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Prysmian Group – 2015 Sustainability Report
Supply Chain
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Code of business conduct
With a view to spreading responsible commercial practices and ensuring that ethical, economic,
environmental and social standards are met throughout the value chain, in 2014 the Prysmian Group
decided to promote a responsible and sustainable chain of supply by adopting a Code of Business Conduct.
This Code took effect in 2015 and applies to all employees and business relations. The principles set down
in the Code apply to the business transactions and daily activities of the employees of all Group entities and
their suppliers, commercial partners, commercial agents, sub-contractors and distributors. The document
covers the following matters: business integrity (fair trade, conflicts of interest, gifts and offers of
entertainment, corruption, accountability); human rights and those of workers (under-age working and
slavery, health and safety at work, non-discrimination, freedom of association and collective bargaining);
environment (principle of precautions, use of raw materials and compliance, use of energy, greenhouse
gases and other emissions, water consumption, waste production and recycling).
The Prysmian Code of Business Conduct was published on the Group's website in 2015. In addition, its
existence and Prysmian's application of the related guidelines are highlighted to suppliers at the scouting
and qualification stages.
PRYSMIAN POWERLINK: AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO THE SUSTAINABILITY OF SUPPLIERS
Prysmian PowerLink has recently finalised the implementation of a cloud platform for the Vendor Management process,
with a view to improving the process of qualifying suppliers by facilitating customer-supplier communications. The portal
was developed during the first four months of 2015 and comprises two separate sections: Supplier Information
Management (SIM) and Supplier Performance Management (SPM), respectively used to manage the qualification phase
(ex-ante) and the performance evaluation phase (ex-post). In particular, the first area (SIM) provides a centralised
system for managing the entire life cycle of the customer-supplier relationship, from the creation of the master details
database to the monitoring of financial strength indicators. The data used for the selection process is input by suppliers
with direct access to the system, via the completion of a questionnaire that, once completed, is sent to the following
functions for assessment: Purchasing, HSE, Installation/PM, Quality. The second area (SPM) guides the process of
defining, measuring, monitoring and analysing the performance of suppliers in terms of the service provided. The
purpose of the system is to improve the quality of service, with an overall reduction in costs and the related risks. Each
supplier is assessed against specific criteria: compliance with technical, HSE and Quality requirements, and level of
contractual and business flexibility. In the event of an adverse result, Prysmian will be able to promote corrective actions
designed to steadily improve the supplier base or, depending on the seriousness of the case, to "black-list" the supplier.
To date, more than 85% of suppliers have passed the qualification process.