John Taylor, Director of Supplier Diversity at Medtronic, walks through Medtronic’s initiative to incorporate more small and diverse suppliers in the sourcing process and expand the economic impact of supplier diversity.
A key metric and objective with Medtronic’s Supplier Diversity initiative is inclusiveness. We expect 75% of our RFPs to include a diverse supplier and we hold the businesses and operating units accountable. Other key metrics include YoY spend and stratification of our top diverse suppliers.
We just don’t want to fill the gaps – we want diverse suppliers to thrive and to help Medtronic lead the industry with innovative and differentiated technologies and solutions.
Understanding Tier II Opportunities
In support of Medtronic’s Supplier Diversity Program, we invite strategic suppliers to share in our commitment by tracking and reporting their direct and indirect spend with small and diverse businesses.
- Direct spend refers to subcontracts directly supporting the Medtronic contract.
- Indirect spend refers to spend with diverse suppliers not directly supporting the Medtronic contract.
This reporting then becomes tier II spend for Medtronic. The Supplier Diversity Leadership Team developed this tier II initiative to incorporate more small and diverse suppliers in the sourcing process and expand the economic impact of Supplier Diversity. The Medtronic Supplier Diversity Team works with suppliers currently unable to track their diverse spend.
As small and diverse businesses look for opportunities with Medtronic, they should continue to engage with the Supplier Diversity Team and share their capabilities. It’s very important these businesses understand Medtronic and our supply chain. A great resource of information is our website medtronic.com.
We continually look for businesses that can bring innovation to our supply chain and help the patients we serve.
Medtronic’s Strategic Suppliers: the Diversity Differentiator
We strongly encourage our strategic suppliers to share their tier II information.
Spend with diverse suppliers drives cost competitiveness, service improvements and innovation.
Engaging diverse suppliers also increases employment opportunities in the communities where they do business. Medtronic’s Supplier Diversity Program Impact Report highlights the economic and community impact that these relationships bring to communities all over the nation. We are also very proud of the significant innovations that suppliers deliver tour business.
Supplier Diversity is equaling the playing field so that everyone has access to the same opportunities. It’s proactive sourcing of products and services from underutilized suppliers.
We again strongly encourage our prime suppliers to include diversity in their supply chain and this can be a topic of differentiation during their quarterly reviews. Our customers expect diversity in the Medtronic supply chain, and we look for it with our strategic suppliers.
Interested in Tier 1 or Tier II Sourcing Opportunities? Get to Know Us
Although we do not publicly share our suppliers, there are countless ways to better understand Medtronic. They begin with the Medtronic Annual Report, The Corporate Citizen Report, the Medtronic 10K Report, listening to the Institutional Investors and Analyst Calls, The CEO Quarterly Earnings Conference Calls, just to name a few.
The Medtronic Supplier Diversity team recently hosted its first Supplier Diversity Forum to share its Supplier Diversity program strategies with large and medium sized suppliers. We plan to host more forums. The more you understand our business and our mission, the better prepared you are to determine ways you can assist us and the patients we serve.
Learn more about Medtronic Supplier Diversity Program and register for the supplier portal.
