The Importance of Responsible Sourcing
Responsible sourcing is when a business proactively sources products and services ethically and sustainably, throughout each tier of their supply chain. At Sedex, we believe businesses can drive powerful, positive social and environmental impacts in global supply chains by sourcing responsibly.
Why is responsible sourcing important?
Consumers, investors and governments are now very aware of the global supply chains behind everyday goods and services. They are more likely than ever before to invest in, and push for, more sustainable goods and services. They’re also increasingly aware of the disruption that social and environmental issues in supply chains can cause.
So, they expect companies to actively manage these risks through more sustainable sourcing practices. Companies are expected to incorporate social, environmental and ethical practices in their business. This involves taking responsibility for the entire life cycle of products and protecting both workers and the environment during production processes.
Business benefits of responsible sourcing
In doing this, companies can also unlock significant benefits, including:
- A more resilient supply chain through supporting more robust communities, operations and operating environments.
- Protecting the business and operations from social and environmental risks.
- Complying with legislation on corporate sustainability and avoiding fines or other penalties under sustainable business laws.
- Attracting investors and preferential investment terms as fund managers seek out companies with good environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance.
To source responsibly across an entire supply chain, a business needs to understand all the suppliers and operations within it. With this visibility, they can work with suppliers at each stage of their supply chain to drive fair working conditions and environmentally friendly operations.
However, the complexity of today’s multi-tier, global supply chains makes this a huge challenge for companies. It’s difficult to map every part of a supply network to identify and understand all the sustainability risks that may affect a business.
For example, the whole supply chain for pineapple juice, a simple store item, could look like this:
Source responsibly with Sedex
Sedex’s solutions are designed to help companies overcome this challenge. Our technology Platform, data-led assessment tools and professional services empower sustainability risk management and responsible sourcing practices.
- Gather, store, analyse and report on sustainability-related information from a supply chain and manage supplier performance with our Sedex Platform.
- Identify and compare social and environmental risks across a global supply chain with our risk assessment tool.
- Join our Community network to learn from other businesses, share challenges and collaborate on solutions.
- For bespoke support, our Consulting team can build responsible sourcing programmes tailored to your business’s priorities and supply chain.
