Our diversity strategy for procurement*

Placing orders with workshops for the disabled
As a company committed to the principle of social responsibility, we include in our supplier portfolio workshops for the disabled. As a result, we have been working successfully with numerous workshops for decades, and during this time we have developed stable business relationships with these organizations, not least due to their reliability as supplier partners. We placed orders with approximately 40 workshops for the disabled in 2008 for products such as Mercedes-Benz components, and even complete vehicle modules. Several of these workshops also provide us with logistics services. One of our main workshop suppliers at the moment is the Gemeinnützige Werkstätten und Wohnstätten GmbH (GWW) organization, which was founded in 1973 and is located near Stuttgart.

Black economic empowerment
To promote the economic development of disadvantaged population groups in South Africa in a sustainable manner, Mercedes-Benz South Africa is continuing its strategy of “Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment” (B-BBEE) in conjunction with local suppliers. The goal of B-BBEE is to provide South Africa with economic stability in an environment that fosters growth and equal opportunity. We support the B-BBEE Codes mandated by the South African government in 2007 and implement them into an integrated approach. To this end, we offer workshops and training courses in order to provide suppliers with assistance and advice regarding all facets of successful and sustainable management. At these events, we also discuss the implementation of the B-BBEE approach, which we expect our suppliers to support. The aim here is to have a positive influence on procurement and buying behavior and therefore on procurement expenses in accordance with the B-BBEE strategy.

 

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