Ford and the Automotive Industry Supply Chain

Our complex global supply chain encompasses several thousand supplier facilities that employ a million people. (See Supply Chain Profile.) We aim to ensure that everything we make – or others make for us – is produced consistent with local law and our Code of Basic Working Conditions. This can be challenging, as we have less control in suppliers' facilities than in our own, particularly at the sub-tier level (i.e., our suppliers' suppliers).

The legal structures governing working conditions, and the level of enforcement, vary widely across the countries in which we operate. Ensuring sound working conditions in the supply chain is ultimately the suppliers' responsibility, and we would like governments to play the lead role in enforcing compliance with laws. However, as customers, we also have an active role to play in supplier development.

Since we began work with our suppliers to ensure alignment with our CBWC, our approach has emphasized building capability throughout the supply chain to manage working conditions effectively. Our primary focus has been on training and education about working conditions issues, in conjunction with assessments of individual suppliers in order to verify performance and progress. We are committed to collaborative action to more effectively influence all levels of the automotive supply chain.

Our long-term vision is for our industry as a whole to converge on a set of common expectations for the global automotive supply chain and then work together to ensure that these expectations are met throughout the supply chain. We are working toward that goal comprehensively, with a three-pronged approach aimed at individual supplier facilities, supplier company management and auto company management. (See the "Expanding Impact on Working Conditions" graphic.)