ESG Report 2022 single pages web - Flipbook - Page 57
SUPPLIERS
RWS is committed to ethical and responsible sourcing and
working with vendors who share common principles of
fair and honest trading, demonstrate a commitment to
maintaining satisfactory working conditions, and comply
fully with all legal requirements and with the labour,
health and safety standards of those regions in which our
operations take place.
The maintenance of a well-managed supply chain is a
priority for RWS. Our suppliers are selected on quality,
service and cost criteria as part of our responsible
procurement practices. Our Supplier Code of Conduct
outlines our core principles for supplier conduct, including
compliance with laws and regulations, terms and
conditions of employment, discrimination, harassment
and retaliation, wages and benefits, child labour, health
and safety, sustainable development and environmental
protection, data privacy and anti-corruption and bribery.
We are mindful of our obligations under the Modern
Slavery Act, 2015 and our commitment to eliminate slavery
and human trafficking in our supply chain. Our 2022
Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement sets out
our commitment to eradicating these abhorrent practices,
together with our policies and governance.
RWS has a diverse supply chain with suppliers located in
157 countries across multiple categories. These include
technology (hardware, software, cloud, telecom, etc.),
indirect (consulting, marketing, vendors, travel, etc.), and
direct (production services, print, paper, stationery, etc.)
suppliers.
RWS supply chain can be categorised into two main areas:
•
•
Vendors – these include:
-
Freelancers – individuals who provide us with
localisation services
-
Single language vendors (SLV) and multi-language
vendors (MLV)
-
Non-professionals – individuals who are part of our
crowdsourcing service
Suppliers – these are both small and large companies
who provide us with products and services
as well as surveys to get feedback on the training provided
and their feedback on ESG materiality.
We believe sustainable sourcing is essential as it
helps reduce risks in the supply chain and meets the
expectations of our stakeholders. It helps us make
informed and balanced decisions when purchasing
products and services to ensure we get the best value
for money while ensuring we take into account the
environmental, social and ethical aspects over the whole
product or service life cycle.
We wish to do business with responsible suppliers
and subcontractors who understand the nature of the
products, materials and services they are supplying, and
with those who recognise their responsibility to protect
the environment and manage good relationships with
their colleagues and local communities.
We expect all suppliers and subcontractors to manage
the environmental and social impacts of their business
operations. Suppliers and subcontractors should, where
appropriate, adapt their business practices to ensure that
they meet with our Supplier Code of Conduct. Our supply
chain has our full support in working towards compliance.
RWS prides itself on paying its suppliers promptly and in
FY20 signed up to the Prompt Payment Code. During FY22
our average payment terms to suppliers was 33 calendar
days.
It is our intention to roll out our Supplier Code of Conduct
to all suppliers, capturing evidence of acceptance. We will
develop a group-wide Sustainable Procurement Policy
which, demonstrates our commitment to the United
Nations Ten Principles. Additionally, we will set formal
group-wide KPIs which are approved by, and reported
to the Board, a cohesive global onboarding processes
for new suppliers and a formal audit capability (focusing
initially on geographic regions and revenue. This will
enable us to review findings on a group-wide basis and
co-ordinate the necessary activities to enhance supply
chain resilience and reduce business risks.
We believe it is important to have two-way communication
with our suppliers to foster better relationships and keep
them updated on our requirements, as well as assisting
with efficiencies, quality, insight, costs and reliability.
During FY22 we engaged with our suppliers in numerous
ways. These included newsletters, vendor feedback and
satisfaction surveys, holiday capacity surveys, buddy
meetings between language leads, monthly welcome calls,
on-boarding sessions, specialised training sessions (such
as programme-specific post-editing training delivered on
an individual basis, workshops on creative translations
and best practices for our service providers, specialised
training on subtitling and challenges for APAC languages),
SOCIAL RWS — ESG Report 2022
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