STRATEGIC SOURCING and enhancing the process on an ongoing basis ,” he says .
“ This practice of putting suppliers under the microscope , based on more than just their product costs , also means that business goals can be matched with the best possible suppliers in order to achieve them , creating high value at low cost .”
How Important is Strategic Sourcing to Sustainability Efforts ? “ I believe it ’ s extremely important .” says Stühler . “ In terms of driving sustainability and broader ESG goals , this can be very tightly defined in strategic sourcing activities .”
Regardless of how supplier sourcing is conducted – manually or using technology – organisations are increasingly taking into account what ’ s important to their overall
“ REGARDLESS OF HOW SUPPLIER SOURCING IS CONDUCTED – MANUALLY OR USING TECHNOLOGY – ORGANISATIONS ARE INCREASINGLY TAKING INTO ACCOUNT WHAT ’ S IMPORTANT TO THEIR OVERALL ESG OBJECTIVES – SUSTAINABILITY , DIVERSITY , RISK , ETC ”
GREGOR STÜHLER CO-FOUNDER AND CEO SCOUTBEE
ESG objectives – sustainability , diversity , risk , etc . They are paying more and more attention to ensuring that this is clearly communicated when scouting for , and selecting new suppliers , potentially going down to a very detailed level of shortlisting , awarding contracts , and weighting the evaluation of those awards with specific ESG and sustainability criteria .
“ Indeed ,” says Stühler , “ some public sector organisations are mandating a minimum percentage of total award criteria to ESG areas , such as social value .
“ Regarding the existing supplier base , it ’ s much more of a partnership approach I think , doubling down on existing relationships , becoming a customer of choice , and really sharing the overarching organisational goals and objectives .”
procurementmag . com 63