In business, attracting and retaining customers is of paramount importance. Customers need attention, respect, and a whole lotta love.

However, it is important to remember that any business relationship is a two-way street: just as you have customers, you’re probably a customer yourself. Of course you have the right to demand the highest level of product and service quality from every member of your supply chain and vendor base. But it is also important to cultivate lasting and mutually respectful relationships with the suppliers you prize the most.

Performance improvement motivation is a great way to ensure you receive the very best from your suppliers. It can be as simple as rewarding suppliers who exceed expectations (determined by implementing a supplier rating program).

It’s not tough to reward suppliers, but few organizations actually go out of their way to recognize stellar performance. A supplier awards program is not a resource-intensive project, but the results can be substantial.

Here’s a few different ways your organization can reward a supplier for consistent, high-quality performance:

• Publicity: Issue a press release acknowledging a supplier’s performance excellence or even any news affecting the supplier alone or your business relationship.
• Recognition: Hold a supplier awards reception and acknowledge Gold, Silver and Bronze suppliers. Also, consider launching a “Top Ten Suppliers” program where your company can list its best suppliers on a regular basis on your blog, website and internal and client newsletters. 
• Rewards: Provide a plaque or statue top suppliers can display in their reception area. It is a simple token, but reminds suppliers on a regular basis that they are appreciated and also helps them attract additional business.

Suppliers want prospective clients to know they consistently meet and exceed expectations and are appreciated by existing customers. If you help their business by communicating their strengths to others, your suppliers will reward you with enhanced performance.

You may have a very long list of suppliers, so it is important to determine which of suppliers carry the highest impact for your organization. To help determine your high-impact suppliers, take a look at our Optimizing Supplier Performance White Paper for detailed guidance.

Intelex is pleased to announce it has achieved Gold-Level certification within the Microsoft Partner Network.

Secifically, Intelex has achieved three specific competencies within the partner program, including Application Integration, Independant Software Vendor (ISV), and Mobility.

Head over to our Press Room to learn more.

So, you’re meeting the status quo and passing your safety inspections. That’s great, but it’s no reason to let your safety program stagnate. Why not aim a little higher?

While a no-accident policy is definitely a noble goal and achievable in some industries, it is important to set realistic yet demanding goals. OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) is a great way to start.

VPP essentially recognizes worksites that have gone above and beyond in their health and safety efforts by implementing top-of-the-line safety management systems. Sites awarded by the program are considered exemplary leaders in safety performance and are eligible to receive one of three rankings:

• Star: The highest level of recognition, the Star Program recognizes sites that have achieved injury and illness rates at or below their industry’s average, self-sufficiently control workplace hazards, and boast the most robust, comprehensive safety management programs.
• Merit: Merit sites are on the road to becoming Star-recognized, but need to boost health and safety performance to be considered excellent.
• Star Demonstration: This designation is reserved for worksites that address unique, often sector-specific health and safety concerns and issues.

Many employers might wonder why they ought to exceed basic health and safety requirements and seek recognition through the program. There are many reasons, all of which will contribute to any organization’s social and economic bottom lines:

• Fewer Accidents: On average VPP participants see at least 50 per cent fewer accidents on an annual basis and a Days Away Restricted or Transferred (DART) case rate of 52 per cent below the average for their industry.
• Increased Productivity and Efficiency: Fewer accidents mean less downtime and a more effective, efficient use of your human capital.
• Reduced Insurance Rates: As your company or worksite demonstrates superior safety performance and encounters fewer or no fatalities or accidents, annual insurance rates will plummet.
• Attract and Retain Talent: Not only will existing employee morale get a boost from your exemplary safety record, being VPP Star-recognized will help your company attract top industry talent who will be lured by your commitment to safety.
• Marketing and Brand Equity: With fewer or no accidents, injuries, fines and fatalities, VPP recognition can ultimately be leveraged with marketing campaigns to boost brand image and attract high-calibre customers.
  

Achieving VPP recognition is demanding, but completely realistic if a worksite has implemented a robust, streamlined software-based safety management system.

To learn more about VPP or join the program, contact OSHA’s Office of Partnerships and Recognition at (202) 693-2213 (or the VPP Manager at your OSHA Regional Office). Read all about VPP here.

Ever find the world of global warming a little overwhelming?

Between myriad climate initiatives, myths and misinformation, piles of studies, and countless websites and advocacy groups, it's tough to make sense of it all.

True, there may be a bit of an information overload surrounding climate change. But one new organization is simplifying things. And it's accomplishing this by viewing climate change through the lens of a magic number: 350.

Essentially, according to scientific consensus and a seminal report by Dr. James Hansen—perhaps the world’s most venerated climate change researcher—350 ppm (parts per million) is the safe upper limit for atmospheric carbon dioxide. So 350.org was launched to make that number a focal point of achievable, realistic action on climate change.

The bad news is we’re above this value currently, with CO₂ at about 390 ppm, which is one of the highest values ever. Actually, we’re pretty much exactly at 390.09 ppm, according to the live data provided by CO2now.org. The worse news is that atmospheric CO₂ has been steadily increasing at an accelerating rate. In 1959 (the first year precise measurements were taken) we sat at a comfortable 316 ppm. In 1988 we cracked 350 ppm. Two years ago we recorded about 387 ppm and though levels have never been higher than they are today, we’re projected to reach 450 ppm by 2035 and a staggering 860 ppm by 2095!

That’s if nothing is done about it, which brings me to the good news: according to 350.org, humankind is actually capable of reversing the trend and scaling back emissions to a viable 350. But the same old narrative applies: we’re in it together, and only coordinated action and advocacy will lead to a reversal of this upward trend.

Business and industry leaders can do their part by tracking and reporting on air emissions, implementing streamlined environmental management systems, and developing progressive policies to curb emissions.

Is your business considering sustainability or corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting? What will it be: CERES? GRI? CDP? FRP? A4S? WBCSD? Or IIRC?

Phew. That’s a lot of acronyms for what’s really a simple premise: reporting on sustainability and CSR data to stakeholders and the public at large. The above organizations are all associated with voluntary reporting frameworks that organizations can use to standardize sustainability and CSR reporting. While the frameworks differ in scope, to sort out any potential confusion, here’s a quick rundown of each:

Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP): Based in the UK, CDP brings together investors and works with large corporations around the world to develop effective carbon reduction strategies and disclose greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data. Less a sustainability/CSR reporting framework than an emissions reporting organization, CDP’s scope is nonetheless broad: it publishes emissions data accounting for more than a quarter of global air emissions associated with human activity.
Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES): Founded in 1989 by a group of investors seeking to integrate sustainability into capital markets, CERES itself is not as focused on reporting and disclosure as it is on encouraging sustainability reporting. However, the organization has birthed a reporting framework known as GRI (see below).
Ceres and Tellus Institute Facility Reporting Project (FRP): Another CERES-based reporting framework, FRP is focused squarely on providing a generally accepted framework for facility- and site-specific environmental and social sustainability reporting.
World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD): This CEO-led association of companies pushes business to incorporate sustainable development into all business decisions. WBCSD is primarily concerned with advocacy and policy development, but asks members to report on environmental performance and urges them to “aspire” towards economic and social reporting.
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI): Formed in 1998 by CERES, GRI has become the standard-bearer on how organizations report on environmental, social and economic performance. Over 1,500 global organizations report in accordance with G3 guidelines (the most recent iteration of the GRI reporting framework).
The Prince’s Accounting for Sustainability Framework (A4S): Spearheaded by none other than Prince Charles, A4S brings advisory and accounting bodies as well as NGOs together to embed sustainability into decision-making and reporting processes.
International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC): This is the big one. Announced only earlier this month, IIRC is poised to become the everything-to-everyone reporting framework. IIRC is a collaborative project between GRI and A4S and essentially covers all bases: environmental, social, financial, governance—everything! If widely adopted, and if integrated reporting becomes popular enough, IIRC might erase the need for other reporting frameworks.

For the forward-thinking organization, IIRC is probably the best route. However, if you’re just beginning to consider sustainability and CSR reporting and don’t want to worry about stringent framework requirements yet, start by capturing, tracking, and reporting on environmental data and essential sustainability metrics. It’s a simple start that will make the leap to full-fledged reporting easier in the long run.

Courtesy of the help of its Middle East partner, Barik IT Group, Intelex Technologies is cornering the market on providing comprehensive EHS management software solutions to utility companies across OMAN. 

Recently, Oman Electricity Transmission Company (OETC) joined Muscat Electricity Distribution Company, Al-Ghubrah Power and Desalination and Majan Electricity Company by turning to Intelex for its industry-leading EHS software solutions.

Check out our Press Room for more details on this exciting new relationship and Intelex's continuing growth across the Middle East.

Stephen Ross, a senior account executive at Intelex, just recently attended the LandWarNet conference as a guest of our client, the US Army. This year’s conference was held in Tampa, Florida and ran from August 3 to 5. This event brought government and industry together to openly communicate commercial best business practices and government implementations. Ross was pleased to be able to support his long-standing client and enjoyed meeting others in the industry.

For more information on Intelex clients please visit our clients page.

The Smurfit Kappa Group is a world leader in the paper-based packaging industry, producing over 12 million tons of paper annually, employing over 40,000 individuals, and operating over 300 plants and mills worldwide. 4 Years ago, with dozens of manufacturing sites across the UK, each using their own variation of a paper-based safety incident tracking system, Smurfit Kappa Recycling wanted to remedy this disjointed approach and implement a system to standardize and streamline the recording, tracking and reporting of safety incidents across their UK sites.

Smurfit Kappa selected Intelex’s Safety Incidents Reporting application to meet their needs as it provided a centralized reporting system, accessible via the web by any employee at any location. Smurfit Kappa’s paper incident form was translated into an easy-to-complete digital version and a simple user interface was configured so that upon logging in, users were presented with the incident form, ready to be completed and submitted.

“Intelex’s Safety Incident Reporting Application provided such a high level of visibility into our safety performance that we were able to identify areas for improvement that would have never been uncovered otherwise. Detecting root causes and driving corrective and preventive actions, it has been a critical component to the success of our entire safety program and maintaining OHSAS 18001 conformance,” commented Mark Montgomery, Compliance Manger for Smurfit Kappa Recycling UK who spearheaded the project.

Since implementing Intelex’s Safety Incident Reporting application 4 years ago, Smurfit Kappa Recycling has experienced significant savings and has seen vast improvements in their safety performance. Quantifiable results include a 58% reduction in lost-time accidents and a 63% reduction in number of absent days through injury. Also, per annum their accident frequency rate reduced from 1.9 to 0.83 and accident severity rate reduced from 32.52 to 8.55. The elimination of paper forms streamlined the reporting process and centralized all of their safety incident data, making it instantly available for review and analysis through real-time reports and dashboards. The user-friendliness of the application resulted in the recording of virtually all occurrences of incidents, near-misses and hazards, improving the ability to trend and analyze data.

To learn more about Intelex’s Safety Incident Reporting application – click here.