Ford Motor Company is asking for energy use and greenhouse gas emissions data from 35 of its top global suppliers to better understand its supply chain's footprint and begin sharing practices.

The suppliers represent about 30 percent of Ford's $65 billion in annual procurement spending and make seats, steering systems, tires, metal parts and other products.

In gathering energy and emissions information, Ford plans to share practices and processes that result in significant emissions reductions and eventually create a carbon management approach for its entire supply chain.

"We chose the original 35 suppliers because we were looking for where greatest opportunity lies...as well as a representative cross section of our supply base, representative of different commodities across the range we purchase," said Thomas Niemann, Ford's reporting manager of sustainability and environmental policy. "We believe this will give us a very good sense of where suppliers are in terms of looking at greenhouse gas emissions and where they stack up in terms of the amount of those emissions."
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All data gathered will be evaluated with PTC's InSight software, which helps companies determines the carbon footprint of products as well as the processes that create them.

Ford noted that some suppliers, such as Johnson Controls, are already measuring their emissions and working to reduce them. Johnson Controls, which make seats, electronics and batteries for Ford, plans to reduce its emissions by 30 percent by 2018 and is working with the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).

Any emissions reductions brought about by this new supply chain initiative will be separate from Ford's own goal of cutting its emissions by 30 percent by 2020, based on 2006 emissions.

Ford, which is working with the CDP's Supply Chain Program, will also share details of its data collection process with the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), which are working on a standard for measuring companies' Scope 3 emissions, which include supply chain emissions.

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