Supplier Diversity

World-Class Programs for Rapid Impact and Long-Term Sustainability

Insight Sourcing Group helps clients build and manage world-class Supplier Diversity programs. We partner with clients to develop an inclusive procurement strategy to widen the pool of potential suppliers and promote competition in the supply base, which can improve product quality, enable innovation, and drive down costs.

Insight Sourcing Group’s Supplier Diversity practice and Center of Excellence will help clients build best-in-class programs by focusing on four main pillars: Goals and Metrics, Sourcing Practices and Policies, Supplier Development, and Communications and Training. The foundation of any world class supplier diversity program is data clarity. Insight Sourcing Group is uniquely positioned among consulting firms to deliver clarity through its market-leading spend analytics platform, SpendHQ. By driving full visibility into current diversity spend and related areas for expansion, the firm is able to apply a powerful methodology for rapid impact and long-term sustainability.

Our Supplier Diversity Approach & Methodology

We offer four distinct services related to Supplier Diversity.

Current State
Assessment

Conduct stakeholder interviews

Develop supplier analysis

Identify supplier diversity spend baseline

Conduct procurement assessment

Assess customer requirements

Assess regulatory factors

Perform best practice benchmarking

Timeframe: 5 – 7 weeks

Future State: Strategy & Plan Rollout

Establish supplier diversity policies, goals & metrics

Develop category-specific diversity sourcing strategies

Identify future-state people, processes & technologies

Develop tracking requirements

Develop implementation approach

Establish communications
plan

Timeframe: 5 – 7 weeks

Plan
Execution

Launch diversity sourcing pilots

Execute diversity sourcing process for “quick-hit” categories

Develop plan for subsequent waves

Explore creative diverse supplier strategies

Establish supplier diversity program infrastructure

Train stakeholders

Timeframe: Dependent on Scope

Turn-key
Managed Service

Ongoing program tracking & support

Annual spend analysis & baseline measurement

Annual facilitation of supplier diversity summit

SpendHQ-managed, client-branded supplier portal

Access to SpendHQ-powered diverse supplier
database

Timeframe: Ongoing

How to Build a World-Class Supplier Diversity Program

Overcome the challenges, avoid the pitfalls, and establish processes to build and maintain a sustainable supplier diversity program.

Client Success Stories

Click to expand the case studies below to learn how several leading organizations achieved their supplier diversity objectives with our team.

Client Situation: A valued, long-term Insight Sourcing Group client identified a strategic imperative to establish a Supplier Diversity Program to complement their core values and vision for growth.  With no program in place and limited direction on how to get started, this Fortune 1000 retail apparel client reached out to ISG for guidance.

Insight Sourcing Group’s Response: 

  • Through close client collaboration, our team scoped and built a robust Supplier Diversity Program. To establish a sound foundation, we developed a diversity roadmap that included key initiatives thoughtfully phased over time to ensure long-lasting and sustainable results.
  • As part of the initial execution phase, we helped the client define diversity goals and targets, then built the complementary tools and processes to support measurement and tracking.  We embedded supplier diversity as a critical component of through every aspect of the sourcing process.  Further, our team surfaced and developed key resources to help the client identify and develop partnerships with diverse suppliers.  Finally, to ensure adoption and sustainability, we facilitated change management through targeted training and communications efforts.
  • Garnering strong endorsement from the client’s executive team and senior leaders, the program is positioned to drive significant impact; we are excited that we have delivered a solid base upon which our client partner can grow to drive sustained value for its business, shareholders, customers, employees, and broader community and economy.  

Client Situation: A global gaming & hospitality company with more than 50 properties sought to improve earnings and leverage its global spend while simultaneously meeting established supplier diversity spend objectives. Members of our team were engaged to perform an assessment to identify cost reduction targets and a strategy for achieving the targets.​

Response: ​

  • Performed a comprehensive Spend Analysis across all facilities categories including janitorial services, HVAC, electrical services, waste management, landscaping and plumbing services.​
  • Developed category-specific sourcing strategies for over 30 facilities-related sub-categories representing $200 Million in annual spend. Subcategories included environmental services (EVS), public areas cleaning; carpet care, floor care, power washing, window cleaning, kitchen cleaning, lawn maintenance, snow removal and HVAC contract maintenance.​
  • Identified opportunity to increase spend with diverse suppliers by $55M to $127M while simultaneously realizing $3M in annual savings.

Client Situation: A leading National Service Association with offices across the US desired to leverage the size, spend, reach and influence of its operation to grow its supplier diversity program to a best-in class stature through the utilization of best practices. Members of our team were engaged to perform a current state assessment and future state strategy.

Response: 

  • Performed current state assessment including key stakeholder interviews, spend/supplier diversity baseline, spend/vendor management technology, organization, policies and processes
  • Conducted best practice benchmarking to determine gap between current and future state
  • Developed category-specific strategies to drive savings and diversity.
  • Key categories targeted included printing, professional services, IT programming, telcom, advertising , IT hardware and HVAC.
  • Identified opportunity for $15-24 Million in annual savings coupled with increasing diverse spend from 5% to 25% of total spend.

Meet the Subject Matter Expert

Rod Robinson
Senior Vice President

Rod Robinson leads Insight Sourcing Group’s Supplier Diversity practice and Center of Excellence.  He has over 25 years of experience in procurement as a management consultant, chief procurement officer and software entrepreneur.

Published Work:
10 Practical Steps to Establishing an Impactful Supplier Diversity & Inclusion Program
Supplier Diversity & Sustainability: Key Building Blocks to Responsible Sourcing

Ready to Energize Your Supplier Diversity Efforts?

Our approach enables you to improve your diverse supplier spend while driving savings and taking out costs.