Our value chain is aligned with four pillars:

We want to embed these pillars in routine business practices at Cisco and our suppliers. This will further improve the management of our supply chain and ensure business continuity by reducing risk.

Full collaboration with our partners is essential. In FY10, we worked with more than 750 suppliers to manage production of over 46.7 million Cisco network hardware products.

Monitoring and improving performance

Our Supplier Code of Conduct, which conforms to the Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) Code of Conduct (see Working with Industry), sets out our expectations of suppliers. Our comprehensive audits and assessments against our Supplier Code of Conduct are consistent with the EICC's supplier engagement policy.

Cisco follows a six-step process:

  1. Share the Code of Conduct with suppliers and communicate our expectations on how it should be applied
  2. Evaluate suppliers to identify facilities at risk of noncompliance
  3. Evaluate those facilities through self-assessments
  4. If warranted, commission an audit of facilities, either via the EICC-validated audit process, or using Cisco-sponsored third-party auditors
  5. Work with suppliers on corrective action plans to resolve any findings
  6. Validate that issues are resolved and continue to monitor and talk with suppliers
Flow diagram starting with the Introduction of Supplier Code of Conduct, Supplier Screening with Supplier Screening Tool, Self Assessment by way of Supplier Self Assessment Questionnaire, Site Audit with EICC Standard Audit Tools and then Corrective Action by way of a Corrective Action Plan

Our Value Chain Knowledge Center provides a central point for Cisco employees to understand sustainability risks in the value chain. In FY10, we introduced a wiki that provides information on risks that are key focal issues in specific markets.

In FY10, we developed a comprehensive Juvenile Labor Policy to clarify for suppliers their obligations around legally hiring and managing workers younger than 18. This policy evolved from concerns about the labor pool in China. We plan to deploy the policy initially among suppliers in China, focusing on electronic manufacturing services and original design manufacturing partners.

Cisco continues rise in supply chain rankings

Each year, research company AMR (now a member of the Gartner Research family) publishes the Supply Chain Top 25, a list of companies that exemplify best practices throughout their supply chain. Sustainability is increasingly important to the assessment, acknowledged in FY10 by AMR highlighting sustainability advances as one of two emerging themes among its top companies. Cisco's work in sustainability in the value chain contributed to our advancement to third place in FY10, from fifth in FY09. Find out more about the AMR top 25 at www.gartner.com.