Greenstone works with its clients, across a variety of different sectors and industries, to build long-term supplier management processes that address and reduce risk, both now and in the future.
The below case study summarises how our client, one of the world’s largest banks, has transformed its supplier risk management through the use of Greenstone's supply chain sustainability software solution SupplierPortal.
The client
Greenstone’s client is one of the world’s largest banks and financial services organisations, operating in over 80 countries. It provides personal, private and commercial banking services as well as corporate and investment banking.
The challenge
The biggest challenge facing the bank was understanding and addressing the ethical risks that result from having a large global supply chain. The bank carried out due diligence on suppliers at the point of a contract and had a mandatory supplier code of conduct in place. However, compliance was not monitored throughout the period of the contract and there was no targeted approach whereby specific risks are addressed with appropriate suppliers.
The financial sector as a whole has increasing regulatory requirements to operate responsibly, but this bank was also faced with far greater expectations and pressure from customers, employees, investors, clients and other stakeholders.
Therefore, the aim was to introduce a centralised platform for the risk assessment, risk reduction and ongoing management of suppliers. This would enable the bank to perform detailed due diligence – in more depth than just the code of conduct - and to carry out the supplier review process efficiently at scale.
The solution
Greenstone worked with the bank to update its supplier ethical code of conduct to ensure its continued relevance and to introduce the requirement for evidence documents where appropriate. The aim is to align the bank with current best practices, push suppliers beyond a tick box exercise, and create the granularity of information that can inform a robust risk assessment.
Multiple bespoke questionnaires were then uploaded into Greenstone’s SupplierPortal, supply chain sustainability software, and then automatically distributed to the relevant suppliers according to geography and service category.
Supplier responses were assessed against pre-defined criteria using the automated assessment tools in the supplier portal, such as scorecards to generate performance scores.
In particular, flags were used to identify high-risk responses, with the corresponding suppliers placed into the risk management area in order to manage the remediation process. All high-risk suppliers were sent an action plan, with associated deadlines, through SupplierPortal, Greenstone's supply chain sustainability software solution. Suppliers and the bank communicated directly around these actions until the risks were brought to a satisfactory conclusion and signed off.
The results
SupplierPortal, Greenstone's supply chain sustainability software solution now provides the bank with a central system for reviewing new and existing suppliers and managing supplier compliance on an ongoing basis. It is a requirement for all of the bank’s suppliers to complete the process and set the standard expected in relation to ethical practices.
The analysis tools provide immediate email notification of non-compliances enabling the bank to deal with exceptions, which has unlocked the bank’s ability to address supplier risk at scale. Scoring of suppliers also ensures that year on year improvements are made and minimum performance thresholds met.
Greenstone enables you to engage your suppliers through its award-winning supply chain sustainability software and support services. SupplierPortal is a supply chain management software solution providing your business with transparency and compliance across your entire supplier network.
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