The network a business selects could have a profound effect on overall success. It therefore makes commercial – as well as legal – sense to practice due diligence when it comes to selecting and assessing suppliers. Doing so can protect a business from unforeseen costs, penalties and reputational damage. And careful monitoring of suppliers has never been more important than right now: consumers, partners and stakeholders are increasingly demanding transparency right across the supply chain. They want to know that you are operating safely, ethically and sustainably. It’s part of the reason supply chain management is so closely linked to performance – outstanding performers are 250% more likely to have a fully visible and transparent supply chain, when compared with their peers[1].
At Altius, we use tailored assessments and compliance audits to help businesses more effectively manage and monitor their supply chain. In busy, time-pressured environments it can be all too tempting to cut corners, especially when relying on outdated, manual processes. But cutting corners is never the right thing to do for your business when it comes to quality or compliance. Our systems are designed to help you build a high quality, compliant supplier network from thousands of audited businesses, without the need for time consuming, resource-heavy processes.
Here are three reasons why supply chain management is easier when you use the Altius Assure Service:
Every supplier in the Altius network goes through a thorough assessment process. From this, we are able to provide tailored supplier interrogations which set criteria according to your unique requirements and risks. This often means savings on time and costs, as each supplier is only assessed against the requirements applicable to their business activity, and nothing else. Our ability to tailor assessments based on your specific needs sets us apart – most other schemes will use a generic assessment for every supplier.
Not only do we conduct in-depth assessment of every supplier in our network, we also proactively contact your suppliers on your behalf when certifications are due to expire and work with them to drive continuous improvements. When it comes to documentation, our expert auditors can check policy clauses to be sure they meet your exact needs, vet insurance exclusions and analyse safety method statements. We keep ahead of compliance to give you complete peace of mind that you’re only ever working with partners that are compliant within your specific criteria – and the audit trail to go with it.
The Altius software platform gives you access to thousands of suppliers, including large multinationals and SMEs. This provides you with the full range of skills and disciplines you need, whilst also giving you an opportunity to better support local communities through the use of smaller suppliers. We’ll also support you to ensure you can leverage the true value of our platform. Our software has been built with agility and flexibility in mind, meaning it can be customised to your exact specification, even where this means assigning different criteria to different business divisions or territories.
One of the major benefits of Altius Assure is the valuable operational time it can save for businesses whose own internal processes may be robust but unnecessarily time consuming. This was true for facilities management client MML. With large retail clients including John Lewis and Waitrose, MML needed to carefully manage supplier capability and compliance, only selecting suppliers in good commercial health. Their existing systems were thorough but utilised a number of different databases, making robust supply chain management confusing and inefficient. We worked closely with MML to create a tailored assessment platform based on our Altius Assure assessment, and managed the process of transferring contractors to the new system. We continue to assist them with the monitoring of their supply chain and our large network also means that we are able to help MML identify suppliers in any areas where they have gaps. You can read the full case study here.
We’re here to lighten the load of supply chain management and will work closely with you to build a solution that’s perfectly tailored to your needs. We work across a number of industries including retail, facilities management, transport, manufacturing and hospitality – helping clients reduce risk, cut costs and save time in managing their supply chains – because we believe that a successful and safe supply chain benefits everyone.
To find out more about how Altius can help your business, why not get in touch today?
[1] https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/operations/articles/chief-procurement-officer-survey.html
