VAUDE CSR-Report – Social Standards Assessment

Brand Performance Check – annual evaluation of member companies

Once per year, all FWF members are evaluated in a Brand Performance Check (BPC). In the BPC, an independent auditor looks at how each member company is working on improvement in working conditions in the supply chain and whether the requirements of membership are met. Performance is measured by means of a variety of indicators. Based on the evaluation, a benchmarking scored is created that shows how the members rate in relations to different indicators. Depending on the length of membership, there are additional requirements for members. Combined with the Benchmarking Score, the results indicate the category that the member company has achieved. In addition, depending on the length of membership, a certain number of producers must undergo monitoring. More on monitoring at Social Responsibility in the Supply Chain

In 2015, 99% of VAUDE production facilities were undergoing monitoring. This is far beyond the requirements of the FWF. At the BPC 2015 , VAUDE achieved a Benchmarking Score of 94%. This excellent result once again put us into the Leader category. We significantly improved and expanded upon last year’s good performance and have underpinned our leader claim in the area of sustainability and social standards.

Evaluation Details

Performance Check	Leader	Good	Needs Improvement
First year	-	-	-
After 1st Check	Score 75+ AND Monitoring 90 %+	Score 30 -74 AND Monitoring 40 %+	Score 0 -29 AND/OR Monitoring <40 %
After 2nd Check	Score 75+ AND Monitoring 90 %+	Score 40 -74 AND Monitoring 60 %+	Score 0 -39 AND/OR Monitoring <60 %*
After 3rd Check	Score 75+ AND Monitoring 90 %+	Score 50 -74 AND Monitoring 90 %+	Score 0-49 AND/OR Monitoring <90 %*

Depending on the length of membership in the FWF, a certain percentage of the production facilities must be monitored.

First membership year = 40 percent
Second membership year = 60 percent
Third membership year = 90 percent

99% of producers at VAUDE undergo monitoring. This is far above the requirements of the FWF.

In addition, the following issues are evaluated and rated:

Purchasing Practices – see also Legally Binding for Producers
Monitoring and Remediation – see also Social Responsibility in the Supply Chain
Complaints Handling – see also Freedom of Association
Training and Capacity Building – see also Social Responsibility in the Supply Chain , Production Country Myanmar, Occupational Health and Safety
Information Management – see also Social Responsibility in the Supply Chain
Transparency in relation to FWF membership
Evaluation FWF membership

Brand Performance Check 2015 Results

The following table shows our results from the 2015 Brand Performance Check. It provides an overview of VAUDE’s points compared to the points possible.

The full Brand Performance Check report can be downloaded here.

Category	Earned	Possible
Purchasing Practices	36	42
Monitoring and Remediation	32	32
Complaints Handling	14	15
Training and Capacity Building	13	13
Information Management	7	7
Transparency	4	4
Evaluation	2	2
Totals:	108	115

Benachmarking Score (Earned points divided by possible points)
94

Performance Benchmarking Category
Leader

Our results show that we have achieved the highest number of points possible in almost every category – the implementation of social standards in the supply chain is already very advanced.

Further improvements in focus

Despite our excellent results, there are two categories which need improvement:

Purchasing Practices

VAUDE will continue to working toward the introduction of a Living Wage – see also Payment of a Living Wage
In this process, the length of our partnership with the production facility is evaluated as well as the amount of our purchasing volume. Through the constant consolidation of production facilities, we will be able to achieve better results in the future

Complaints Handling

VAUDE will continue to work actively toward raising employers’ awareness of the FWF Complaints Handing – see Freedom of Association

This point will be intensively addressed in 2016 by the VAUDE Team in Tettnang and Asia to achieve improvements.

GRI:

G4-DMA Aspect of procurement