You can see a corridor with big data storages.You can see a corridor with big data storages.

Our Commitment to Quality

By quality we mean knowing the concerns of our customers and reacting to their requirements, questions and problems in an optimal way. Customer needs and expectations are consistently determined and specified in the form of fixed requirements.

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Management responsibility

Guidelines set out and published by the board of directors provide the framework for our management system. Our integrated management system places stringent demands on our service quality. Besides the underlying DIN EN ISO 9001 standard, we comply with many industry-specific standards.

As part of its responsibility towards the company, the board of directors establishes corporate policy and sets strategic objectives which aim to satisfy our customers’ needs. As part of their responsibilities, the executive management ensures that adequate material and human resources are made available for sustaining and developing the management system and the company as a whole.

Our integrated management system

Our unified, process-orientated and integrated management system is managed from our headquarters in Holzwickede, Germany. In addition, we have set up a QM organisation, which guarantees smooth communication between headquarters and branch offices, both top-down and bottom-up.

Our integrated management system is an important tool for the board of directors and for all management-level staff, because it helps us to achieve key improvements in our organisation.

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Standards

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Standards

Our standardised processes enable us to rapidly incorporate new sites into the integrated management system and to efficiently transfer existing standards to existing sites.

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Measuring our quality

Our processes are regularly monitored with the help of key performance indicators. That is how we can continuously improve and guarantee the quality of our products for our customers.

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Process metrics

We determine our key figures on the basis of qualitative and quantitative criteria. We put these in relation to each other in order to measure and maintain the quality of our processes.

Corporate IT – the digital future of logistics

Current topics, such as data analytics, AI (artificial intelligence), modern identity management and the digital workplace, are only one part of our overall future-proofing strategy. As an internal service provider, Corporate IT supports all units of the Rhenus Group with IT resources, services and individual software solutions. The main focus lies on creating a user-orientated and trouble-free working day. IT experts in eight different departments meet market requirements on a daily basis.

The heart of Corporate IT is located on the campus in Holzwickede. All business-relevant Rhenus data is stored here on the server farms of two interconnected data centres. Thanks to a self-sufficient supply, the complete infrastructure guarantees an availability of over 99.9 per cent in the case of escalation. In terms of reliability, it meets the requirements and quality demanded by the internationally recognised "Tier 3 standard". Annual audits also guarantee compliance with official information security standards thanks to the ISO certifications acquired.

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Certifications and documentation of our efficiency

The basis for our integrated management system is provided by DIN EN ISO 9001. Our headquarters and, as far as possible, all our branches are certified according to this standard. In addition, there are further standards that are implemented at our headquarters and in our branches, based on the requirements of our customers.

Our sites outside of Germany are, in part, certified within our Group. Additionally, there are sites which are certified directly on the premises by certification partners.

 

ISO 9001 plays a key role within the Rhenus Group management system because all further industry standards are developed on the basis of the requirements it establishes.

For the Rhenus Group, quality is the understanding of customer concerns in order to respond to their requirements, questions and problems. Customer needs and expectations are determined consistently and specified precisely with the aim of gaining the customer's trust in the provided services.

Fulfilling the requirements of this standard helps the branches and sites within the Rhenus Group to supply high-quality services and fulfil the expectations of the customers in question, as well as comply with legal and official requirements.

Within the Rhenus Group, ISO 9001 is an indispensable tool for continually improving profitability and market success.

ISO 9001 forms the basis for further industry-specific certification.

ISO 14001 makes it possible for us to continuously monitor, analyse and improve our environmental situation.

With the aid of an environment management system compliant with ISO 14001, we are able to ensure ongoing planning and implementation of environment protection measures at the certified sites and branches and, in this way, reduce our environmental impact.

Our overarching aim is, therefore, to promote environmental protection and prevent environmental damage, in harmony with economic, social and political requirements. At the same time, ISO 14001 forms the basis for certification of our environment management system.


ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

Environmentally friendly customer solutions and the efficient use of resources is a self-evident in all business areas of the Rhenus Group. By developing sustainable logistics concepts and constantly improving our environmentally relevant processes, we contribute to the prevention of environmental pollution and increase our environmental performance and energy efficiency. All sites are environmentally conscious, and the Rhenus Group complies with the regulations and standards for environmental protection. We deal responsibly and conserve natural resources and energy. The full life cycle of products and services from use to disposal and recycling is a particular focus of the business activities in the Rhenus Group. The monitoring is carried out by strategic and operational indicators as well as location related key figures, which are evaluated by the management board on the annual management review. Environmental protection is a management task, supervisors have role models. With these principles of environmental policy, employees are obliged to act in an environmentally responsible manner.

  • COMPLIANCE WITH ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS
    We comply with all applicable environmental laws an regulations of the countries in which we operate.
  • ENVIRONMENTAL TARGETS
    We define and monitor strategic and operational environmental and energy targets.
  • CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
    We plan and implement environmental programs and regularly audit our environmental management systems.
  • PUBLIC INFORMATION
    By factual information we create trust among the public and among our customers.
  • BEST AVAILABLE STATE OF THE ART
    We want to avoid environmental damage in all operating conditions. As far as economically feasible, we use the best available technology.
  • TRAINING OF EMPLOYEES
    We promote the environmental awareness of the employees at all levels through training.
  • ACCIDENT PREVENTION
    We communicate environmental issues, potential risks and contingency plans to employees and possibly public interest groups.
  • CONTRACTING PARTNER
    External companies operating at our locations are informed about our environmental policy and incorporated into our activities.
  • CAREFUL USE OF RESOURCES
    We use energy efficiently and economically. Through technical and organizational measures, we minimize the incidence of residues, waste, polluting emissions and wastewater.    

For the Rhenus Group, information security means making the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information a strategic success factor in order to demonstrate the trust that our customers, our business partners and the general public place in us for all to see.

In accordance with the internationally recognised ISO/IEC 27001 standard, our information security management system (ISMS) ensures that risks are identified and assessed and that measures to ensure information security are planned, implemented and monitored.

Our sites that deliver services to customers from the automotive industry are certified according to VDA 6.2.

VDA 6.2 is aimed at service providers in the automotive industry, both internally (development, logistics, purchasing, etc.) and externally (developers, prototype manufacturers, logistics firms, etc.).

Service processes are generally subject to different criteria than those required for production processes. In the case of service processes, the focus is on intangible services. The provision and rendering of a service form a single unit.

By implementing the requirements of VDA 6.2, we are able to fulfil essential requirements of our customers in the automotive industry.

According to the definition in the "Principles of GLP" set out by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), good laboratory practice (GLP) is "a quality system concerned with the organisational process and the conditions under which non-clinical health and environmental safety studies are planned, performed, monitored, recorded, archived and reported".

Our sites certified according to this standard thereby ensure that all audit data is entered correctly and completely in audit reports which are presented to the authorities, and so can provide their customers from the pharmaceutical industry with evidence of a quality assurance system for health and environmental safety studies.

Good manufacturing practice (GMP) means quality assurance of production procedures and production environments, during the production of medical products and ingredients, on the one hand, and of foodstuffs and animal feed, on the other.

Particularly for customers from the pharmaceutical industry, quality assurance plays a key role because any quality variation can have a direct impact on consumer health.

Relevant sites of our company are certified according to GMP and have set up a GMP-compliant quality management system in order to guarantee optimum quality and meet the requirements of the public health authorities.

HACCP stands for hazard analysis and critical control points.

The purpose of this concept is to identify, assess and control significant hazards caused by foodstuffs.

Thanks to their certification in accordance with HACCP, our sites whose customers come from the food industry document all HACCP analyses that are carried out in full.

IFS, which stands for International Food Standard, is a concept which combines the requirements of ISO 9001 with those of the HACCP analysis to create an integrated system. This means that the IFS Logistics standard is specifically tailored to the services of the logistics industry and focuses primarily on food safety.

The IFS Logistics standard also helps to promote transparency throughout the entire supply chain from industry to retailer, and takes a risk-orientated approach.

The safety quality and assessment system (SQAS) provides a tool for the uniform assessment of a logistics service provider’s quality, safety and environment management systems. For this purpose, independent assessors are employed, and a standardised questionnaire is used.

Successfully passing an SQAS audit is an indicator of our constant efforts to make our firm’s logistics solutions safer and more environmentally friendly.

The system gives us direct, useful feedback on the strengths and weaknesses identified during the assessment. Moreover, we can give specific feedback to the customer upon evaluating the assessment results. In this way, the groundwork for a genuine partnership is laid down or reinforced, to the mutual benefit of both parties.

All German-based sites of the Rhenus Group comply with the requirements of the Energy Services Act (EDLG) and are certified in accordance with DIN EN ISO 50001 or have an energy audit carried out in accordance with DIN EN 16247.

In addition, some foreign sites that belong to the previous certification matrix for other standards will also be included.

An energy management system promotes the sustainable protection of the environment and the conservation of our resources. It is important to ensure that we continuously improve the energy efficiency of our operations at all branches and make them more sustainable in order to fulfil our duty to future generations.

The Rhenus Group undertakes to improve energy-related services on an ongoing basis.

The nature and scope of energy used and consumed at the sites should be appropriate.

All information and resources needed to achieve strategic and operational targets should be available.

Furthermore, the Rhenus Group undertakes to comply with all applicable legal regulations and other requirements agreed by the organisation with regard to energy usage, energy consumption and energy efficiency.

Strategic and operational energy targets are defined and reviewed in the energy management system. These are based on the following targets:

  • Increase energy efficiency
  • Reduce CO2 load
  • Increase competitiveness through cost savings

We support the purchase of energy-efficient products and services that are designed to improve energy performance.

The "Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act" (which is in regard to the placement of electrical and electronic equipment on the market, as well as the collection and disposal of said equipment, as of 20 October 2015) aims to implement manufacturers’ product responsibility for electrical and electronic equipment under waste law.

This pursues the following objectives:

  • Protection of health and the environment against harmful substances from electrical and electronic equipment
  • Reduction of waste quantities through reuse or recycling

Here, too, the Rhenus Group is aware of its responsibility. Certification according to the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act is being developed and rolled out on an ongoing basis.