Supply Chain Management

The Unipol Group’s impact on society is related not only to “production” processes, but also to the selection of suppliers assessed based on environmental and social aspects, considered material by the Group.

With a trade volume exceeding 500 million, we have taken on the important commitment, at a Group level, to focus our relationship with suppliers on the constant improvement of assessment methods with an emphasis on the quality of serviceIn light of this, we consider transparency, fairness and simplification crucial in our relationship with suppliers, in order to seize new business opportunities and prevent potential areas of risk. The ambition for 2018 is to monitor our supply chain by assessing the ESG performance of all main suppliers.

Supplier selection criteria and transparency

With the aim of managing the relationship with its suppliers in a transparent, fair and reliable manner, the Unipol Group has issued internal procedures that govern the use of the Supplier Portal, which allows on the one hand to survey and monitor suppliers regularly and accurately, and on the other to create a structured and transparent selection and assessment process.

Access to the Portal and enrolment in the Group Supplier Register – in addition to requiring the signature of value-related Group documents, the Charter of Values and the Code of Ethics – also requires compliance with legal standards and commitment to sustainability. The latter is proven by environmental certifications, the measurement of polluting emissions, the adoption of non-discriminatory corporate policies, the inclusion of diversity, reconciliation between work and private life and the management of worker health and safety, aimed at enhancing the sustainability policies already adopted by suppliers.

For Unipol, compliance with these principles is essential for supplier relationships in terms of the strict liability of the Unipol Group, also representing a commitment by suppliers to counter all forms of discrimination, to comply with the anti-corruption measures adopted and regulations on workplace safety and protection pursuant to current law and collective bargaining agreements, as well as to guarantee to the Group their compliance with the rules governing the assignment of activities to external companies/staff.  

Responsible purchasing

Supply chain responsibility, from appropriate management to controlling the relative risks, aims to achieve significant competitive advantages both in the short and long term.

The Group is working so that its partners, in addition to ensuring full compliance with the rights of employees and collaborators and managing their companies in a transparent and sustainable manner, operate to reduce their direct and indirect environmental impacts and offer a wide range of environmentally friendly products.

In order to strengthen control over the supply chain, internal policies have been prepared in cooperation with other corporate functions to optimise services and the use of goods required to pursue savings as well as ethical and environmental sustainability. In this context, the best supply practices of the entire Group have been shared with the aim of creating social, ethical, economic and environmental value, informing and supporting its partners in expanding their range of green products, currently representing around 30% of the total.