Five Principles of Responsible Purchasing Practices
VISIBILITY
DEFINITION: Provide enough information about your planned business for suppliers to act.
A company following this principle:
- Provides suppliers with information about future business far enough in advance and in enough detail for the supplier to act
- Updates those forecasts on at least a monthly basis
STABILITY
DEFINITION: Give your suppliers steady and predictable business across the year.
A company following this principle:
- Plans an even volume of business across the year with its primary suppliers
- Provides longer-term plans for suppliers used more seasonally
- Avoids sharp increases and decreases in volume
- Issues orders consistently to fill the planned volume
TIME
Definition: Provide enough time for suppliers to complete all processes
A company following this principle:
- Provides enough time for suppliers to complete all pre-production and production processes in compliance to laws and code of conduct
- Sticks to the timeline and uses the time allocated as efficiently as possible
FINANCIALS
Definition: Use fair financial practices with suppliers
A company following this principle:
- Shares financial risks with their suppliers
- Avoids making unilateral decisions that negatively impact suppliers’ financials
SHARED RESPONSIBILITY
Definition: Play your part in improving supply chain social and environment sustainability
A company following this principle:
- Recognizes that achieving sustainability goals isn’t only the responsibility of suppliers and factories
- Make sure that everyone in the company is contributing to improved working conditions and environmental performance
