Background
REACh came into force on 1 June 2007, with a phased implementation over the following decade. June 2018 saw the final deadline for REACh registration – by this date, all chemicals manufactured or imported into the EU over 1 tonne must be registered.
The retailer reached out to Supply Pilot to communicate requirements to suppliers, collect data on progress towards compliance and provide leadership visibility.
Solution
Supply Pilot worked closely with the retailer's team and their chosen third-party REACh partner to ensure their supply base met the REACh regulatory requirement. The Supply Pilot Platform was used to:
- Communicate regulatory requirements to suppliers
- Provide additional support and guidance for those suppliers who needed it
- Benchmark suppliers against the legislative requirements
- Collect chemical substance-level data for products
- Monitor suppliers' progress toward compliance
Supply Pilot's Campaign team sent the first REACh survey to suppliers, followed by regular communications. As the deadline drew closer, communications were targeted to provide tailored information to suppliers based on their progress, whilst giving the retailer's leadership team transparency on how much work each supplier had left to do.
To help suppliers understand what was required, the Supply Pilot Platform deliver supporting knowledge and supplier ‘self-help’ information. A structured approach to supplier chasing via email and phone was also implemented, with Supply Pilot working around the clock to ensure that the global supply base met the requirements by the deadline. Supply Pilot also created custom reports for their stakeholders, allowing the retailer to eliminate all non-compliant products and substances from their portfolio.
Impact
Understanding the retailer’s position regarding their products and REACh was a large and complex piece of work. The solutions implemented by Supply Pilot allowed suppliers to achieve full REACh compliance successfully.
Over 9,000 products and raw materials were individually reviewed, and the retailer now holds more data on its product portfolio than ever before.
The success of this campaign highlighted where the risks were within the supply base and product portfolio, and put contingencies in place to maintain business continuity. All suppliers continue to input information into the Supply Pilot Platform to ensure a comprehensive and easy to access source of information going forward.