Supplier Engagement

Suppliers play a crucial role in the success of any organization’s regulatory compliance program. Manufacturers need to make a significant effort to collect compliance documents from suppliers worldwide using a structured survey mechanism, and that is not an easy task. The major barriers in compliance document collection are not limited to geography but also language, time zone, understanding of compliance requirements and documentation standards.

A good Supplier Engagement system is essential for a compliance program, and ensures you increase coverage of suppliers and maximize submissions of required documents by suppliers. As documentation requirements vary for different regulations like RoHS, REACH, Prop 65, Conflict Minerals, IMDS, etc., it is also important to ensure that Suppliers understand what is being expected from them.

>ComplianceXL can transform your compliance program, by delivering a well-structured supplier engagement solution, covering all key elements crucial for success. Right from defining supplier documentation requirements and training for suppliers, ComplianceXL’s support also covers surveying suppliers to solicit the required documentation. The solicitation also involves contacting suppliers directly via phone and email, to explain the requirement, clarify questions they may have and to be proactive with follow-up to maximize response rates.

What are the Supplier’s challenges?

Many organizations assume that the suppliers have readymade data such as Full Material Disclosures, Certificate of Compliance, or any other compliance documents. But very often, that is not the case, as several suppliers may not have dealt with compliance ever in the past. We have seen that many suppliers struggle with issues such as:

• Insufficient knowledge of compliance requirements and obligations
• Lack of understanding of what is expected by a Client
• Inadequate resources or expertise to create compliance documentation
• Absence of a unified platform to provide the necessary data on-demand

Ways to engage your suppliers:

• Educate suppliers on the global compliance scenario: Most suppliers are unaware of the regulations they are being asked to comply with, their requirements, procedures, and deadlines. Our training programs are designed to ensure the compliance know-how is shared with suppliers, thereby enabling compliance.
• Active engagement: The supplier engagement team at ComplianceXL takes a proactive approach, by contacting suppliers via email and telephone, to explain what is required, answer questions they may have and make sure they submit what is required. A collaborative approach in this engagement phase is greatly helpful in maximizing results.
• Multi-lingual, Multi-time zone: With a global supply base, it is important to ensure that you are able to engage with suppliers in other countries during their business hours, and if required in their local language. This goes a long way in ensuring a complete response.