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Pressure is mounting on original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to re-examine their supply chains in an effort to stop procuring tin from Bangka Island, Indonesia. Questions about the use of Indonesian tin comes in the wake of recent research that suggests dangerous tin mining practices have caused deaths and environmental devastation on the island.
Concern over tin mining in Indonesia has been raised to a higher level in recent months in part due to the publication of a report from Friends of the Earth (FOE), an international environmental network charged with highlighting environmental issues around the world. Based on a six-month investigation of the impact of tin mining on Indonesia's Bangka and neighboring Belitung islands, the organization published late last year a report entitled “Mining for Smartphones: the true cost of tin.”
Tin is used for solder, which in turn is used to join together component parts in mobile phones, tablets, and other computer products. According to the FOE report, there are several middle companies in the electronics supply chain such as PT Timah, Shenmao Technology, and Chernan Metal Industrial that use substantial quantities of Indonesian tin, which are distributed to Samsung Electronics and Foxconn Technology Group.
Businessweek noted that Shenmao claims it's the dominant supplier of solder to China, the world's electronics manufacturing hub, accounting for 16 percent of the global market. The article went on to say that Chernan has several clients, including Sony, Panasonic, Samsung Electronics, and LG Electronics.
As poor mining practices continue to wreak havoc on the people of Indonesia, the electronics industry should expect to receive harsher criticism from environmental organizations, human rights groups, and others, which threaten to undermine the industry's claims of social responsibility. In the FOE's report, the key findings revealed:
Dangerous and unregulated tin mining. Police figures show that in 2011, an average of one miner a week died in an accident. Reports of child labor in the unofficial mines are common. Coral and sea life is being threatened. Silt from tin mining is killing coral reefs and sea grass eaten by turtles, driving away fish and ruining fishermen's livelihoods. Farmland and forests are being destroyed. Farmers struggle to grow crops in soil left acidic after the destruction of forests for tin mining.
In the wake of the FOE report, several smartphone manufacturers have publicly addressed the issue. Here are extracted statements that indicate the level of seriousness with which companies view this problem, but in some cases also highlight the challenges of finding the original source of the metal within a global supply chain network:
Apple: Bangka Island, Indonesia, is one of the world's principal tin-producing regions. Recent concerns about the illegal mining of tin from this region prompted Apple to lead a fact-finding visit to learn more. Using the information we've gathered, Apple initiated an EICC working group focused on this issue, and we are helping to fund a new study on mining in the region so we can better understand the situation.
Samsung: While we do not have a direct relationship with tin suppliers from Bangka Island, we do know that some of the tin that we use for manufacturing our products does originate from this area, which sources much of the electronics industry.
BlackBerry: The Indonesian tin mining industry is an important part of BlackBerry's supply chain. We have confirmed this through our responsible sourcing due diligence activities. We are very concerned about the reported environmental and health risks associated with the industry and are actively engaged in a multi-stakeholder effort to better our collective understanding of the situation and identify opportunities to influence the improvement of conditions for the people of Indonesia.
Sony: Sony Mobile does not directly source tin from any supplier in Bangka Island, but we found that some of Sony Mobile's part or material suppliers that are based outside Bangka Island had used tin originated from Bangka Island to make parts or material for use in mobile phones.
LG Electronics: We can confirm that we do not directly source any products from Bangka, but our investigations have revealed that some of the tin used by our third-party suppliers may come from this region. We already have a code of conduct in place, which states that our suppliers must not use materials obtained through any illegal form of mining and we are reviewing our sourcing policy in light of these claims.
Motorola: Motorola Mobility recognizes that suppliers in our global supply chain may potentially use Bangka tin. As a result, we are working diligently with our suppliers to confirm the country of origin of tin used to produce our components.
Nokia: The presence of Indonesian tin in our supply chain procedures or ultimately in our products is likely… We cannot rule out the possibility that tin mined at Bangka-Belitung may be in our supply chain.
While the majority of these companies say they are working with the Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) to formulate constructive steps to address the issue, companies need to be reminded of their social responsibility. It is not in their interest to be associated with the manufacture of products that contributes to worker deaths, child labor, or forest destruction.
It will be interesting to see how companies adjust their supply chains as they wring Indonesian tin out of their production process. You can bet we'll be watching.
I love that companies are looking into these situations, however simply getting out doesn't actually help the people of Indonesia whose livelihoods revolve around mining tin. What we need more so than companies eager to save face by distancing themselves from problem spots is companies who can come alongside local governments to establish relationships with local companies that are doing things in a sustainable and safe manner. This way the people of Indonesia who mine tin for a living can do so for legitimate corporations not illegal ones.
How this actually plays out in the real world and not on paper, that's above my pay grade.
@RyanL, i sympathize with you… it's above my paygrade too. I know that in many instances things don't play out the way we expect, that when we try to make things better it can have unexpected consequences. Awareness, though, is a great first step… i know asking the questions is at least as important as knowing the answers.
Very true. One step at a time to a better world. 🙂
RyanL:
It is indeed a good sign when companies start considering such factors. However, I am not sure if these concerns are only to be blogged about or will necessary preventive measures be taken to ensure such minerals do not penetrate into their supply chain?
There are quite few innovations helping manknid. Engineered organ and many more.
There are a lot of innovations in medicine. Look how quickly we can sequence the genome for example. However when I think of Apple I do fear innovation is dead.
@flyingscot, mediciine and the technology of mediciine are good bets for innovation. I would add manufacturing with teh 3D and 4D pringing, as well as robotics to the list. Maybe these can be argued to be evolutionary but i think they will change the face of the electroncis supply chain in many ways.
Innovation is natural phenomena. You can not plan for it. You can strive to solve some problem, and you come across innovation.
Innovation can never be dead.
True plus it should not be allowed to die. The world of technology evolves between innovations. As long as the mind works, innovation or innovative ideas will not die.
I do not konw, but some people needs innovation every few months! How can this be possible? Team of people must work hard, may be sometime few generations to innovate something. This sohuld be made very clear to people for innovation.
You can not have cold fusion planned in few months.
@Brian can't be beer. Sliced bread came after that, and you know how people always say, “the greatest thing since sliced bread.”
I know that internet is not new but in last decade it has changed the way we talk or think. I am talking about data and its usage. There is bound to have a lot of innovation happening around it.
I think in terms of industrial revolution, there has not been too much going on in the hardware sector except the display devices or maybe medical equipments. I sometime think that war bring the best out of people but that is sadistic thinking.
Ariella, Brian
I don't even consider beer to be something of importance to be celebrated as innovation. It doesn't kill? Maybe it doesn't kill directly, or fast. I would argue the “doesn't kill” part.
Sliced bread is useful, and doesn't have any negative effect.
-Susan
Himanshu,
“I sometime think that war bring the best out of people but that is sadistic thinking.”
In terms of what? :/
-Susan
Having policies in place is a critical first step. However, putting teeth into those policies is critical. Also good communication. Through the whole supply chain, every company needs to know what the policy is, what will happen if the policy isn't followed and then there has to be proactive checking and implementation of consequences in the partners who are found out of compliance. Anything less really won't move the bar on this issue.
@HM, I agree…good work takes time. The intense pressure to innovate can lead to marketing hype, pre-announcing products, and poor implementation. We should strive for true innovation–and give it a bit more space and time than the market does presently.
@Ariella, I don't know if i'd call sliced bread an innovation-but perhaps an important point. Maybe real innovation is actually like sliced bread, moving the ball forward by improving what exists. New stuff is good, but improvement of old stuff is good too.
@-hm, I agree with you on that, innovation will forever keep evolving as long as this earth remains
It is not a bad thing to improve the existing innovations to make them more efficient and user-friendly. If we can have faster jets, so be it. But what about building more secure and energy efficient engines, first ?
But for economies to really expand, we need a step-function leap in innovation and none is on the horizon, unless we're missing something.
@Brian, thanks for the post. I agree with McDaniel's comment that we need step-function lead in innovation. I believe nano-technology and 3D printing will be considered as next big innovation because we still haven't used them to their full potential.
Innovation is natural phenomena. You can not plan for it.
@_hm, I totally agree with you that innovation can not be planned. We never know when the next eureka moment will happen all we can do is continue with the research.
@tirlapur: Yes indeed since without innovation there will be no future for anything. The definition of the word future has a part included which covers innovation.
@kayode: Yes indeed and as long as innovation and the innovative mind is working properly the technology will be there to back us all.
@trilapur: Yes you cannot plan it but can predict it.
@Hailey: Its with the improvements that you figure out the possibilities for innovation. So improvements are vital.
I believe that making the policies is the most difficult part. Implementation runs second. Although, communication is pretty important too. Sometimes the policies are there but they aren't well communicated. Hence, negligence occurs.
Research is probably what drives innovation. Innovation cannot be done out of the blue I assume. One has to invest in research and development only then we will reap the fruits of innovation.
Do think technology enables innovation? I think the these days technology drives innovation as research and development is being done using the most sophisticated tools.
“Do think technology enables innovation? I think the these days technology drives innovation as research and development is being done using the most sophisticated tools. “
@syedzunair: I don't think innovation can really take place without technology. Innovation cannot occur in the air. It has to be based on an existing innovation (the latter now comes to be known as technology after it's mature). Taking the example the author put, the reason that made it possible to make beer was the technology that allowed it to be fermented.
I think the answer to the question whether innovation is dead or not depends on how you define innovation. For me innovation is anything that is a novel solution to an existing problem. It doesn't have to be hi fi or very sophisticated – as long as it's new and creative, it counts as innovation. Hence, I see lots of innovations happening around me everyday.
I agree that you can't force people to innovate. I worked at a company from 2000 to 2010 that tried to mandate innovation, and it was very difficult. It is definitel possible to encourage innovation and create an environment that makes it easier. I think the recession has made a lot of companies very lean and understaffed. That leads to overworked employees who are unable to innovate and be creative, in my experience.
@Syedzunair
I agree that making the policies is the hardest part, coming up with the actual language that attempts to filter all the possibilities into place is difficult. Especially with a now global supply chain where different places still hold to different legal structures. Hopefully in crafting good policies we can encourage implementation and communication. Hopefully we can also ensure proper integration into the systems that need to be changed rather than simple avoidance of them.
TIRLAPUR,
There is no end to research and as long as research keeps rolling, innovations will keep coming up.
I,m so sure some aspect of our daily activities where we think innovation is dead is just waiting for another discovery(s)
@Syedzunair,
I agree with you on that. Research is the means by which innovations are discovered and as you rightly said, investment into research will alsways lead to new discoveries.
@Syedzunair,
I think they both enable and enhance one another.
@syedzunair, research certainly moves innovation forward, but first there has to be that first creative out of the box idea. Maybe it comes from disappointment or diffiuclty. Someone encounteres a problem and says, this can be done better.
@sfogarty, certainly overworkedness doesn't yield innovation. At one software company i spoke with they have regular days every month where the engineers are encouraged to work on tehir own pursuits, own development projects that might turn into something. certainly that doesn't happen in the type of organizatoin you describe! That's different than enforced innovation. Nothign is worse than “You will innovate, or else!”
@RyanL and @Syedzunair, i'd put creating policies and communication together. To create a clealry articulated policy that both covers all the contingencies and possibliites but isn't overburdened with language is incredibly difficult.
@Hailey Agreed, if the communication isn't there during the policy making process then how can we expect smooth implimentation?
RyanL
Let me applaud you for thinking about the tin miners of Indonesia. The truth is that electronics companies need tin and Indonesia has it in abundance. The evidence shows that dangerous mining practices exist. While this presents challenges to electronics companies, it also offers them an opportunity to work with the government, NGO's etc. to improve working conditions at the mines. Wouldn't that be a better way forward? It's a very constructive idea to improve the working conditions at the mines, raise labor wages so that miners can take care of their families and consumer electronics companies can still get the tin they need. You may find that eventually tin miners are in a position to buy mobile devices, computers and other technology. That's a better way forward.
syedzunair
If we compare working conditions in the 20 th century versus the 19 th , we can conclude that in Europe, North American and other parts of the world workers benefited because laws were enacted that improved working conditions. Minimum wage laws, laws to enforce safe working conditions, and the abolition of child labor are some of the policies that already exist elsewhere. The electronics industry should be pushing for the Indonesian tin mining industry to adopt these policies which is a better way to help the tin miners rather than boycotting Indonesian tin altogether.