Henkel operates production sites around the world. We also have administration, research and marketing sites, warehouses, and logistics centers in many countries. As a local employer and contractor, we stimulate the economic development of many regions. Efficient and modern production sites are a prerequisite for the production of high-quality branded products. The continuous improvement of our processes and structures, as well as the reduction of resource consumption and environmental burdens, are an important part of our promise of quality. This includes the worldwide transfer of knowledge and new technologies.

Worldwide Standards
Our safety, health and environment standards (SHE Standards) and our Social Standards apply to all of our sites worldwide. We carry out regular audits to ensure that our standards are properly implemented. The audits are a key instrument for identifying risks and potential improvements, and play a crucial role in the worldwide transfer of knowledge. To gain an integrated view of our regions, we are steadily expanding our audits to cover subcontractors and logistics centers as well.

We have our environmental management systems at the individual sites externally certified, if this yields competitive advantages. At the end of 2009, about 58 percent of the production volume came from sites certified to the international ISO 14001 environmental management standard.

Our logistics planning is tailored to the nature of the products to be transported. For relatively bulky products, we reduce the transport mileage and the environmental burden by maintaining regional production sites. This applies especially to our Laundry & Home Care products, a well as to parts of the product portfolio of our Cosmetics and Consumer and Craftsmen Adhesives. More compact products with a low specific weight make fewer demands on transport, so we produce them centrally in large quantities wherever possible. Our instant and super glues, for examples, are produced at just a few  production sites worldwide.

Our production sites introduce individual measures and programs to respond to the challenges in the regions and align the company to local needs. The following are a number of exemplary projects implemented at site level through which the respective sites contribute to our focal areas.

A variety of process improvements, together with information campaigns on water and waste, to raise employees’ awareness of the need to handle resources responsibly. Result: Reduction of 40 percent in water consumption and 5 percent in waste.

Excellence in Site Services (EISS) is one of our worldwide efficiency programs. Since 2006, it has helped us to increase the productivity, quality and safety of our sites, while simultaneously reducing resource consumption, waste, and maintenance costs. Comprehensive analyses and simulations often provide a basis for local improvement measures. As a result of the EISS program, we have identified 731 individual measures at our sites worldwide, in the fields of energy, water, waste, building management, safety, health and the environment, and plant logistics.

Guidelines for replacing business and airline travel by video and telephone conferencing.