Community

Responsible local partners

Aebi Schmidt makes a valuable contribution at its business locations as both an employer and an economic factor. With a staff of more than 200 employees, the Aebi Division located in Burgdorf, a canton of Bern, Switzerland, is regarded as an important regional employer by the population of Burgdorf and the greater Emmental area. Almost all suppliers are located in the immediate vicinity, which enables greater flexibility and efficiency for the company. Regular visits to regional partners and Aebi’s participation in the Emmental Trade and Industry Association as member of the Management Board foster and maintain strong partnerships. More than 75% of the Aebi Division’s employees are from the immediate vicinity of the Emmental region to ensure that the workforce is knowledgeable about the local market. The significance of Aebi as a regional employer is further strengthened by the efforts of the city of Burgdorf made to secure the construction of the new Aebi facility in Burgdorf.

The Schmidt Division’s three business locations St. Blasien (Germany), Holten (Netherlands) and Kielce (Poland) are firmly rooted in their local communities. Great care is also taken to maintain strong relations with community representatives and suppliers and profit is generated for a network of smaller suppliers at all three regions, who partly provide finishing services for Schmidt. In addition, all three directors in Holten are actively involved in one or several supra-regional business associations. They are successfully contributing to the development of a community certification system (MVO monitor) of the Metal Employers’ Association in Holland (Koninklijke Metaal Unie); as a result, the location of Holten is now one of the first enterprises in this association to be certified according to the MVO monitor.

Further social contributions, most of them to support the local environment, are made in the form of sponsorships. In August 2011, Aebi was a sponsor at the 27th Federal Yodeller Festival in Interlaken. Additionally, smaller donations are made to the SAZ Training and Work Centre for Disabled People in Burgdorf, which also receives smallscale orders from time to time. In addition, as in 2010, Aebi will again support the Federal Wrestling and Alpine Festival as “major sponsor” in 2013. Aebi is promoting young talent and is a major sponsor of the Federal Wrestling Day for Young Talents, which will take place on 26 August 2012 in Hasle in Entlebuch, a canton of Luzern. Regional sponsorship is also taking place in Holten, e.g. at the Triathlon Holten in 2011. Furthermore, the employees at Holten can decide to donate their Christma.

Fairness as a matter of course

The code of conduct sets out the rules of conduct according to which Aebi Schmidt specifies the fair treatment of social actors such as stakeholders or competitors. These rules are verified within the scope of risk management. In Poland and Holland, there is an in-house compliance process based on the code of conduct. In 2011, an employee had to leave Aebi Schmidt because of repeated violation of the code of conduct. Apart from that, no other incidents occurred. During the year under review, Aebi Schmidt was not involved in any lawsuits for anti-competitive practices, nor were there any fines or non-monetary penalties for violations of other rules or regulations.

Good supplier relations

Aebi Schmidt has roughly 2000 suppliers and the good cooperation with them is a critical success factor. The suppliers comprise small, medium-sizes and large enterprises from a variety of business sectors at all locations with primary focus on material groups such as steel, stainless steel, welding parts, engines and hydraulic components. In addition to steel and stainless steel as raw materials, purchasing includes assembly components as well as DIN and standardised parts. The purchase costs in the reporting year amounted to approx. EUR 130 million (previous year: EUR 120 million). Each supplier is directly contacted at least once a year, either by visits, on-site receptions or a suppliers’ day, like in Poland. During these visits, the relationship is evaluated and the expectations on the future cooperation are discussed. Not only price optimisations but also issues like quality, environment, energy, workplace conditions and the like are dealt with. All suppliers have been reclassified according to the lead-buyer structure. In addition, critical suppliers are supposed to be monitored more intensively in the future. The suppliers are also assessed regarding their processes, energy consumption, various environmental guidelines, ISO 14 001 and transport kilometres.

The in-house code of purchase and its behavioural rules are communicated to all suppliers. The risk of suppliers violating Aebi Schmidt’s environmental and social standards is rather small. Nevertheless, related criteria such as the use of reusable packaging and eco-friendly packaging materials are taken into account in the evaluation of suppliers whenever possible. Educating employees about the selection process of suppliers and the timely integration of purchasing into development projects reduces the risks for Aebi Schmidt and promotes good relations with important suppliers.