Our Business Partner Policy and Principles align with the UN's Global Compact principles on human rights, working conditions, environment, and anti-corruption. These principles are mandatory for all suppliers and integrated into contracts across the supply chain. Suppliers must sign and adhere to them alongside regular purchase agreements.
Our purchasing procedures prioritize transparency, fairness, and structure, creating value for our customers, society, and our company.
Our detailed Procurement Manual supports our Policy and Principles. Local procurement organizations, with the support of the Group Procurement Director and the Group procurement organization, ensure supplier compliance and assess performance.
Selected suppliers must meet total cost of ownership and sustainability criteria. Factors considered include price, delivery, logistics, quality, payment terms, warranty, availability, maintenance costs, lifetime, taxes, regulations, and past performance.
We conduct annual desk top screenings on new suppliers and utilize a third-party IT system for comprehensive supplier assessments. Long-term suppliers undergo reassessments every third year and regular benchmarking for competitiveness. Additionally, we perform an annual bulk sanction screening for external suppliers, excluding recently assessed ones. We have identified sector-specific risks in cleaning, construction, and commodity-specific risk in solar panels.
Starting in 2023, a digital tool will rate suppliers' responses, including their stance on ESG topics.
Annual key supplier meetings address performance, compliance, sustainability, and cooperation. Material supplier audits involve stakeholders and ensure adherence to Business Partner Principles. Inspections focus on suspected non-compliance and prioritize corrective actions, with incidents reported and escalated as necessary.
Supplier training and awareness initiatives are implemented, with a focus on risk-based selection.
Read our Business Partner Principles here.
Our Business Partner framework incorporates our Business Partner Policy, Code of Conduct, Anti-Corruption Policy, and Sustainability Policy.