Build resilient and sustainable supply chains

The complexity of global supply chains has created a multitude of challenges and ‘blind spots’, where organisations need to think in terms of both long-recognised risks and potential threats.

Having the ability to monitor and track crucial areas like compliance with modern slavery and forced labour legislation, carbon footprint, or safeguarding workers’ health and wellbeing, means businesses can make more intelligently informed decisions, identify risks and take action where there are concerns. 

With outsourcing to third parties a go-to solution for organisations across a variety of industries, contractor management is fast becoming a significantly more strategic role when it comes to building resilient and sustainable supply chains.

To make sure that your organisation only works with contractors who can do the job safely, ethically and in compliance with relevant legislation, there are a lot of factors to take into consideration. At its simplest, it’s all about quality control. You should ideally assess safety statistics, regulatory compliance, past performance and reputation as well as any necessary insurance and training requirements. 

It’s vital that businesses recognise the common challenges in contractor management so that they can:

• Be prepared for a more rigorous legal landscape that demands more than ever before

• Source and onboard contractors who can do the job safely and without risk for peace of mind that they’re a good fit for the job

• Pre-qualify contractors to assess for potential risks and to demonstrate their legal compliance and capabilities across a range of business-critical areas like financial stability, health and safety, modern slavery and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)

• Gain real-time visibility of information and a single view using technology which replaces inaccuracies as a result of paper-based and manual systems

• Implement risk and audit assessments to satisfy themselves that they’ve identified all workplace risks and taken appropriate action to mitigate them

To identify potential issues earlier and address them before it is too late, policies, codes of conduct, processes, controls, assessments and audits should be core to managing contractor relationships. Digital technologies also have the potential to verify the compliance of contractors and suppliers and provide insight through reporting, analytics and visibility into all stages of work with contractors.

From sourcing, procuring, and contracting through to the ongoing work provided by contractors, organisations need to assure themselves that they:

• Have clear visibility of all contractors in the supply chain

• Gain evidence that they comply with the relevant regulatory and legal requirements, or at a minimum meet best practice standards

• Routinely monitor the health and safety of contractors 

• Regularly assess the operational, ethical, and financial risk of contractors 

Monitoring who you outsource to is only going to become significantly more important to ensure resilience, long-term growth and to meet evolving regulatory obligations.

Download Alcumus' latest guide, ‘Building A Resilient Supply Chain, The Value of Contractor Management’ here for more insight.

For more information, visit alcumus.com