Cummins promotes ongoing enterprise and supplier development
Cummins “walks the talk” when it comes to its diversity goals and ongoing Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) programme. “We are deliberate and intentional about this journey,” says Jolene C. Classen, Regional Leader Africa & Middle East – Corporate Indirect Purchasing.
“We take our commitment towards transformation, diversity and inclusion seriously. We believe that when we create opportunities in this space, we help our suppliers to be economically empowered. They, in turn, create jobs and further support downstream opportunities and so we all grow our region’s economies.” Classen shares that, year to date, Cummins can report the following milestones:
- Spending 52% of its procurement spend with diverse suppliers
- Spending $2.2million on BDR (Billion Dollar Roundtable) suppliers
- Achieving 40.49 points out of the 42 points on the scorecard for Enterprise & Supplier Development, which includes points for Preferential Procurement
“These days, more and more organisations realise the importance and long-term advantages of making diversity a strategic priority, especially in procurement,” says Classen. Her role is mainly to ensure efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the purchasing process, with a reporting line to Cummins Inc. in the US.
“Cummins has an absolute assurance about the positive benefits that diversity within our procurement space brings not only to our value chain but to our suppliers, customers and the economy at large. It means that we actively support inclusion opportunities in the supply chain from businesses owned by previous disadvantaged groups, women, youth and disability enterprises,” explains Classen.
“We are mindful of the fact that our customers also want to see diversity happening with the people they are doing business with. Our supplier base must therefore reflect a diverse group of our people, especially in those communities where we operate. Actively including diverse and marginalised suppliers in our network is no longer a ‘nice to have’ for Cummins but is expected of us. It is a given that when you make supplier diversity a priority it is perceived more positively by your stakeholders. At Cummins, DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) is part of our DNA and Core Values,” says Classen.
Cummins afforded the opportunity to four diverse suppliers to attend the Minority Supplier Development UK (MSDUK) Leadership Programme and Conference held in London in early September 2022. It is also sponsoring a delegation of nine diverse suppliers to attend the International Leadership Executive Development Training Programme (I-Led), of which two suppliers will further attend the National Minority Supplier Developer Council (NMSDC) Conference in New Orleans in the US in October.
“My message to leaders in corporate Africa and Middle East is that the time is now for us to be intentional, deliberate, unapologetic and aggressive in bringing transformation to the forefront. In so doing we make a positive impact on economies. Let us become change agents and remove barriers to entry,” concludes Classen.
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