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It’s important to have effective and robust controls for the appointment and management of suppliers, particularly for those that provide their services at a distance from their customer. These controls have become even more important following the Covid pandemic which has reduced the number of face-to-face meetings and increased the likelihood of remote suppliers working in isolation from their customers for protracted periods, and in some cases for the entire duration of a project. Organisations should periodically audit their suppliers as part of their ongoing supplier management processes. Some issues that need to be addressed include:

• • Have checks been made to make sure the supplier has the skills, experience and resources to satisfactorily perform its expected services?
  • Has the supplier agreement’s commercial model recently been benchmarked against prevailing market norms?
  • Do any of the suppliers’ owners, directors or key management have any relationship with a Political Party or Public Official?

These and other pertinent questions need to be asked in order to help you evaluate the efficiency and stability of suppliers and thereby reduce the risks to your own operation.

Let Crescus help you develop thorough supplier audit processes that will bolster the adoption of quality standards throughout the whole supply chain. Your own customers will be supportive of this.