Not all suppliers carry the same risk so why assess them the same way?
Segmenting your supply chain is the first step toward smarter ESG risk management. It allows you to prioritise where and how to allocate your resources, especially when managing thousands of suppliers with different levels of spend, impact and visibility.
1. Start with a fast, contactless risk overview
Achilles predictive scoring allows you to screen your entire supply chain, especially smaller and long-tail suppliers, with zero supplier input. It uses a no-touch model powered by public data and industry standards like SASB to deliver ESG and country risk scores at a scale, highlighting where the biggest vulnerabilities may lie, without slowing you down.
This enables quick decision making before onboarding or when planning due diligence at a scale.
2. Group suppliers by risk level
Segment your suppliers into tiers:
- High risk: Provides you a mission-critical product or service, is operating in vulnerable sectors or high-risk geographies. Prioritise for verified assessment.
- Medium risk: May require further validation.
- Low risk: Typically, in low-impact industries or stable regions. Monitor continuously, with no immediate action required.
This segmentation supports a risk-based approach to ESG compliance and resource allocation.
3. Decide the right level of assessment for each segment
With segmentation in place, map suppliers to the most appropriate level of assurance:
- Achilles verified due diligence: a third-party ESG due diligence and assurance assessment that involves:
- Collecting supplier information across ESG, H&S, Financial stability, Cyber risk, labour rights, compliance.
- Rigorous validation and evidence check carried out by our expert teams.
- Regular updates and continual monitoring
- Supplier data that is assured, not just claimed.
This level of due diligence is essential when ESG risks must be actively managed, demonstrated to regulators, or disclosed to investors with confidence.
- Achilles predictive assessment: ideal for low-risk or early-stage suppliers, predictive scoring is based on continuously updated public data. It provides broad visibility across thousands of suppliers, helping you detect inherent risk without involving supplier engagement or verification.
4. Adapt your strategy as risks evolve
Both predicted and verified outcomes are dynamic. Public data is continuously fed into the predictive scoring, while verified assessments are kept up to date through supplier engagement and document renewal. As supplier risk profiles shift, you can adjust segmentation and action plans accordingly.
