Supply chain partners for sustainable success
We are working to build strong partnerships with our suppliers. In
2009/10, we introduced our supply chain charter, which is a commitment
to create professional and mutually beneficial relationships by being
flexible, innovative, transparent and decisive. We believe that by
working in partnership we can find new, more sustainable solutions to
meet our needs.
Sustainable timber
In 2009/10, we worked with one of our suppliers, Trackwork Limited,
to improve the sustainability of the 75,000 wooden sleepers and bearers
we need each year for vital track maintenance. Our target is to buy at
least 95 per cent of our track timber from sustainable sources,
including Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood.
Working together
Initially, the quantity of FSC certified hardwood available was small
and did not generally meet our technical specifications. Furthermore,
the cost of this wood (especially when purchased from Brazil) had been
artificially inflated by an over-complex supply chain featuring a
succession of agents, all of whom added to the cost.
Trackwork Limited transformed the tropical hardwood supply chain to
bring increasing quantities of high quality sustainably sourced sleepers
and bearers to the UK for us. This has involved re-working every
element of the timber purchasing process, from logging in remote
rainforest sites through to trackside delivery. We have achieved radical
improvements, despite the complexity of managing suppliers in remote
locations in developing countries.
We use 75,000 wooden sleepers and bearers every year for vital track maintenance.
A fantastic result
As a result of our combined efforts over the past five years, FSC
supplies have been developed enough to supply a whole consignment of 100
per cent FSC certified tropical hardwood for the very first time this
year. On 22 February 2010, 1,200m3 of Brazilian hardwood sleepers and bearers, all of it FSC certified, arrived in the UK for use on the railway.