investor groups on a variety of governance and regulatory issues
NGOs and international organisations	• Work with NGOs such as EUCORD, The International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) and the Clinton Global Initiative in HEINEKEN’s local sourcing projects in Africa and Haiti • Ongoing dialogue with NGOs on a wide range of topics. These NGOs included Greenpeace, Human Rights Watch, WWF, The Humane Society, Both Ends and the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.
Suppliers	• Engagement for sustainable raw materials with both individual suppliers, such as HEINEKEN’s packaging suppliers, and suppliers of agricultural products, such as the Hopfenring group of German hop suppliers • Dialogue with potentially high-risk suppliers through EcoVadis • HEINEKEN launched ‘Frontier’, a competition to engage new and existing innovative technology suppliers

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

The Brewing a Better World priorities were defined in conversation with HEINEKEN’s stakeholders.
To help it in its assessment HEINEKEN started hosting a series of ‘expert meetings’ in 2012. A large group of stakeholders, including NGOs such as Greenpeace and Amnesty International, scientists, industry and governments, met with HEINEKEN’s internal specialists to share insights about its sustainability performance.
HEINEKEN continued with a new series of meetings in 2013 and 2014, and in 2015 organized a special NGO roundtable in Brussels to collect views on its Brewing a Better World strategy and the road ahead.
These dialogue sessions helped HEINEKEN build and monitor a prioritised materiality matrix containing the issues, risks and opportunities most relevant to its business and stakeholders.

What actions were taken by HEINEKEN to protect water resources?

In its 2014 Sustainability Report HEINEKEN reports that it took the following actions for protecting water resources:

Reducing water consumption in HEINEKEN’s breweries
HEINEKEN reached its 2015 target a year early, reducing water consumption by 23% compared with 2008 (the baseline year).
For the 23 HEINEKEN breweries in water-scarce and water-distressed areas HEINEKEN tries to find ways to reach a higher target of 3.3 hl/hl.
43 of HEINEKEN’s production units, representing more than 47% of total production volume in 2014, were already below the target of 3.5 hl/hl.
HEINEKEN decreased water consumption at its breweries in Mexico by almost 3.5 million hectolitres in 2014 by optimizing water flows within the production process.
Since acquiring, in 2011, Bedele Brewery in Ethiopia, the team almost halved water consumption to 5.1 hl/hl in 2014.
Protecting water resources in water-scarce and water-distressed areas
HEINEKEN has been assessing water-related risks since 2010 Tweet This!, identifying 23 ‘Priority One’ breweries around the world in water-stressed areas, on which HEINEKEN focuses its immediate efforts. For each site, HEINEKEN decides, together with stakeholders, how vulnerable a local area is in terms of water risk and develops a step-by-step method for assessing and implementing water protection measures.
In 2014 HEINEKEN focused its activities on its operations in Indonesia, Algeria and Nigeria.
By the end of 2015 each of the 23 ‘Priority One’ sites should have a protection plan ready.

Redressing the water balance in water-scarce and water-distressed areas
In order to protect water resources in water-scarce and water-distressed areas, HEINEKEN works to redress the water balance by financing and supporting local projects aimed to:
- conserve or restore water quantity, quality or biodiversity in the local watershed and/or
- improve access to clean water for the local communities
Ethiopia: HEINEKEN’s public-private partnership between the Harar Brewery, local government, Vitens International and other partners began to evaluate the area’s future water needs and the scope for building sand dams for sustainable groundwater storage. In November 2014 a platform was launched to engage all relevant local stakeholders in the Harar region and increase awareness regarding the significance of trans-boundary watershed management.
Mexico: since the Monterrey Metropolitan Water Fund was established in 2013, reforestation of 50 hectares of severely degraded land began at the Cumbres de Monterrey National Park. A density of 1,000 seedlings per hectare will be used. The ultimate goal of the fund is preservation of the San Juan River watershed, which supplies more than four million people in and around Monterrey.

Reducing water consumption in HEINEKEN’s supply chain
Water usage in growing HEINEKEN’s crops (mainly barley) represents around 90% of its total water footprint. Barley has a relatively low water footprint compared with other crops, but in some sourcing areas structural irrigation is needed to maintain optimal soil moisture and changing rainfall patterns as well as rising temperatures may lead to more irrigation in the future. HEINEKEN strives to address this challenge through its sustainable sourcing activities and its work with the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI). Based on stakeholder consultations begun in 2014, a project group was formed to enhance HEINEKEN’s understanding of water and agriculture, identify sourcing areas and ‘hot spots’ and look for opportunities for improvement.

Ensuring that effluent from HEINEKEN’s production units is treated before discharge to surface water
HEINEKEN ensures that effluent from its production units is treated before discharge to surface water, either through its own or third- party treatment.
2014: HEINEKEN’s production facilities discharged an estimated total of 25.9 kton of organic load into surface water, compared with 23.1 kton in 2013. The increase was mainly due to better and more complete data available in 2014, compared to 2013.

Which GRI indicators/Standards have been addressed?

The GRI indicators/Standards addressed in this case are:

1) G4-15: List externally developed economic, environmental and social charters, principles, or other initiatives to which the organization subscribes or which it endorses. – the updated GRI Standard is: Disclosure 102-12 External initiatives

2) G4-16: List memberships of associations (such as industry associations) and national or international advocacy organizations in which the organization:

Holds a position on the governance body
Participates in projects or committees
Provides substantive funding beyond routine membership dues
Views membership as strategic – the updated GRI Standard is: Disclosure 102-13 Membership of associations

3) G4-EN9: Water sources significantly affected by withdrawal of water – the updated GRI Standard is: Disclosure 303-2 Water sources significantly affected by withdrawal of water

4) G4-EN10: Percentage and total volume of water recycled and reused – the updated GRI Standard is: Disclosure 303-3 Water recycled and reused

5) G4-EN12: Description of significant impacts of activities, products, and services on biodiversity in protected areas and areas of high biodiversity value outside protected areas – the updated GRI Standard is: Disclosure 304-2 Significant impacts of activities, products, and services on biodiversity

6) G4-EN13: Habitats protected or restored – the updated GRI Standard is: Disclosure 304-3 Habitats protected or restored

7) G4-EN22: Total water discharge by quality and destination – the updated GRI Standard is: Disclosure 306-1 Water discharge by quality and destination

8) G4-EN27: Extent of impact mitigation of environmental impacts of products and services

References:

1) This case study was compiled using published information by Heineken which is located at the links below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses but made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following links:

http://www.theheinekencompany.com/sustainability/brewing-a-better-world/defining-our-priorities (June 2016)

http://www.theheinekencompany.com/sustainability/focus-areas/protecting-water-resources (June 2016)

2) http://www.fbrh.co.uk/en/global-reporting-initiative-gri-g4-guidelines-download-page

3) https://g4.globalreporting.org/Pages/default.aspx

4) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/

Note to HEINEKEN: With each case study we send out an email to your listed address in request for a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.

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