"Charles Vögele has a long tradition of living up to its responsibilities. We feel we have a duty to customers, employees and suppliers. Our aim is to bring social responsibility, environmental awareness and financial success together. Charles Vögele is committed to mastering the challenge of sustainable corporate development – always with the aim of turning risks into opportunities."
Frank Beeck, CEO
SUPPLIER MANAGEMENT
Charles Vögele Group sources all of its clothes from external suppliers. Most of the items are commissioned directly from manufacturers in Asia and Europe, and then sold under Charles Vögele’s own brand. The purchasing operation is centralized at head office in Pfaeffikon. Charles Vögele runs its own procurement offices in China, Hong Kong, India and Bangladesh. Local procurement activities were integrated into the Group’s organization between 2006 and 2009, which creates a significant competitive advantage for Charles Vögele as a vertically integrated company, giving it control of an additional link in the value chain. This makes processes more efficient and improves quality control at the manufacturers. Despite challenging conditions on the procurement markets, the system means that security of supply and cost efficiency can be maintained.
Origin of goods
Within the Group’s vertically organized, global procurement strategy, around 90% of its stock is manufactured in South East Asia and around 10% in Europe.
Transportation
The clothes are nearly always taken to Europe by boat, which is the most environmentally friendly form of transportation. External logistics partners ship the containers from various ports in South East Asia directly to one of the four regional distribution centres. From there, the goods are distributed to individual stores by road or rail. Stores generally receive deliveries at least twice a week. Wherever there is an appropriate rail onnection, stock is also delivered by train. For long journeys, the largest, fullest possible vehicles are used in order to reduce environmental impact. Our transport service providers are requested to use vehicles with the lowest possible emissions.
ENVIRONMENT
Charles Vögele Group’s efforts to protect the environment focus mainly on the way it operates and maintains its stores, especially with regard to energy consumption. For example, we always use the latest and most energy-efficient in-store lighting systems. In Switzerland and Germany, energy use in individual stores is subject to strict internal benchmarking to ensure that hidden or excessively high sources of consumption can be identified and dealt with as quickly as possible. Over the next few years this system will gradually be introduced in our other Sales Organizations too. Because the great majority of stores are housed in rented premises, the company has limited opportunity to influence environmental aspects when these buildings are being constructed. Charles Vögele is a member of the “Agence de l’energie pour l’economie” programme, which commits the Company to active reduction of CO2 emissions and optimized energy efficiency. The goals agreed within the programme are audited by the Swiss government.
Recycling, reusing
Charles Vögele Group uses its finely knit distribution network not only to get the clothes into its branches and to distribute consumables and marketing material, but also to set up intelligent closed material flows that help the company return waste to the resource cycle. Internal transportation materials and interim packaging are made in such way
that they can be reused as many times as possible. On their return journeys, trucks that would otherwise be empty take disposable packaging materials back to the Sales Organizations’ central warehouses, where they are prepared for appropriate disposal.
PRODUCT QUALITY AND SECURITY
Security and health are top priorities for Charles Vögele. The company is doing all it can to ensure that the dyes, additives, fibres and stitching it uses in products cannot cause skin irritation or other undesirable health issues. Charles Vögele requires all its suppliers to follow strict guidelines with regard to their manufacturing methods, the additives they use and their compliance with local environmental protection rules. Charles Vögele also avoids using sand-blasting techniques on its denim products and does not sell items containing animal fur. All items go through inline and final inspec-tions in the country of manufacture, as well as a strict incoming goods inspection when they reach Northern Germany. Charles Vögele regularly carries out spot tests and has the selected items analyzed by external, independent laboratories to ensure that all regulations are adhered to andthat products are always safe for customers.