The Index, that will be open and collecting supplier ratings throughout October, is designed to bridge the gap between the in-depth supplier data collected for Better Buying’s annual surveys in April, and to act as a quick status update, enabling year-round monitoring and analysis of emerging issues and trends and potential problem areas.
Completely anonymous, this short 5-minute survey asks suppliers 15 impactful questions on key buyer practices; operational efficiency and the management of key deadlines; forecasting visibility and the predictability of future orders; whether financial practices are fair; the buyer’s efforts to work with the supplier towards improved sustainability; communications practices; and the buyer’s status as a customer of choice, Better Buying said in a media release.
Brands and retailers who are also Better Buying subscribers receive a confidential report, providing their overall partnership score, peer benchmarking and recommendations from suppliers on how to improve. Year-on-year analysis enables companies to demonstrate leadership to external stakeholders, as well as the progress they are making.
As well as providing a rapid insight into Tier-1 of buyers’ supply chains, the Index can also be used across multiple industries, product categories and geographic regions, and at different tiers, including material mills, components, packaging providers and chemical suppliers.
The survey link will be shared with suppliers on October 1.
To support its metric on purchasing practices, The Industry We Want, a major initiative being coordinated by FairWear Foundation and Ethical Trading Initiative, is partnering with Better Buying Institute to help scale up the Partnership Index, and is hosting two webinars for brands and suppliers interested in learning more, on Tuesday October 12, 2021 (UK/Europe/Asia region) and Thursday October 14, 2021 (US/Europe/UK).
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)