Is Your Conflict Minerals Program Ready for 2016 Reporting?

Conflict minerals due diligence is top of mind for companies subject to Dodd-Frank 1502 and their downstream supply chain as the May 31st reporting deadline is quickly approaching. Those tasked with performing Conflict Minerals (3TG) due diligence - collecting supplier data- must now compile, review and quality control their data before developing a comprehensive report for either their company website or the SEC.

Among many challenges to investigating a company’s supply chain, turning disparate sources of information into an easy to understand one-page report or even one claim, is near the top. Considering, for the 2014 reporting year, Source Intelligence, a SaaS platform that helps companies with supply chain compliance, saw supplier-provided templates averaging just over 60 smelters per template, but some had as many as 1,000 supplier provided smelters. In industries such as Electronics, Manufacturing and Oil & Gas, Source Intelligence has seen anywhere from 25,000 to almost 50,000 supplier smelter entries. In total, these smelter entries become big data files, so creating a process to consolidate duplicates and reconcile aliases with known smelter data is key to success.

For companies currently working to trace Conflict Minerals, engage suppliers, verify smelters and prepare for an audit, a comprehensive guide released by Source Intelligence provides readers with best practices to understand and improve the process.

While conflict minerals reporting for reporting year (RY) 2015 will come to a close May 31st, supplier data collection and monitoring should be an ongoing and strategic effort over the lifecycle of any sourcing program. If you had difficulties or are having difficulties collecting and verifying supplier data, seek support now. For more information about other common data challenges for conflict minerals reporting and tips for success- a webinar held at the end of January with Source Intelligence is also a must-see.