Sustainability Report 2016 / 2017

Consumer Safety as per IFS HPC Two new and very ambitious certifications awarded in October 2014 add to the quality and safety standards at Werner & Mertz. Teams in Mainz and in Hallein (Austria) are proud to have passed the IFS HPC and IFS Broker audits with above-average results. The International Featured Standards Household and Personal Care (IFS HPC) is a standard for auditing quality and safety of retailer and wholesaler branded household and personal care products along the entire production chain. As part of the certification process the auditor checks whether the components in the quality and risk management system are documented, implemented and continuously improved. The objective of IFS Broker is to close the gap between manufacturing and sales. The process brings comparability and transparency within the entire supply chain. The standard assesses how dealers select their suppliers and whether they act in accordance with product safety and quality requirements. The process ensures that delivered goods comply with legal regulations and fulfill customer-specific requirements. As part of the audit, a practical traceability test for the end product was conducted. The auditors could select any product for which the following information had to be presented within four hours: where the end product was in the retail and wholesale markets, which supplier had delivered the raw materials and packaging and whether those items had been used for other products. Werner & Mertz managed to deliver the results in just 2.5 hours! In less than one year all the prerequisites for cer- tification had been met. Responsibilities and pro- cesses were newly defined and group-wide risk management was further developed. All our efforts along the entire line paid off. The steps we took within the scope of the IFS HPC and IFS Broker cer- tification result in greater safety for the consumer – and that’s exactly what we want to achieve. 83 Award-winning Engagement