It’s official, supply chain traceability is a mainstream issue. Given its importance to improving resilient operations and a company’s bottom line, it’s a board room topic and a business imperative. Consumers increasingly want to know the sustainability credentials of the products they buy, and a growing raft of regulation focused on responsible and sustainable sourcing, like the newly enacted EU Battery Regulation, is representative of this societal demand.

Demand for traceability has risen steeply in line with the increasing global competition for access to critical raw materials like lithium, cobalt, nickel, and graphite, which are crucial elements of clean energy technologies. However, these materials are linked to social and environmental concerns during extraction and processing. As a result, many companies are seeking closer control over opaque supply chains and aiming to boost recycling efforts to secure supplies and deliver on sustainability goals.

Serving the urgent needs of customers

To prove and deliver on sustainability goals, companies need accurate, timely, and auditable data that drives informed decision making. According to [Verdantix**], these data requirements include:

• Meeting the scrutiny of ‘investor-grade’ data to continue to fulfil capital needs
• Building new data and organizational structures to collect, monitor and manage data from a magnitude of stakeholders
• Assessing double materiality (accounting for both financial and impact materiality) to fulfil new regulatory reporting requirements
• Seeking external assurance for ESG reports and data.

In response to these growing customer demands, Circulor, the leading supply chain traceability solution, recently announced its partnership with KPMG. Both companies recognize that businesses today need enhanced visibility and continuous data of upstream supply chain activity, in addition to strategic counsel on how to adopt game-changing technologies and approaches that reveal business risks and improve competitive advantage.

Offering customers the full package

Together, Circulor and KPMG offer customers a complete traceability package, spanning advisory, implementation and technological services. For Circulor’s part, we bring to the table the most mature, proven, and complete software solution available to track the physical flow of critical raw materials from extraction to final product and through in-life and circular value chains.

Meanwhile, KPMG brings decades of experience working with many of the world’s leading companies and can advise clients on how to implement and use the Circulor platform to analyze granular supply chain data for strategic foresight and operational value. Furthermore, KPMG will act as implementation partner for our platform, extending our well-established model for onboarding the actors in a supply chain and guiding integration into clients’ wider ESG data management landscape.

What are you waiting for?

This partnership of software and services is a powerful one, helping customers to navigate their ESG journeys through a combination of:

• Expert advice in a crowded marketplace
• Simplified RFP processes for bringing corporates the value they need quickly
• Efficient software implementation to meet reporting requirements
• Broader ecosystem integration and collaboration to meet data and digitalization needs.

Don’t just take our word for it: [Verdantix***] estimates that the market for ESG and sustainability consulting services will reach $16 billion by 2027, with “regulatory know-how, sustainability subject-matter expertise, longstanding technology implementation capabilities and the capacity to cater to organizations of different sizes and industries providing the backbone for action”. Partnerships such as ours cover all these requirements.

At Circulor, we believe in taking a holistic, systems-based approach to creating responsible, sustainable, and resilient business operations. By harnessing the dual strengths of leading consultants and supply chain traceability providers, companies can accelerate progress toward their sourcing goals, mitigate risks, build trust among stakeholders, and create clear differentiation to win in the market.

*Verdantix: Global Corporate Survey 2023: ESG And Sustainability Services Brands Recognition. Published 13 July 2023

**Verdantix: Market Overview: The ESG & Sustainability Software And Services Partnership Ecosystem. Published 18 July 2023

***Verdantix: Market Overview: The ESG & Sustainability Software And Services Partnership Ecosystem. Published 18 July 2023