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Marking a new milestone in the management of our supply chain – the SMS worker hotline project

Adelina SimanjuntakMay 6, 2013 8:57 amSustainability Aspects

Everyone would agree with me that good communication is key to a satisfactory work environment; with effective communication, many problems can be identified and solved before they escalate.

I have spent a total of 15 years working in the compliance area, 8 of which with the adidas Group. Based on my personal experience, and after hundreds of factory visits and assessments, I can say that one of the biggest challenges for our suppliers is to be able to ensure effective communication with all their workers.

3 cheers for efficiency & how it enables a financial record

Frank Thomas (Moderator)May 3, 2013 7:47 amBusiness Operations, Corporate Perspectives

Ever since our CEO Herbert Hainer presented in 2010 our five-year strategic business plan ‘Route 2015’, he has always been very clear about one thing: the adidas Group aims for quality growth that needs to be first and foremost sustainable. One way to foster sustainable growth is for example by investing smartly into our brands. Another way is by continuously improving efficiency. This might be achieved on an organisational level or through innovations in the supply chain: if, for example, we manage to decrease the amount of fall-out materials, we minimise cost and become more efficient. There is a lot of room for creativity to improve efficiency. Through relentlessly focusing on such initiatives, the adidas Group managed to achieve a pretty strong result in terms of its gross margin.

Did you know that the adidas Group has a sustainability venture capital fund?

Elizabeth TurnbullApril 30, 2013 3:30 pmSustainability Aspects

If you are familiar with facility management, you may know that facilities have finite annual budgets, and demand for capital predictably exceeds supply. Some projects like lighting controls may deliver carbon & financial savings; however, quantifying these savings requires time and specialized training, two equally scarce resources. Other projects, like replacing carpets, don’t deliver a return, but may still feel quite urgent to a facility manager. Without a trusted advisor to calculate and validate their economic and environmental benefits, energy-conserving lighting controls are stuck competing for the same funds as carpets.

We experienced similar issues at the adidas Group and set up a dedicated team to look into it. After months of calculations and visits to our facilities, we established the company’s greenENERGY Fund, our creative response to this universal corporate problem.

How an Employee Committee contributes to the installation of the adidas Group Daycare Center

Katrin HempelApril 25, 2013 4:32 pmHeadquarter News

Our daycare center “World of Kids” (WoKi), which is currently build at our headquarters in Herzogenaurach, is getting bigger and bigger. The construction area is changing continuously and the big opening day is getting closer! We are also progressing with the set-up of the operation of the daycare center.

Last year in September, the Work-life Integration team set up an employee committee for our daycare center. We asked HR to select representative employees from their area of responsibility. The reason for setting up this employee committee was, on the one hand, to give our employees the opportunity to give feedback and get insight into the planned educational concept. On the other hand, we want to learn from their experiences and include diverse backgrounds from different nationalities into the educational concept of the daycare center.

adidas Group IT Service Desk awarded with “Service Globe 2013”

Darius LangnerApril 23, 2013 2:52 pmHeadquarter News, On-the-Job Records

Last Wednesday was a very special day for me and my team. We, the adidas Group IT Service Desk Team in Herzogenaurach, received the “Service Globe 2013” at the Service Desk World Conference in Cologne, Germany. This prize might be described as the Oscar for IT Help- and Service Desk organisations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, awarding innovative concepts and implementations.