The single most challenging task for the companies ensuring compliance to conflict minerals rule is getting accurate and complete information from their suppliers. (Click here to read part 1 of the series)

So how can organizations check compliance with the rule?

As highlighted in the PWC survey, organizations have large numbers of suppliers spread across the globe. Determining if conflict minerals are being used by any of the supplier in your supply chain is a daunting task. This is where technology, to be precise – Supplier Management technology – can make the task easier.

Supplier Management technology can help organizations comply with the conflict minerals rule in the following ways:

• Supplier on-boarding & information management

The supplier portal makes the on-boarding process simple and less time-consuming.  It helps suppliers to upload the required documents, and for the buyer company to keep track of it by installing approval workflows. It also enables maintaining an audit trail to check compliance requirements.

Vast data is difficult to manage if not for technology. Supplier management technology enables categorizing supplier data and ensuring that it is centrally accessible. It helps organizations maintain a single version of truth.

• Supplier qualification

The sourcing team should be aware of unscrupulous suppliers entering the supply chain and providing minerals from conflict zones or substandard raw materials. Sourcing teams should have a predetermined screening process that every supplier registering on the supplier portal should go through.

Companies can have a questionnaire to judge the suppliers. Each question can be given a different weight depending on the project needs and complexity, and can be assigned a range of scores. Depending on the answers, the qualification score is calculated and, according to the benchmark set, the supplier is either qualified or disqualified.

In the next blog, last in the series we will discuss 2 more ways how technology can help organizations collect accurate and timely information from their suppliers.