Coupled with the high visibility and healthcare regulatory scrutiny already needed  to  be  a  leader  in  pharmaceuticals,  the entire  Sanofi sustainable supply chain and  procurement  function  faces  a  big  challenge  to  carry  out  these  beliefs  and  commitments  throughout  their  supply  chain.

Drivers and Challenges

Sanofi Sustainable supply chain and CSR  strategy  is  built  on  four  key  areas:  Patients  (safety  and  access  to  healthcare),  Ethics  (ethics  in  R&D  and  business  ethics),  Environment  (pharmaceuticals in the environment) and People (workforce development), with  Human Rights as a foundation of the CSR approach.  Within  this  context  they  identify  four  levers  that  structure  the  responsible  procurement strategy:

1. Compliance with regulations
2. Risk management to secure sourcing and protect the Group’s reputation
3. Drive  innovation  with  suppliers,  where  they  see  an  opportunity  to  differentiate their value chain.
4. Set  KPIs  and  deliver  quantifiable  CSR  results–  (ex:  they  seek  to  be  positioned in the top ranking of the DJSI rating)

A specific challenge they face as a globalized procurement function spread across  seven regions and 80 countries:

1.  How  to  cover  all  risks  represented  by  a  wide  supplier  base  in  a  highly  exposed industry?
2.  How  to  implement  the  same  CSR  standards  and  practices  amongst  all  suppliers,  considering  their  specificities  (global  suppliers,  local  suppliers,  strategic suppliers etc.)?

Best practices: Adapting a Mature Program Sanofi began to pursue their sustainable procurement initiative as early as 2007.

In  2011  they  selected  EcoVadis  as  a  strategic  partner  of  their  suppliers’  CSR  performance evaluation process. A pilot was launched in 2011 as a group initiative. As results began to emerge in 2012, the program was expanded and evolved to  be a central part of their Supplier Relationship and Risk Management.

Key Facts

• 33.8B Euro in revenue (2014)
• 13B Euro spend (2014)
• 110,000 employees
• DJSI (9yrs), FTSE4Good, Vigeo
• UN Global Compact, GRI

EcoVadis stats  snapshot

• >550 suppliers assessed    
• Category and country risk mapping   
• 67% of Suppliers meeting Sanofi score expectations

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