Company Name and page strapline

Supply chain management

Our Code of Ethical Purchasing (CEP) sets out the standards we expect of suppliers. This covers issues including human rights, labour standards, environmental management, and bribery and corruption.

As part of the process to become a Vodafone supplier, new suppliers must go through a qualification process to identify, assess and reduce any potential risks we might face from doing business with them. The results determine whether Vodafone does business with the supplier (see box).

Once qualified, we continue to monitor compliance and promote improved performance through our supplier performance management system, focusing particularly on high-risk and strategic suppliers. Supplier scores have continually improved since the management system was introduced.

Supply chain flow diagram

Embedding sustainability in supplier management
All our procurement staff are required to complete annual refresher training as part of their personal objectives to make sure they understand the CEP and can communicate it effectively to suppliers. Procurement staff also complete annual training specifically on anti-corruption and competition law.

Our supplier performance managers are trained to identify non-compliances, such as unsafe working practices, whenever they are on site for other visits related to quality, delivery or performance.

Sustainability questions also make up 10% of the scorecard used to evaluate the overall performance of strategic global suppliers twice a year (see box). Scores are reviewed by our supply chain team who make recommendations and work with suppliers to put in place improvement plans that address any issues identified. Scorecard criteria are updated and strengthened on a regular basis to continuously raise standards and improve supplier performance.

Follow-up assessments or on-site audits are conducted where necessary to check improvements have been made as planned. See our Sustainability report [PDF] for information on recommendations for improvement made this year.

Supplier scorecard

Sustainability questions in the supplier scorecard cover:

  • Commitment to the CEP
  • Public reporting of their performance on labour, environment, and health and safety issues
  • Certification of environmental management systems to ISO 14001 or EMAS standards
  • Certification of labour management systems to SA8000 or equivalent standards
  • Certification of health and safety management systems to OHSAS 18001
  • Evidence that the supplier manages labour, environment, and health and safety issues in its own supply chain
  • Evidence that the supplier manages the risks and opportunities associated with climate change
  • Evidence of steps to manage and prevent bribery and corruption
  • Adoption of E-TASC, an industry tool to manage supply chain standards effectively and efficiently (see raising standards throughout the supply chain).