Quality

Driving new business from improved customer satisfaction

Our goal is to lead the supply chain industry in quality practices and methodologies that are recognised as providing the highest level of service and value to our customers. Our First Choice initiatives are the approach to achieving those goals.

We have developed globally consistent processes which underpin our efforts to deliver standard, replicable solutions and service standards to our customers around the world. These leading industry practices work to ensure that customer experience is at a consistent, high level.

Dedicated teams of project managers in each of our regions are trained in leading project management methodologies and employ a standard set of tools. Our process improvement advisors held approximately 1,300 workshops in 2009. Often working together with customers, action plans were developed to reduce costs and improve performance in these workshops, which were documented and put into practice throughout the year.

We have defined a number of key indicators which we use to measure the performance and quality of our warehouse and transport management operations including safety, productivity and inventory accuracy. Carbon efficiency is one of those key performance indicators we measure at all sites globally on a monthly basis in an effort to achieve our goal of improving carbon efficiency as part of our systematic climate protection programme, GoGreen. Carbon efficiency projects have been implemented and tracked across the business, including energy-efficient lighting in all regions, GoGreen office implementation at 24 offices globally, and the Switch Off employee engagement campaign. We have focussed on road fleet performance, for example in the UK, where we have introduced speed limits, aerodynamics, driver training and other programmes to reduce fuel consumption.