Our Value Chain and Its Impacts

Our Value Chain

As a major multinational enterprise, our activities have far-reaching environmental, social and economic impacts. The graphic below illustrates the major stages of our value chain and identifies key impacts, stakeholders, and examples of value we create at each stage.

We recognize that the issues and impacts are interconnected and that positive and negative effects in one part of the chain can reverberate in the other parts. The value chain assessment was revised and updated for this report as part of the “materiality analysis” which prioritizes the most significant issues in our value chain.

Product Planning and Design

This stage has far-reaching impacts throughout our value chain, as it includes all major decisions about which products we will make, what technologies we will develop and implement, and how and where our products will be made.

Innovation and R&D play a key role in our ability to enhance positive impacts and reduce negative impacts of our products and operations. We also add indirect value and have indirect impacts at this stage based on the decisions we make about products, manufacturing processes, manufacturing volumes, suppliers, etc.

Key Issues/Impacts

  • Greenhouse gas (GHG)/fuel economy and other environmental regulations
  • Low-carbon strategy
  • Energy use/oil consumption and GHG emissions
  • Electrification strategy
  • Environmental management
  • Water strategy
  • Sustainability vision, governance and management
  • Land and nature
  • Waste generation and management
  • Tailpipe emissions
  • End-of-life management
  • Sustainable mobility
  • Sustainable materials
  • Emerging market products and services strategy
  • Alignment of production with demand
  • Product competitiveness
  • Brand reputation/value
  • Quality
  • Risk and cost management
  • Vehicle safety

Key Stakeholders

  • Ford
  • Employees
  • Suppliers
  • Communities

Raw Material Extraction

This stage can have significant impacts on the communities where extraction occurs. Extraction creates value for raw material suppliers and local communities, through employment and other benefits.

However, it also has significant environmental and social impacts on local communities. We are working to reduce negative impacts from extraction, including addressing issues relating to Conflict Minerals, human trafficking and rare earth elements.

Key Issues/Impacts

  • Water strategy
  • Supply chain environmental sustainability
  • Sustainable materials
  • Global environmental regulation
  • Low-carbon strategy
  • Emerging market products and services strategy

Key Stakeholders

  • Suppliers
  • Communities
  • Ford

Logistics / Transportation

This stage includes the transport of parts from our suppliers to our manufacturing plants and of finished vehicles from our factories to our dealerships.

We create value at this stage by providing business and jobs in the transportation and packaging industries. We also work to reduce emissions and waste associated with parts transportation and packaging. However, transportation causes impacts to local communities and the environment, especially in the areas of emissions, waste, traffic and road safety.

Key Issues/Impacts

  • Low-carbon strategy
  • GHG emissions
  • Sustainability vision, governance and management

Key Stakeholders

  • Suppliers
  • Ford
  • Employees
  • Communities

Supplier Parts Manufacturing

Supplier parts manufacturing includes our direct suppliers as well as multiple levels of suppliers who provide components to our direct suppliers.

We add value at this stage by providing business to suppliers, which in turn creates jobs, income and investment in communities. We also add value through extensive efforts to improve the sustainability of our suppliers’ operations. We also generate indirect impacts at this stage, primarily in the form of environmental impacts of parts manufacturing and social and economic impacts to local communities based on changes in our supplier base and production levels.

Key Issues/Impacts

  • Supply chain environmental sustainability
  • Ethical business practices
  • Human rights in the supply chain
  • Environmental management
  • Supplier relationships
  • Water strategy
  • Supplier viability

Key Stakeholders

  • Suppliers
  • Ford
  • Communities
  • Employees

Ford Manufacturing

Manufacturing at our own facilities is the heart of our business and is, of course, the value chain stage where we create the most direct value and impacts.

We create value at this stage through employment and investment in the communities where we operate, and through continual efforts to improve the environmental performance of our operations and to ensure human rights and excellent working conditions for our own employees. Our impacts at this stage include the environmental impacts of our manufacturing facilities, as well as the social and economic impacts of our plant operations.

Key Issues/Impacts

  • Emerging market products and services strategy
  • Environmental management
  • Brand reputation/value
  • Innovation management
  • Emissions and pollutants
  • Sustainable mobility
  • Energy use/oil consumption
  • Health and safety

Key Stakeholders

  • Ford
  • Employees
  • Communities

Sales

The sales stage includes our communications with customers about our products and the work of our global dealer network.

We add value at this stage by providing customers with products that meet their needs and exceed their expectations, and through the employment and investment generated by our dealerships.

Key Issues/Impacts

  • Alignment of production with demand
  • Product competitiveness
  • Emerging market products and services strategy
  • Electrification strategy
  • Sustainable mobility
  • GHG/fuel economy regulation
  • Quality
  • Low-carbon strategy
  • Cleaner vehicle technologies

Key Stakeholders

  • Dealers
  • Ford
  • Customers
  • Investors

Use

Most of the direct value and impacts of our products occur during the use stage, when they are being driven by our customers.

We add value at this stage by delivering high-quality, fuel-efficient products that make our customers’ lives better. We generate indirect value by supporting the vast network of businesses that benefit from vehicle use – from fuel providers and road builders to less-obvious beneficiaries such as the travel and tourism industry. We generate impacts through the environmental and social impacts of our vehicles, including tailpipe emissions and vehicle and road safety.

Key Issues/Impacts

  • Vehicle GHG and other emissions
  • Global environmental regulation
  • Low-carbon strategy
  • Environmental management
  • Electrification strategy
  • Fuel efficiency/economy
  • Sustainable mobility
  • Cleaner vehicle technologies and fuels
  • Public policy engagement
  • Quality
  • Emerging market products and services strategy
  • Alignment of production with demand
  • Product competitiveness
  • Brand reputation/value

Key Stakeholders

  • Customers
  • Ford
  • Communities

Service

Our dealer network creates value and impacts through their network of vehicle service centers.

We generate direct value at this stage through the employment and investment of dealership service centers, and by working to reduce the environmental impacts of our service processes, such as recycling used parts. We add indirect value by generating demand for replacement parts and other support services, which in turn provide employment and economic benefits.

Key Issues/Impacts

  • Sustainable mobility
  • Quality
  • Brand reputation/value
  • Dealership network viability

Key Stakeholders

  • Dealers
  • Ford
  • Customers

End of Life

Our vehicles have impacts and value even after they are done with their useful driving life.

We generate indirect value at this stage by supporting the vehicle dismantling, recycling and disposal industries. (Ninety-five percent of the materials in our vehicles can be recycled or reused.) Our vehicles also have impacts at end of life primarily in the form of waste production.

Key Issues/Impacts

  • Hazardous pollutants
  • Emerging market products and services strategy
  • Risk and cost management
  • Waste generation and management
  • Sustainable materials
  • End-of-life management

Key Stakeholders

  • Recyclers
  • Ford
  • Communities

Downloads

Download Summary Report

Ford’s 2012/13 Sustainability Report is summarized in this 8-page downloadable document.

Visit our Downloads page for this report in full or as separate sections along with supplementary publications.