The manufacturing of our products is nearly entirely
outsourced. More than 600 suppliers provide
components for, manufacture and test, deliver, take
back, recycle, or enable reuse of Cisco products. Clear
communication and close collaboration with these
suppliers is critical to our ability to deliver high-quality
products to customers while meeting our CSR goals.
We communicate our expectations of our suppliers
through our Supplier Code of Conduct, with which
all suppliers are expected to comply, and we monitor
compliance through supplier self-assessments,
sustainability criteria in supplier scorecards, and
third-party audits. Regular engagement helps us
strengthen our relationships with suppliers and build
their sustainability capabilities. Using Cisco solutions
such as Cisco TelePresence, we are able to discuss
sensitive issues face-to-face with suppliers around
the world. In addition, we aim to provide a practical
example to suppliers on how to integrate CSR into
their day-to-day business operations by working to
improve our own practices.
We focus our performance monitoring, audit program,
and capability building efforts on around 200 preferred
suppliers (see page C8) with which we spend
approximately 75 percent of our supply chain expenditure.
Cisco also plays a broader role in raising standards
throughout the ICT supply chain by working directly with
suppliers and with peer companies through industry
initiatives such as the Electronic Industry Citizenship
Coalition (EICC).
We recognize that our customers and other stakeholders,
such as investors, have a growing interest in sustainability
issues in the supply chain. Increasing transparency and
addressing sustainability in the supply chain help us
to build customer trust, reduce costs, secure continuity
of supply, and protect our brand. Collaboration with
suppliers also encourages innovation to develop more
sustainable products for our customers (see Environment,
page F9).
Our strategy is to multiply our positive impact on
sustainability standards and performance throughout the
supply chain by:
• Embedding sustainability into routine business
practices at every stage of the product lifecycle that
touches our supply chain
• Working with manufacturing partners, component
suppliers, and logistics partners to build their
capabilities for managing sustainability impacts and to
improve performance
• Partnering with industry consortia to develop common
standards and tools to address broader sustainability
challenges in the ICT supply chain
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