SUSTAINABLE APPROACHES POWERING REGIONAL GROWTH
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SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY CHAINS FOR GROWTH WRITTEN BY WILLIAM SMITH PRODUCED BY CAROLINE WHITELEY
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D E C AT H L O N
THAO NGUYEN, HEAD OF PROCUREMENT & LOGISTICS FOR DECATHLON VIETNAM, AND NUNO TINOCO, HEAD OF FOOTWEAR, EXPLAIN THE ETHICAL APPROACH TO SUPPLY CHAINS POWERING THE COMPANY’S SUSTAINABLE GROWTH IN SOUTH EAST ASIA
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porting goods company Decathlon has in recent years found new avenues for expansion in South East Asia (SEA).
Identifying its potential, the company’s first store in the region was opened in Thailand in 2015. Since 04
then, openings in SEA include a further nine stores in Thailand, six in Singapore, two in Vietnam, four in Malaysia, three in Indonesia, three in the Philippines and one in Cambodia. Nuno Tinoco is Head of Footwear for Decathlon Vietnam, and explains the company’s vision in this area. “Decathlon has changed a lot, both externally and internally over the past 10 years. We’ve expanded to more countries in the past decade than in the previous 33 years. This challenged us to re-think our product offering and our organisation. The main idea is to go faster by giving our teams power to decide locally, in each country, in each city, where the consequences have the most impact. We’ve gone for smaller teams, passionate about sport, who can better connect with their users and design more relevant products.”
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D E C AT H L O N
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“ By being usercentric, we can involve our sport users in the creation of the products of tomorrow” — Nuno Tinoco, Head of Footwear, Decathlon Vietnam
The fulfilment of Decathlon’s plans is being aided by the procurement function, as Thao Nguyen, Head Of Supply & Logistics for Decathlon Vietnam, explains. “Procurement is an important part of making sport accessible to the many. Local teams based in manufacturing countries are responsible for sourcing and managing the suppliers that produce Decathlon products. Once they are manufactured, Decathlon products are shipped by transport providers right into warehouses, then allocated to stores or
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directly supplied to customers and
right people at the right place in a long
users after an online order.” This
term sustainable environment. We
vertical structure is vital for the
must preserve our planet and its
business as it expands its operations.
people to protect our purpose. Profit
“Our fully integrated chain which
will be a consequence of that, but that
stretches from retail to production
is not our first goal.” More than just
allows us to better master our costs,
words, the ‘three Ps’ guide and inform
the quality of our products and our
the company’s operations, for instance
supply chain,” says Tinoco.
ensuring it goes above and beyond in
Decathlon is clear that the character
its interactions with suppliers. “For
of its expansion is always conscientious.
many years now, we have had our own
“‘People, Planet, Profit’ are our watch-
requirements to assess the level of
words,'' says Tinoco. “For Decathlon,
our suppliers,” says Tinoco. “These
profit is a consequence of having the
requirements are more demanding w w w.de c a t hlon . com
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D E C AT H L O N
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than local laws and aligned with best
creating teams organised by sport
international standards. These assess-
three years ago, whether that’s
ments are done regularly through
volleyball, trail, boxing or more,” says
official audits but critical points are
Tinoco. “These sports teams work
checked daily by our compliance team
closely with retail, production and
with suppliers in the field. We are able
more importantly with our sport users.
to do this by having offices inside
For example, we have one team-mate
our factories with a daily Decathlon
currently based in Vietnam who is a
presence and by building close relation-
high level road runner and also part of
ships with our suppliers’ teams.”
the road running team at Decathlon.
This inclusive, personal, sustainable
He develops the products of the
approach extends throughout the
sport he practices every day,
company, and even into the creation
collecting feedback from the
of products themselves. “We started
community of runners he is part of.
“More than 96,000 people in Decathlon are working every day to realise our purpose: sustainably make the pleasure and benefits of sports accessible to the many” — Thao Nguyen, Head Of Supply & Logistics, Decathlon Vietnam
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E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE
Thao Nguyen Thao Nguyen is a specialist with a decade of successful experience and comprehensive understanding of supply chains. Her experience widely covers activities including procurement, international freight, customs clearance, warehousing, ecommerce fulfilment and last mile delivery. She is a leader with proven skills of recruitment, team development and project management, with a commitment to identifying and implementing continuous improvement. She believes that the responsibility of companies and individuals should be in the ‘3 Ps’: Planet, People and Profit. Nguyen works to build effective, caring and environmentally friendly supply chain solutions, implemented in a human focused way. She is also passionate about healthy living and travelling.
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YOU DON’T BUILD A BUSINESS, YOU BUILD PEOPLE WHO BUILD YOUR BUSINESS AND INTUITIVELY CLIENT SATISFACTION TNG manufactures high quality garments, specializing in outer and sportswear since 1979. TNG is one of the top 10 multi factory apparel manufacturers in Vietnam and one of the most transparent companies in the Hanoi Stock Exchange.
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TNG is very well certified by third party compliance firms, major brands and retailers. TNG has the capacity to handle high-volume projects in a timely fashion with 11 sewing factories and several support facilities.
DESIGN Our Design Team is conscious of current trends and has the ability to provide creative and commercial designs across various categories.
COMPLETE IN HOUSE SERVICING TNG has 7 support facilities. We offer all services, from design to printing, quilting, padding, washing, packaging and shipping. This ensures complete control and effective communication.
SOURCING TNG Ě s wide ranging and year long experience in the industry established professional and reliable relationships with top suppliers all over the world.
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By being user-centric, we can involve
innovation and digitalisation of the
our sport users in the creation of the
supply chain. Once per year we
products of tomorrow to better fit
organise a forum during which each
better their expectations.”
supplier can present to others.” Such
As well as ensuring its own opera-
a consideration dovetails with
tions have this culture, Decathlon
Decathlon’s extensive sustainability
extends its reach to influence those
goals targeting risks across human
around it. “We have established
rights, health and safety and the
numerous examples of good industry
environment, which are backed by
partnerships with suppliers all over
concrete targets. For instance,
the world,” says Tinoco. “Each of them
Decathlon is aiming for 100%
is skilled in some of the specific key
renewably-sourced electricity for
strategies and challenges of tomorrow
all of its distribution and logistics
such as automation, continuous
activities by 2026, and as of
improvement, big data management,
now, 82% of its suppliers are
receiving A, B or C rating for working conditions, up 28% from 2017. By 2021, the company is targeting a 20% decrease in CO2 emissions thanks to energy consumption and renewables investment. One specific example of Decathlon’s behaviour inspiring transformative change in others comes from its work with manufacturing partner Dovitec. “Dovitec was inspired by our sustainable development strategy,” says Nguyen. “One of their Decathlon exclusive sites has instituted an energy saving project
“ Profit is a consequence of having the right people at the right place in a long term sustainable environment” — Nuno Tinoco, Head of Footwear, Decathlon Vietnam
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E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE
Nuno Tinoco Nuno Tinoco studied sport sciences and shoe engineering in France. Following his passion, Tinoco has 11 years of successful experience in the Footwear industry, ranging from Lab Research, Quality, Strategic Purchasing, and management. Living in different countries such as Portugal, Switzerland, France, Romania, Bangladesh and Vietnam, he has built strong skills in cultural adaptation, learnt six languages and is able to make decisions in challenging environments. Through all of his experiences he has been driven by his passion for sports and footwear going through business management and team development. He is also a family oriented person and a player of basketball and guitar.
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D E C AT H L O N
1976 Year founded 96,000 Approximate number of employees globally
+ â‚Ź1 1.bn Turnover (excluding taxes) end of 2017
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D E C AT H L O N
C O M PA N Y FACT S
• Decathlon is aiming for 100% renewably-sourced electricity for all of its distribution and logistics activities by 2026 • Recently opened 10 stores in Thailand, six in Singapore, two in Vietnam, four in Malaysia, three in Indonesia, three in the Philippines and one in Cambodia.
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• The company is targeting a 20% decrease in CO2 emissions by 2021
which has resulted in a number of improvements. Solar panels now provide 56.9% of the office’s energy consumption, they’re using daylighting and walls are being made from non-baked bricks to reduce heat gain and save the CO2 emissions produced by the baking process. Thanks to these and other solutions they’re reduced their energy costs by 50%. They’ve also put in place wastewater treatment and rainwater harvesting systems.
“ We are working on implementing cloud-based transportation management systems with AI optimisation tools, as well as a green project to reduce CO2 emissions” — Thao Nguyen, Head Of Supply & Logistics, Decathlon Vietnam
Free sport facilities are provided for workers, and facilities for disabled people have also been set up.” Another comprehensive collaboration comes in the form of Decathlon’s work with DHL. “DHL International Supply Chain (DHL ISC) runs a dedicated DHL control tower which provides a single point of contact in Vietnam and Taiwan for Decathlon's operations,” says Nguyen. “The control tower
oversees Decathlon's air, sea and road shipments from factories in Vietnam and Taiwan to the world. DHL's ISC services offer comprehensive solution design and project management backed by a global governance structure that guarantees consistency across operations. The collaboration we set up involved a high level of coordination, understanding and continuous improvement mindset for the mutual benefit of both w w w.de c a t hlon . com
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D E C AT H L O N
companies. The results were very satisfying. We achieved 91% container optimisation, 100% data on-time and 100% document on-time. We believe this partnership can go even further, and we are working on implementing cloud-based transportation management systems with AI optimisation tools, as well as a green project to reduce CO2 emissions.” Decathlon is not planning to rest on its laurels as it follows its plans for growth. “Over the next 10 years, we will 18
regularly re-write our vision,” says Tinoco. “Doing that helps us to identify the main challenges of tomorrow, whether that’s the environment, data management, digitalisation, industry 4.0 and beyond. We want to connect with our sport users and make sure our products are accessible as fast as possible through physical stores or online.” Ultimately, Decathlon is confident in the resilience of its strategy going forwards, with rewards on offer not just for itself but for customers and the world at large. “More than 96,000 people in Decathlon are working every day to realise our purpose: sustainably
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make the pleasure and benefits of sport accessible to the many,� says Nguyen. “Going into the future, our strategy of empowering people, decentralisation, user centricity and digitalisation will help Decathlon become more agile and better able to adapt to fluctuating environments and answer to the increasingly complex requirements of our customers.
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www.decathlon.com