Procurement under the sign of OR, CSRD and CSDDD

The conference itself was an example of how collaborative partnerships work: the three organizations öbu Association for Sustainable Business, Pusch - Practical Environmental Protection and the purchasing association procure.ch jointly launched the event. The topic of "sustainable procurement" proved to be an attractive one: around 150 participants from a wide range of industries registered. Five keynotes and seven breakout sessions provided an opportunity for an intensive exchange of information.

OR, CSRD, CSDDD: abbreviations that still require a lot of information

Elgin Brunner from WWF Switzerland was the first speaker to explain how urgent the importance of a more sustainable economy is. Both a climate and a diversity crisis need to be tackled. We are still a long way from achieving the goals set by the global community, she explained. A far-reaching transformation of the economy is necessary, she said, and individual "band-aids" are no longer enough. Elgin Brunner believes that the greatest leverage lies in more sustainable supply chains combined with a change in existing value chains. The economy must therefore take on more responsibility. She used examples from the chocolate industry (Halba from Switzerland and Chocolonely from the Netherlands) to show how this works.

Meanwhile, politicians are not remaining inactive. A whole series of new regulations are being introduced in the EU in particular. Abbreviations such as CSRD or CSDDD are likely to become familiar to more and more Swiss companies in the near future, as Niclas Meyer from the consulting firm BSS explained. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive CSRD, which was adopted by the EU Parliament in November 2022, obliges companies to record the impact of sustainability aspects on the economic situation of the company and to clarify the effects of operations on sustainability. CSRD is currently being transposed into national law in the EU member states. The Federal Council will also soon be submitting a legislative proposal for consultation that incorporates a number of points from the EU regulation. The Swiss Code of Obligations already contains a provision on due diligence obligations and transparency regarding minerals from conflict areas and child labor (CO Art. 964j). The CSDDD, on the other hand, is the EU Supply Chain Directive. This obliges companies to comply with human rights along their supply chains and to minimize their environmental impact. Swiss companies are also affected by this due to the third country regulation - and according to Niclas Meyer, there are more of them than is generally assumed. Due to the complexity of these regulations, companies must provide the appropriate resources. "Simply delegating this to one person as an assistant to the management is not enough," says Niclas Meyer.

Extensive data is required for the assessment of supply chains and reporting. This must be collected, compiled and evaluated from various sources. This is often still done on an Excel basis, which will probably no longer be sufficient in the future. Swisscom has also recognized this. Marion Roeder and Gina Obrecht explained to the audience the approach taken by this communications company for its sustainability reporting. This has also resulted in the so-called Sustainability Software Radar: this shows market developments and trends in software solutions that can support ESG managers and CIOs. The service created by Swisscom therefore offers companies help in choosing the right software tool for collecting sustainability data.

Exchange practical experience

In various workshops and breakout sessions, the participants were then able to delve deeper into individual topics and exchange practical experience. For example, Lena Gubser and Roland Bärtschi provided an insight into how the railroad company BLS deals with the tension between strategy and feasibility. Renato Vögeli explained how his printing company, in collaboration with two other print shops in Austria and Denmark, is implementing the "Cradle to Cradle" concept and has also achieved the corresponding certification. And Tina Kempf (Lyreco Switzerland), together with Ruth Freiermuth Kuchel and Nicole Moser from Swiss Post, showed how greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced along the supply chain (see also the interview with Tina Kempf). Another practical example of the circular economy and resource efficiency was presented by the Locher brewery from Appenzell, which was represented by Sales Manager Philip Herrmann. Among other things, it has found ways of turning brewery by-products into new, tasty foods. Other breakout sessions dealt with due diligence and compliance, digitalization and social procurement risks, demonstrated by the avoidance of child labour.

Procurement in reality and the future

The last block of presentations was given by Mirko Kleiner. He took a look at the future of procurement management, which could be characterized by "Lean Agile Procurement". He showed various "evolutionary stages" of future procurement management, starting from the purchasing department set up in a classic silo organization through to maximum self-organized company units that operate their entire supply and value chains autonomously and within an ecosystem - in some cases massively supported by software. Swiss Casinos AG, for example, managed to evaluate and procure a new ERP system within just two days using a "nucleus" of this Lean Agile Procurement.

Coffee machine manufacturer Thermoplan AG is taking an even more down-to-earth approach to sustainable procurement management. The focus is on as many Swiss suppliers as possible, as Björn Jung and Matteo Trachsel explained. They currently account for 63 percent - with around 300 suppliers. There are four keys behind Thermoplan's supplier management: Clear objectives, transparent communication with suppliers, forging a common path and also resulting showcase companies to set benchmarks for other suppliers.

Building knowledge about sustainable procurement

Conclusion of the event: In order to make progress in the area of sustainable procurement, collaboration and joint learning from one another is required. Another takeaway: data should not only be collected for reporting purposes. The potential of structured data management is enormous and indispensable for transparency, innovation and efficiency. And: top management is also required, as sustainability is now a strategic task. The entire procurement system must also be embedded in this - which is why it is necessary to build up knowledge within the company. In discussions with and from the comments of many participants, it was clear that many companies are only just starting out with sustainable procurement. From this perspective, it can be assumed that this Sustainable Procurement Day will not be the last.

More information: Sustainable Procurement Day