ISO 20400 – Sustainable Procurement

ISO 20400 provides organisations with guidance on sustainability within procurement, applicable to businesses of any size or industry. As environmental issues have come to the forefront in recent years, Sustainable Procurement via alignment with ISO 20400  has become vital for many organisations. When you choose to work with Blackmores, our ISO 20400 Consultants will help you work through the standard and help you to implement the required elements.

Sustainable Procurement considers the environmental, social and economic consequences resulting from provided products and services and aims to minimise negative impacts while encouraging positive outcomes.

ISO 20400 is the standard for Sustainable Procurement, it provides a comprehensive framework on how to adopt sustainable procurement principles and practices into your organisation no matter the size or type.

The standard ISO 20400 takes an ethical and holistic approach to ensure that fair contract prices and terms are applied and human rights and employment standards are met.

Currently, ISO 20400 remains a guidance document and cannot be certified against. However, alignment with ISO 20400 will provide you with a solid foundation for achieving your sustainability and ESG goals.

Blackmores ISO 20400 consultants specialise in helping you to implement and maintain your Sustainable Procurement Management System. We work with organisations in a variety of industries within the UK and world-wide.

We have decades of experience in working with organisations and providing consultancy to ensure they are able to pass their certification. Our process generally follows the below framework:

• ISO 20400 Gap Analysis – To start, we conduct an ISO 20400 gap analysis. This is a very important step as it helps establish your strengths and weaknesses and sets the foundations for your ISO 20400 action plan.
• ISO 20400 E-learning Materials – We give you access to our isologyhub. Here, you can learn at your own pace through our online learning portal. As ISO 20400 consultants, we understand that everyone learns in different ways, we have tried to be as inclusive as possible and have some resources that appeal to everyone.
• Appoint an ISO 20400 Consultant – We have a skilled team of ISO 20400 consultants, we will appoint one of them to your organisation to help you implement a Sustainable Procurement Management System.
• Conduct Internal Audits – As part of our consultancy service, we help you to plan and conduct Internal Audits to verify your compliance with ISO 20400.
• Provide On-Site Support During External Audits – We understand that external audits can be daunting and overwhelming. Our ISO 20400 consultants can provide support during External Audits carried out by Certification Bodies.

Because we work with ISO standards day in and day out, we know the best practices and management system structures that can help you achieve your certification. Some of the reasons our clients choose to work with us for their ISO achievements are;

Specialised Team – we have a specialised team of ISO consultants, each specialising in a different area. This means that your appointment ISO 20400 consultant will be an expert in their field.

Industry Knowledge – It could be years since you last looked into your ISO standards. We work in the ISO industry every day. We are aware of any changes that are happening or planning to happen. This means you get the most up-to-date ISO consultancy.

ISO Training Materials – we are proud to be able to provide such a vast amount of training resources and materials. Our isologyhub is jam packed with information for you and your team to access whenever it suits you.

There are several benefits of ISO 20400 for your organisation. Because it is a global standard, it is recognised by organisations within various sectors all over the world making your tendering process for new business more straight forward.

The main benefits our clients see with the ISO 20400 standard are;

• Improved performance
• Improved competitiveness
• Improved sales and marketing opportunities
• Strengthening communication and morale company-wide
• Uniform approach to reporting and measuring Sustainable Procurement
• Encourages a marketplace for innovative, sustainable products and services
• Reduced environmental and compliance costs
• Open up new markets
• Reducing the production of waste and improving recycling, reuse, remanufacturing and recovery of waste
• Preventing pollution and the use of hazardous materials where practical
• It reduces supply chain risks and enhances opportunities for innovative products and services
• It ensures compliance with relevant environmental legislation

Benefits to your clients include:

• Adds value to products and services
• Assurance of quality of product and service to the customer
• Commitment to continually improving products/services
• Increases perception of your company’s culture and image

The world is facing a crisis: poverty, hunger, inequality and climate change are just some of the issues we need to address.

In 2015, world leaders came together to create 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) which aim to tackle these issues, to build a better world by 2030.

ISO 20400 can be used to meet the following goals  

We have a Podcast episode available which explains ISO 20400 in more detail, listen Here.

If you need assistance with ISO 20400, simply Contact Us.