MARKETPLACE AND CUSTOMERS

5.1 Customer Experience
5.2 Responsible Products and Services
5.3 Supply Chain Management
5.4 Looking Ahead

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

DMA

The Singtel Group is committed to collaborating with transparent, ethical, and environmentally and socially responsible suppliers. In our ongoing efforts to improve the way we purchase goods and services, our preference is to procure from vendors who currently are or working towards being responsible and sustainable companies.

OUR SUPPLY CHAIN

G4-12

The Singtel Group has extensive infrastructure and connectivity through our investments in our fixed and mobile networks, international submarine cables and satellites, data centre facilities, and IT and customer care delivery centres.

We contract local and global vendors for our different lines of businesses. In FY2015, we contracted around 6,000 suppliers worldwide. For our mobile services, which contribute the bulk of the Group’s revenue, we work mainly with network infrastructure and equipment suppliers as well as handset and device manufacturers.

Similarly, for fixed broadband and pay TV services, our key suppliers include modem, router and other related-equipment such as set-top box suppliers. Our main suppliers for digital and entertainment services are advertising agencies and content providers.

GOVERNING SUSTAINABILITY IN OUR SUPPLY CHAIN

The Group CSR unit works closely with Group Procurement to improve awareness of sustainable supply chain requirements. Key suppliers are assigned vendor governance officers (VGOs) to review vendor performance. VGOs cover economic, quality, and risk aspects and support communication and delivery of vendor-related CSR initiatives. We promote ethical behaviour and sustainability awareness with suppliers through our Group Supplier Code of Conduct and CSR surveys.

The governance covers:

  • Compliance of all suppliers with our Supplier Code of Conduct which includes:
    1. ILO Conventions on Human Rights
    2. Convention on the Rights of the Child & ILO Minimum Age Convention
    3. Prohibition and Immediate Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
    4. BizSAFE Enterprise certification as part of the Workplace Safety and Health Act (WSHA) in Singapore
  • Supplier CSR surveys and audits to monitor supplier compliance with our Supplier Code of Conduct and report on additional sustainability-related issues. In FY2014, Singtel conducted CSR surveys on five of our 22 Key Vendors. The surveys covered all five reporting aspects as compared to three in the audits, but with lesser depth. Both focus on labour rights and environment, followed by human rights, and society and product responsibility issues.

RAISING THE BAR FOR A SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY CHAIN

As our business expands into new markets, products and services, our supply chain grows in reach and complexity. The materiality assessment conducted during the year has identified that stakeholders expect us to ensure responsible management of our supply chain.

In FY2015, the Procurement teams in Singapore and Australia began working towards fully integrating and aligning policies, processes and systems under a One Procurement Framework for the Singtel Group. This provided the opportunity to update the overall management approach to holistically address other potential risks arising from the materiality assessment.