Day One, 9th November 2010

Keynote discussion

Engagement from the supplier perspective: Balancing the carrot and the stick

To really engage with your suppliers, you need to understand how they tick. You need insight into their challenges, their perspectives. You need to take their advice.

Produce World is the UK’s largest supplier of fresh produce, with a turnover of £250m. The company’s CEO will give insights on the challenges his company faces and what he believes to be the secrets to successful supplier-buyer relationships.

• Learn the most effective language to use when selling sustainability internally and with suppliers
• Hear about the best tried and tested approaches from bigger companies when engaging suppliers
• Understand what suppliers need from big brands to help them reach their targets more quickly and at lower cost.

• Produce World, William Burgess – CEO

Plenary discussion

How to get buy-in even when you're not your suppliers' biggest customer

When the world’s largest retailer says this to their suppliers: “If you do not meet these environmental and social standards, you will be banned from selling products at Wal-Mart” – it brings about a ripple effect on companies around the world.

Of course, not all companies can exert the same leverage as Wal-Mart. If your company represents just a small portion of a supplier’s business, how do you get them on board your sustainability agenda? Attend this opening session as we set the scene on the rules of effective supplier engagement, hear about:

• Proven strategies used to engage suppliers in sustainability even when you’re not their biggest buyer
• Simple steps you can take to drive internal alignment from CSR and procurement departments

• Marks & Spencer, Mike Barry – Head of Sustainable Business
• Ahold, Roland Waardenburg – VP of Corporate Responsibility

Theme 1:
Practical ways to embed sustainability in procurement functions

How to integrate sustainability to meet overall purchasing targets

Extra sustainability criteria have been added to supplier requirements and how they are qualified.

Attend this session to learn how to take them into account in your decision making process.

• Discover how to map sustainability opportunities against existing categories of your procurement priorities
• Understand how sustainability can help you meet your everyday price and quality agenda without compromising on supply chain flexibility

• Alstom, Sylvie Margueret - CSR Purchasing Director
• Wrigley Company, Donna Westerman - Supplier Diversity and Social Responsibility Director

Forget the jargon, proven methods to engage even the less sustainability savvy-suppliers

Tried and tested methods that ensure suppliers understand your aims and carry out your requests correctly, even when they don't have the necessary sustainability experience and training.

At this session, find out how to:

• Develop effective questionnaires and assessment tools that speak to suppliers in a language they understand
• Benchmark communication techniques used by other procurement teams that you can put to use immediately

• Little Chef, Jayne Davies – Purchasing Director

How to dramatically improve results through incentivising and empowering procurement functions

According to the Carbon Disclosure Project's 2010 Supply Chain Report, formal training programs in supply chains is a route that 73% of members are either following or plan to be within 12 months. As an incentive, 84% of companies also include specific carbon management goals in employee evaluations

In this session:

• Hear about detailed analysis of the most effective training methods on awareness building designed specifically for procurement staff on sustainability issues
• Discover how to identify the best ways of relating performance to meet these new criteria
• Learn how to re-evaluate existing procurement metrics - Guidelines that will help you meet both commercial AND sustainability objectives

• Montepaschi Group, Luca Guzzabocca - Director of Procurement, Logistics, HSE, Security Management

Achieve better supplier engagement through better internal alignment

• Why and how specific company departments need to be kept updated about progress, policy and what's happening in the supply chain
• Understand why supplier engagement is vital: Cases where things have gone wrong, and how they could have been prevented by better communication
• The supplier perspective: lessons learned from 15 years of developing sustainability, including how big companies should approach suppliers and persuade them to engage

• Nestlé, Antonia Wanner, Head of Procurement Excellence

Day Two, 10th November 2010

Plenary discussion

Tackling social issues - a key part of a sustainable supply chain

Reducing environmental impact in the supply chain is a key area, but sustainability issues are not limited to environmental concerns. Reports on poor labour conditions still make headline news, as demonstrated by recent labour related allegations at Foxconn’s China factories.

Attend this interactive session and get unbiased insights into these serious issues from a former vice-president of Timberland and Levi Strauss; and an NGO involved in recent campaigns against child labour in cotton production.

• Expert tips on how you can avoid lurid headlines that are every company's nightmare
• Ensure your suppliers do not just agree on paper. How to get them to understand and live up to the standards expected

• Vectra International, Patrick Neyts – Senior Advisor (former VP of Timberland and Levi Strauss)
• Environmental Justice Foundation, Steve Trent – Director

Theme 2:
Where should you focus your efforts?

Stronger together: How to combine sustainability assessment with existing supplier assessment

Making sustainability part of your supplier assessment process means you can focus on where exactly in your supply chain you need to target. A scorecard system is one of the ways that will help you point out to suppliers how their support on sustainability issues will be rewarded.

Attend this session to get details on:

• How to decide which metrics and criteria to include on your supplier scorecard
• How to develop an effective assessment template that not only covers questions on cost, service and quality, but also environmental and social challenges as well
• How you can easily communicate the metrics to key suppliers to ensure that everyone is committed and engaged

• Procter & Gamble, Peter White – Director, Global Sustainable Development
• SGS, Charles Ly Wa Hoi – Global Sustainability Services Director

Master the art of identifying suppliers who are likely to deliver the greatest benefits

If you have a global supply chain that involves over 10,000 individual suppliers, where do you start? To ensure a truly sustainable supply chain, you must be able to identify the suppliers that have most potential and can get you the biggest improvement in sustainability.

Attend this session to hear about:

• Which reward structure will get you the biggest benefits. Should the biggest improvement be favoured or should the most sustainable suppliers get your next big order?
• What KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) should you employ?
• "How laggard suppliers can be identified?" What are the best ways to support them so they can realistically meet your demands?

• Bovis Lend Lease, Paul Toyne - Head of Sustainability

Overcome challenges that procurement and CSR teams often come across during the implementation stage

• In terms of the issue of trust, when is self-assessment more appropriate and when should you conduct site visits?
• Best practice procedures for dealing with supplier reluctance or bogus data responses
• Scope vs detailed analysis, hear about the trade-offs when implementing a global supply chain evaluation

• Citi, John Sklet – SVP, Real Estate Global Operations and Supply Chain
• Citi, Sam Pilcher - VP, Environmental Manager
• Pepsico – (Speaker confirmed, to be announced soon)

Gathering vital data: An innovative alternative to supplier questionnaires

Box-ticking questionnaires can be ineffective at analysing progress or understanding difficulties suppliers face. Interface Flor takes an innovative approach to gathering data, EPDs (Environment Product Declarations) are used to put the focus back on the supplier to declare what goes into their products. It can be effective in increasing transparency in the supply chain.

Attend this session to hear about the benefits and hindrances in asking suppliers declare all the ingredients of the products and their environmental impacts. Learn about the pros and cons of EPDs as opposed to traditional questionnaires.

• Interface Flor, Ramon Arratia – Sustainability Director

Your guide to starting the conversation with suppliers at the right level

Starting the conversation with the wrong people or without the right planning can leave suppliers confused, or worse, become disengaged.

This session will provide some realistic solutions to avoid these pitfalls:

• How should you decide what data to ask from your suppliers so that you get meaningful and timely responses?
• How much can you realistically expect from suppliers who are new to sustainability?
• Uncover meaningful mechanisms you can put in place for mutual feedback

• BT, Glenn Edwards - Head of Procurement Policy
• British American Tobacco, Barbara Klammer - Group Head of Environment Health & Safety

Theme 3:
Powerful techniquess to incentivise suppliers

Discover how to implement effective action plans to build strong supplier relationships

You have identified what to measure and how to measure it. Now the key question is identifying how to engage suppliers. In this session you will:

• Hear about innovative solutions that will help you encourage suppliers to commit to long-term sustainability goals
• Learn effective strategies to achieve objectives by working collaboratively with suppliers
• Learn how to use the info gathered to boost performance across the entire supply chain

• Coca-Cola Enterprises, Dim Mozin - Director of Procurement, European Supply Chain

Help suppliers be efficient so savings can be passed back to you

• Hear about tried and tested methods used by leading companies that have helped their suppliers become more energy efficient
• How much support and technical expertise should you offer, whilst ensuring that the costs don’t outweigh the benefits?
• Get tips on how you can map out an incentive structure for your suppliers

• Tetra Pak, Rupert Maitland-Titterton – Environment and External Affairs Director

Theme 4:
Where can you get meaningful support?

Working with external certification and standards organisations

A big obstacle for companies developing a sustainable supply chain is understanding the proliferation of standards, protocols and certifications. They are seemingly endless. All are worthy, but which one is right for you?

• Get insight into the thought process of how some leading global companies evaluated the right certificates and standards to join and which to pass
• Practical steps that will help you assess which one offers the most support and benefits
• The auxiliary marketing value of standards and certification logos on products relies on choosing the right ones. What are the key points and criteria to look for?

• Cadbury, Nathalie Ritchie – Head of Ethical Sourcing