ESCP drives transparency and collaboration through Open Supply Hub

The Ethical Supply Chain Program (ESCP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on responsible labor standards and the fair treatment of workers across global supply chains, by helping suppliers remediate any issues identified through the audit process.

ESCP has always maintained a public website where stakeholders could verify supplier certification status. However, they recognized an opportunity to further enhance visibility of their certified suppliers across other public platforms.

By publishing their certified supplier data on Open Supply Hub, ESCP has provided their supplier members with a free, open platform to showcase their commitment to responsible labor standards. This enhanced visibility helps certified suppliers engage with potential new customers and grow their business, while simultaneously raising awareness of the ESCP program and demonstrating the organization's dedication to transparency.

Enhanced collaboration and operational efficiency

The integration with Open Supply Hub has enabled ESCP to identify and engage companies who share common suppliers, supporting activities that work toward better labor standards. This capability has been valuable for collaboration across multi-stakeholder initiatives, helping to avoid duplicating efforts and reducing costs throughout the value chain while supporting progress toward positive outcomes.

One significant operational benefit has been the reduction of audit duplication. When companies can see which labor standards program a supplier is already participating in through OS Hub, they may not need to request a new audit, significantly speeding up the supplier onboarding process for companies.

The response from both members and program users has been overwhelmingly positive. Suppliers appreciate having another platform to demonstrate their commitment to responsible practices, while buyers benefit from increased efficiency in identifying and collaborating with certified suppliers.

Stakeholder engagement and adoption success

ESCP took a thoughtful approach to implementing their Open Supply Hub integration, recognizing the importance of stakeholder buy-in. They invested time in explaining the OS Hub platform to their stakeholders, particularly suppliers and their customers, ensuring everyone understood the benefits of publishing data on the platform.

To address any concerns, ESCP invited stakeholders to share feedback and produced supporting materials to facilitate understanding. Importantly, they gave their supplier members the opportunity to opt out of the public listing if desired. The results speak to the value proposition: less than 0.5% of their supplier membership requested to opt-out.

Since the initial publication and subsequent updates, supplier members have continued to share positive views about Open Supply Hub, reinforcing the value of the platform for showcasing their commitment to responsible business practices.