PROCUREMENT
What is Gartner ’ s best strategy for responsible sourcing ?
34
Cossio : “ A 2019 Gartner survey of 260 supply chain professionals found that 75 % of companies have a responsible sourcing program in place . Unfortunately , many of these organizations take a passive approach and limit their efforts to deploying a supplier code of conduct and hoping suppliers take action . Companies looking to adopt this key initiative should work on the following :
• Define the focus of the program . Based on a materiality assessment , will you focus on multiple issues or specific ones ( such as palm oil )?
• Determine governance . Do you have the resources to run this in-house or will you outsource to a third party ?
• Set an objective . What are your goals ? Ensure compliance to minimum regulatory requirements or aim to meet / exceed industry standards ?
• Identify supplier risk exposure . Avoid focusing on spend . Instead , focus on risk exposure based on materials / services sourced and geographies where your suppliers are located .
• Establish a remediation process . Define an escalation path and actions that the organisation will take whenever findings in the supply base occur . Ensure sourcing decisions incorporate sustainability factors defined in your program .
Rather than starting from scratch , supply chain leaders should leverage information provided by industry associations such as the Responsible Business Foundation to determine focus areas relevant to their industry and pre-defined supplier audits to simplify the process .”
JULY 2020