We want to face and understand the topic of sustainability in a thorough way. We have therefore undertaken a comprehensive analysis of how our business impacts society, governance and the environment. Taking into account the views of our stakeholders, we have identified 12 key sustainability dimensions. These can be divided into the following 5 areas of action.
Sustainability considerations are integral to all of our business areas.
We develop products that, with proper maintenance and care, can be used for decades. With modern production sites in the immediate vicinity of our customers' markets, we are already minimizing delivery routes and costs.
In terms of our workforce, we maintain an ambitious yet appreciative approach to one another, recognizing the uniqueness of our employees, supporting them in their personal growth, and striving together for exceptional performance.
With regard to process engineering, we see potential in digitalization and «smart standardization» to meet the ever-increasing demands of our customers, business partners, political and social interest groups. Thus, linking material and information flows with our partners helps to take important steps on the path of resource saving, conservation, and demand-driven production planning and coordination.
Starting from the development, order and concept phase, DT Swiss meticulously develops high-performance bicycle components that are characterized by reliability and easy maintenance. Thanks to decades of wheel building experience, meticulous testing in our in-house test center, and rigorous quality controls, we try to develop and ensure maximum performance in the respective fields of application. Moreover, an after sales support that includes our spare parts concept, product support and a worldwide service center network, supports the idea of promising our customers long and reliable support in achieving their goals.
Looking at the materials themselves, we can say with confidence that since the production of our first spoke, we have been committed to the careful use and strict monitoring of our production materials and other resources.
Our procurement strategy has always relied on long-term partnerships with our suppliers in order to further develop together in the area of sustainability, among other things. The approach of producing as close as possible to the respective sales market can also be applied to our supplier partnerships. With our sourcing strategy, we strive to select suppliers locally in order to strengthen the local economy, as well as ensure short transport routes.
However, an essential part of our strategy also includes a focus on reducing economic uncertainties. These arise, for example, from insufficient information flow between individual contracting parties, but also from fundamental challenges such as supply bottlenecks or resource shortages. Through a more transparent supply chain, we hope to continuously reduce uncertainties. A first step to gather more insights into working practices of our suppliers was the development of a Code of Conduct.
Our goal is to create a workplace that is free of bias, where diversity and inclusion are encouraged, and where every employee sees themselves as an important part in the company's development. We take responsibility in all of our subsidiaries to ensure fair working conditions. Inspired by our values and leadership principles, we shape tailored programs for our employees to create individual opportunities and foster growth. At the same time, the safety and health of our employees, but also of all other stakeholders with whom we have direct contact, is a top priority and a central business concern.
In our opinion, some of the main targets in the bicycle industry are nature-oriented health activity and mobility. To support these goals and take responsibility for our business activities, we detect many areas for improvement. We are a manufacturing and global company with business activities that have a great impact on the environment. For this reason, it is our duty to analyze where we can save resources and minimize our impact. Even if DT Swiss Group stands for industry-leading process excellence, there is still room for energy and water savings, as well as emission and waste reduction in the industry. We’re committed to reducing the negative impact to our planet, as well as to achieving our ecological, economic and social targets at the same time.
Find out more about our focus areas, how we try to maximize the useful life of our products and how we deal with the topic transparency in our value chain. Learn how we want to work on environmental topics such as energy, emissions, waste and more and how we continually aim to foster our own workforce in the summary of our sustainability report.
Are you interested in the detailed version of the sustainability report or in a joint sustainability project? Do you want to know more about a specific topic? Or do you just want to ask a question or leave a comment?
Feel free to send an email to: sustainability@dtswiss.com
