With the mounting scrutiny around supply chain transparency, companies are faced with the need to develop stronger relationships with suppliers.

Transparency protects company reputation by providing greater visibility to supply chain practices. Today, relationships with tier 1 suppliers are not enough. Companies must have visibility deeper in their supply chains.

Transparency means companies know where their products are made and by whom.

Working in a transparent way implies openness, communication and accountability across supply chains and with the public.

Here are five steps towards transparent supply chains outlined in the Fashion Transparency Index. I think these steps are applicable to any industry.

Develop a policy

Identify standards and set goals for the protection of workers and the environment across the supply chain. Once established, a company must decide if these policies and commitments should be made public. Publishing on company websites and posting in facilities is a good start.

Track and trace

Getting better visibility of supply chains is a critical next step. Companies should consider what kind of relationships and business agreements exist between them and their supplier. Once known, the company must decide what information to make public. Publishing a list of manufacturers with name and address is a good start.

Initiate audits and remediation

Establish procedures to check and ensure supply chains are meeting compliance with policies, international standards and local laws. Implement factory audits with a third party organization or other means. A company must decide how to work with suppliers that fail to meet these obligations, which may include remediation or a zero tolerance program for certain failures. Finally, it must decide how much information to make public about these activities.

Engage and collaborate

There are many benefits of working with partners to tackle social and environmental issues in supply chains. Developing a strategy that includes how, and to what extent, a company works with multi-stakeholder initiatives, NGOs, unions and civil society is a critical step in improving supply chain transparency. Again, the company must decide which activities to publish.

Develop a governance structure

Finally, a company must establish checks and balances and responsibility for ensuring initiatives identified in the policy are implemented. Usually this will include a person or department responsible for implementation. It should also include what information regarding governance is publicly available.

Impact to your business

Questions to Consider:

• Does your company know its supply chain?
• Does your company publish policies and supply chain information?

For help with any issue associated with chemicals, contact Amanda Cattermole at (415) 412 8406 or Amanda@cattermoleconsulting.com. We can help you develop powerful solutions to protect your company and brand reputation that result in safer products manufactured in cleaner supply chains.

Tips and Insights contains information to help you make informed chemicals management decisions. Each post highlights a particular topic and includes questions for you to consider .