SUPPLIERS

How we relate to our suppliers

Our suppliers are our business partners, because they play a pivotal role in our value creation process. The products and engineering solutions that we market and provide need the support of our suppliers. The longevity of our business and the loyal customer capital we have are both driven by the quality of the products supplied by our principals. Therefore the management and nurture of mutually beneficial relationships with our suppliers both foreign or local, is of utmost importance for the smooth functioning of our operations.

We achieve this through constant engagement with our suppliers so that they are aware of our continuous focus on developing their brand name in Sri Lanka. The success of these efforts is evident in the number and diversity of principals we partner and the endurance of these long standing relationships.

The continued support of our local suppliers is essential for the continued success of the diverse segments of our business. Their services drive the uninterrupted flow of our business processes. Smooth interaction with our suppliers contributes to the overall value proposition delivered to our customers. We carefully choose our local suppliers in accordance with our Supplier Code and our Quality Management System, in order to maintain consistent quality. Local suppliers are used primarily for outsourced services such as security, janitorial and the supply of materials for our service business. A significant proportion of our annual budget is allocated towards the securing of supplies and services for our operations. The geographical definition of “local” adopted by us refers to those suppliers operating within Sri Lanka and by “significant locations of operations”, we refer to all our display points and branches.

Our commitment to creating a fair work environment and humane labour practices for all service providers interacting with our business can be seen in the implementation of our Supplier Code. It is our policy to require local suppliers’ agreement and signature to the provisions of our Supplier Code before engaging in business with us. Our Supplier Code thus ensures the provision of acceptable working conditions to the employees of external local suppliers as well.

We consider this as an important factor because it is the duty of a responsible corporate to ensure that its operational practices contain uniformity and are applied equally to all those who do business with it. Moreover, our reputation, business integrity and our brand equity would be adversely affected if we employed external service providers who violated the basic norms of humane labour practices. Therefore, in order to assess the actual and protential, future negative impact of the labour practices of our suppliers were expect to cunduct an a audit against the supplier code.

Supplier code has been delivered to 147 major local suppliers out of whom, 65% have declared that they are complying.