Earthcharter

SBA Case Study: Xerox

Friday, 26 February 2010 19:59

LARGE BUSINESS CATEGORY

Company Name: Xerox Corporation

Contact: Janet Harrison
Web site:  www.xerox.com
Number of employees: 250
Certifications/Affiliations: Energy Challenge 2012; EPA’s 2008 Climate
Protection Award
Year established:
Industry:  Document Management, Color Printers/Copiers/ Business

Process Outsourcing/ Services

Introduction: At Xerox, sustainability is their way of doing business. They have aligned their goals for the environment and health and safety in five key areas to make an impact across their value chain worldwide. Together with their suppliers, customers, and stakeholders they strive to maintain the highest standards to preserve our environment and protect and enhance the health and safety of their employees and communities. These five key areas include reducing energy use to protect our climate, preserving biodiversity and the world’s forests, preserving clean air and clean water, preventing and managing waste, and ensuring health and safety.

Xerox conducts work in color science, computing, digital imaging, work practices, electromechanical systems, novel materials, linguistics, work practice analysis, and nanotechnology connected to Xerox's expertise in printing and document management. The company consistently builds its inventions into business by embedding them in Xerox products and solutions, using them as the foundation for new business, or licensing or selling them to other entities. (Xerox.com)

Sustainable Practices and Initiatives (Planet)

Sustainable practices are a way of doing business at Xerox. They strongly encourage and promote recycling of paper. Xerox offers papers with 20% to 100% post-consumer recycled content. Their recycled paper basically uses post-consumer waste in place of new pulp.

They have many recycling bins present around their office. The companies aim is to design products, packaging and supplies that make efficient use of resources, minimize waste, reuse material where feasible and recycle what can’t be reused. This is achieved through several programs:

• Xerox’s Green World Alliance program that provides a collection and reuse/recycling program for spent imaging supplies
• Xerox’s Product Takeback and Recycling program that manages equipment at end of life
• They are investing in waste-free technologies. Their solid ink imaging process utilizes compact cartridge-free solid ink sticks with no plastic housings or casings, thereby reducing office waste by up to 90%

 

Xerox utilizes a ColorQube 9200 Series multifunction printer that uses their proprietary solid ink technology to lower the environmental impact of office printing. This printer uses 9% less life cycle energy and produces 10% fewer life cycle greenhouse gases than a comparable laser device. This printer also uses 100% non toxic solid ink, prints on any recycled media, and creates 90% less waste than a typical laser printer device.

Xerox also introduced the industry’s first Sustainable Calculator to help customers estimate the environmental footprint of their office printing, which has helped them reduce a significant percent of their related energy, greenhouse and solid waste. It gives customers a fact-based study that shows the before and after state of optimizing their office devices.

In 2003, Xerox made a public commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by joining the U.S. EPA Climate leaders program and launched an internal program called Energy Challenge 2012. They adopted a goal of reducing by 10% their absolute greenhouse gas emissions across all company operations by 2012. Xerox was also awarded the EPA’s 2008 Climate Protection Award for their achievements in reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

Economic Impact (Profit)

Xerox is a very profitable company reporting 2008 revenues of $17.6 billion and income of $230 million. The company routinely tracks and reports on the current and potential suppliers for adherence to their requirements. On-site reviews are held regularly with their suppliers. Suppliers can also voice their own concerns relating to constructive business relationships through an ethics hotline and P.O. Box address, which would be promptly investigated.

Xerox was recognized as being number one in relation to supplier diversity by DiversityInc magazine for the last three years. They have established partnerships with minority and women owned business enterprises and veterans and service-disabled veterans. They are also establishing supplier relationships with gay and lesbian business enterprises. With regards to customer satisfaction, Xerox conducts monthly customer surveys to monitor their performance and measure their customer’s overall level of satisfaction.

Community Commitment (People)

Xerox currently employs over 250 full time employees and they believe that their workforce is one of the most diverse in their industry. The company has employee benefit programs in place. Their employee benefits are designed to provide flexibility, choice, value, and quality. These benefit programs include medical, dental, vision, salary-redirection, healthcare accounts, life insurance, accident insurance, and long-and short-disability. They also have time off programs for their employees which include holidays, company-provided vacation, purchased vacation time, and personal leaves and family medical leave. In addition to this, they also offer employee assistance programs such as childcare and elder care resources, adoption assistance, and education assistance and tuition aid. Xerox also conducts peer to peer evaluation surveys with the intention of understanding the culture and working environment from an employee’s perspective.

The company has ramped up its safety processes over the past 10 years to in order to reduce workplace injuries to the optimal level of zero. This zero injury program was achieved through the use of proactive methods, such as the use of an effective health and safety management system, an ever-renewed commitment to management leadership and aggressive hazard recognition and prevention program and using employee involvement.  Motor vehicle safety is a key component of their safety initiatives. Xerox provides their employees with comprehensive driver training and ongoing reviews of their driving records. Company vehicles have safety features such as daytime running lights and safety barriers between the driver’s seat and storage areas. All vehicles also come equipped with hands-free Bluetooth cell phone capability.

Xerox is also developing a new ergonomic training program aimed at their aging workforce. The training is designed to provide simple ergonomic strategies, as well as awareness of the normal aging process, to reduce personal risk to employees. To further protect employees from unsafe exposures to chemicals, noise, and radiation, Xerox defines strict exposure limits for manufacturing, research and service operations. They offer learning opportunities for employees through online training, virtual classrooms, traditional classroom delivery and online collaboration. Their online training is delivered through the Learning@Xerox Web Application. More than 9,500 e-learning courses are offered in areas such as sales, technical and compliance training.