Taking Responsible Sourcing Seriously

Read the branded version of the case study here.‍

Spin Master is a global leader in children's entertainment, best known for its innovation in toys and games, including award-winning brands like PAW Patrol, Hatchimals and Rubik’s Cube.

“Our focus is all about creating magical experiences for kids and their families,” says Tammy Smitham, Vice President - Communications & Corporate Citizenship. “As people who serve children, we have a duty to make life better for all children where we can – and that's exactly what our work with ESCP does.”

In 2016, the Toronto-headquartered company became one of the first to join as a Buyer Member of ESCP, which ensures its suppliers meet all the industry’s social compliance requirements, provides invaluable help finding new ethical suppliers, and delivers dedicated on-the-ground support.

Such is Spin Master’s commitment to responsible sourcing that it also supports our worker well-being programs, which benefit thousands of working parents employed at toy and children products factories around the world.

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THE CHALLENGE
Oversight across an entire global supply chain

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Spin Master is a global business with 26 offices, distribution in over 100 customer markets, and manufacturing in 10 countries in 120 facilities.

Almost 99% of the company’s production is outsourced to manufacturing partners in Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and Vietnam.

Spin Master’s Code of Conduct for Suppliers and Manufacturers and Human Rights Policy stipulates that its suppliers must be certified against ESCP’s industry-leading ethical manufacturing standard.

This provides Tammy and her team with the guarantee that products are sourced in a responsible manner from suppliers who share the company’s values and commitment to business integrity: “We take responsible sourcing and worker well-being incredibly seriously, which is why we signed up as a member of ESCP all those years ago.

“We have our own compliance team and we visit factories, but with such a global footprint we don’t have the resources to be on the ground with every single supplier. This is where ESCP performs a crucial role. It acts as an extension of the work that we do, and gives us infinitely better oversight across our entire supply chain.”

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THE BENEFITS
Proactive support that identifies potential opportunities and challenges

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Having the assurance that all its certified factories will be visited and audited at least once a year – and that any non-compliances will be subject to a corrective action plan – is one of the reasons why ESCP is more effective for Spin Master than other supplier assessment and engagement programs.

And, as Tammy points out, “It’s not about saying ‘We’re not going to work with this factory anymore’. Instead, it's all about corrective action. This is best for us, as there’s minimal supply chain disruption, and it’s also best for the supplier, because by partnering together and improving the conditions within the factory, they’re better set up for future success.

“I have to also say that the ESCP team is very quick in identifying problems and helping us to solve them. They’re always there when we need them, and always innovative in how we can approach difficulties and find different solutions.

“More than that, though: they identify potential opportunities for us, and challenges that may be coming up. ESCP is helping us to address emerging issues when it comes to the environment, for example, working on ways in which we can help simplify the collection of environmental impact data from our suppliers.

“Similarly, we’ve been looking at diversifying our supply chain. We're still heavily dependent on China, but have been doing more of our manufacturing in Vietnam and Mexico, as well as some countries in Europe. When we've hit roadblocks, we’ve been able to call on ESCP to quickly audit new factories that we’re considering using.”

Such horizon scanning and future proofing activities are vital for an expanding company like Spin Master.

“As you enlarge your manufacturing and distribution footprints, meeting standards becomes even more difficult and even more critical. We’re super appreciative that we have this visibility on what's happening in the supply chain, and can work together to meet some of the challenges that the future will bring, from disruption in the supply chain to weather-related events or geopolitical issues.”

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