We work in partnership with our key suppliers to improve our procurement practices and support the capacity development of our external supply chain.
We are consistently striving to improve the sustainability of our procurement practices and to support our supply chain. Our Global Supplier Code of Conduct helps our suppliers to understand and manage their risks.
We also encourage strategic suppliers to seek certification to international environmental standard ISO14001 to help them to mitigate their environmental impacts and associated costs. Suppliers are also involved in our Revert programme of metal recycling.
We are working with our suppliers to help them to meeting their obligations under the REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals) regulations with a focus on the managed reduction and phase out of the use of targeted substances that are hazardous to health and dangerous to the environment. Through our active participation in the IAEG we are also helping to introduce new standards to facilitate efficient data sharing, focused on hazardous substances, across the aerospace supply chain.
We recognise the role we have to play in minimising the risk of armed conflict and human rights abuse related to the mining of Conflict Minerals. In response to the Dodd-Frank Act and emerging EU legislation we have established a global programme team and are developing a programme and policy based on the OECD’s framework for managing conflict minerals in the supply chain. Early work with our raw material supply chains, where we are close to smelters and refiners, has not identified any issues.
Our supplier finance programmes enables suppliers to benefit from Rolls-Royce’s superior credit rating and access funds at lower interest rates.
We also support SME’s through our Supplier Diversity Programme to help support them in becoming part of our supply base. More than 200 small and medium sized companies are registered with the programme.