Assurance without complexity

There are many potential areas of risk to a business – health and safety, environment, global increases in forced labour and a growing focus on anti-bribery and corruption. Exposure to any of these issues can have devastating consequences for business. Balancing the need to manage supplier-related costs and risks, while ensuring compliance throughout your supply chain, presents many challenges.

Data quality powers our solutions. We validate information through our support teams, qualified assessors and via specialist third-party data feeds. Approximately 300 support staff and auditors complete more than 500,000 supplier pre-qualification questionnaire validations and over 6,000 on-site audits globally every year.

We use 4 key assessment stages to capture information and qualify suppliers in line with your company or industry risk model, the on location audit provides the most rigorous level of assurance:

• Supplier Registration
• Industry Pre-qualification Questionnaires
• Specialist Pre-qualification Questionnaires
• Audits

Reduced risk, stronger relationships

Our audits, which are fully integrated with a market leading supplier pre-qualification service, can be either 1 or 2 days depending on the breadth of the assessment. This end-to-end solution enables businesses across the globe to mitigate supplier risks, measure and track supplier compliance – either as a complement to existing in-house audit resource or a cost-effective alternative. Our auditors have industry experience and detailed knowledge of relevant legislation and have completed training validated by the IRCA (International Register of Certified Auditors). With one in seven suppliers failing their first audit, we have used this insight to develop a range of tools and information to help suppliers prepare, improve and demonstrate best practice through every stage of the audit process – from scheduling through to follow-up actions.

* Achilles Audit Performance Report 2016

Enhanced validation through audit

The scope of our audit programmes covers an assessment of the supplier’s organisational management systems covering key supply chain risk areas including:

• Quality
• Health Safety
• Environmental Sustainability / CSR
• Carbon Management

We review the documented policies and processes suppliers maintain and check that these are operationally adhered to. We then report “pass/fail” events with corrective actions (and follow-up) or as scored models, depending upon a buyer’s requirements. The audit reports, once approved, are published online for authorised buyers and suppliers to view. The existence of an audit can also be used as a criteria to filter or refine search results.

Typically audit reports contain the following information:

• Executive summary
• Scores / status for each section / area
• Findings: Major and minor non-compliance and non-conformance
• Observations
• Positive elements
• Agreed company actions
• Detailed scores, response and evidence

 Why us?

As the connection between thousands of suppliers and buyers, we have huge amounts of experience of the auditing process – and the headaches it can cause – from both sides. Using this experience, we’ve created a process that is both standardised and specialised. While our methods are tailored to every industry and geography we work in, by creating communities with agreed protocols, we reduce the effort it takes to prove compliance.

We develop and deliver our audits with scope and protocols tailored to the specific requirements of our buyers and communities. These can cover industry standards, recognised best-practice or country-specific laws. We consult with community steering groups to refine and consolidate audit requirements, reducing the pre-qualification burden for suppliers. We support buyers by unifying industry standards and increasing supplier participation rates.